On November 9th, 2016, the day after the US election, when even my elementary students were freaking out about Trump, I pictured chaos in the United States. Society – which may never have truly earned the term “civil” – crumbling. Now, I feel like that moment has arrived. Pandemic, hospitals overflowing. Unemployment and poverty off…
Tag: learning
Things I’ve Learned About Being A Baby Loss Mama – Three Years Later
It’s October 15th: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. On July 9th, 2011, as you know, our Sebastian was stillborn at 35.5 weeks’ gestation. I have learned things, since then, about mothering an invisible child. Although I don’t presume to speak for other babylost parents here, some will relate. It gets easier. Functioning day-to-day, compartmentalizing to…
Why Teacher Incentive Pay and Standardized Tests Don’t Help Kids
The Fraser Institute, a Canadian public-policy think tank, has just released a study recommending something called “teacher incentive pay”, based on student achievement. The idea is, teachers would be paid bonuses based on high scores in their students’ standardized test results. This, they say, is key to Canada staying competitive on the world stage….
Maple Syrup Day
Yesterday we – E, Baby A, Daddy, Grammie, Papa, Uncle Ben and I – trekked to Westfield Heritage Village for a “Sweet Taste of Spring.” We weren’t the only ones – it was packed, and the atmosphere was festive. We went last year at maple syrup time, too, but the temperature was in the 20s…
The Artistic Development of a Three-Year-Old – Not Very Wordless Wednesday
E’s fine motor skills have come a long way in the past six months, much to the relief of everyone. You see, he inherited his dad’s perfectionism, along with his dad’s tendency to get very frustrated with things that don’t come easily. For a while, he didn’t want to do any colouring at all, because…
Talking about anatomy with a preschooler
Sean and I have always used the scientific words for certain body parts when talking with E. There are reasons for this. For one thing, we both know that personally, we would feel like tools if we used words like winkie and hoo-ha or whatever. (This is why I never got the immensely popular “Once…