playdate

Tried And True

I'm really happy to be a part of such a great group of fantastic writers.
Though I'm not technically a food writer,
I eat out a fair bit, and food is a real passion of mine.
I'm also quite picky.
At least when it comes to what & where I eat it.

A Two-Tier School System?

According to an article in the Toronto Star, the Peel District School Board has created a new fundraising policy that will allow parents or community groups to pay for large capital construction projects such as auditoriums or pools without tax funding.

I Hate Heart Music Theatre

by nomotherearth

I don’t know quite when I fell in love with musical theatre, but I do know it was when I was very wee, and it probably had something to do with the Sound of Music’s puppet show “The Lonely Goatherd”, or the Oz Munchkins singing “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”.  That last one is kind of morbid for a kid, but hey, that’s the kind of girl I am. 

Taxes

According to an article in the Toronto Star, the Fraser Institute has found that Canadian families spend more on taxes than on food, clothing and housing combined.  (More thorough coverage of the results can be found in the Vancouver Province.)  According to the results, taxes have risen by almost 1600% in the last 45 years ( i.e. they are nearly 16 times what they were in 1961).

Children Should be Seen AND Heard

by nomotherearth

I was on the subway the other day. People were crowed in cheek by jowl, and as we pulled into the station, I heard this hissing noise behind me. It took me a few seconds to figure out that the person behind me wanted to get off, and was whispering “Excuse me”. Whispering. It took all I had not to go all Mama Rose on her and say “Sing out, Louise!”. I mean, did she want off the subway or not?  You’ve met these people: the prof whose lecture can’t be heard even though they’re miked, the business colleague who has important information for a meeting if you could only understand the mumbling. I’m guilty of it myself. I’m no loud-talker, but I can certainly make my voice be heard when I choose to. Whenever I’m unsure that what I have to say is important to the listener, though, my sentences trail off into nothingness.

A Shower of Poetry

by Kittenpie

April is Poetry Month!

Children are naturals for poetry. Don’t forget that songs and rhymes abound in nurseries and schoolyards and yes, even on MTV. Poetry is all around them, and so children are born and raised for years to love poetry without even knowing it, until that natural affinity is taught out of them and they learn instead that poetry is Serious Business. Before this has a chance to happen, I say, let us do our best to show them the wonders of it, to let it become so much a part of them that it might resist the supplanting. Let us shower it gently over their ears until the lilting and bouncing rhythms and rhymes hold such appeal that they never are without a song and a rhyme in their hearts. (With an added bonus: rhymes help a child’s ear learn to pick out the sounds of language, a key pre-reading skill!) Here’s a few places to begin…

Day Care Waiting Lists in Toronto

A recent story in the Globe and Mail discussed the situation in several Toronto neighbourhoods where day care waiting lists are causing parents to go to extreme measures to ensure a spot for their child. One woman they interviewed actually registered her son on a waiting list more than two years before he starts Kindergarten, and another started putting her child on waiting lists when he was still a newborn. According to the article, part of the situation is the renovation and/or modernization of older homes, and the young children that process brings. Toronto is not equipped to handle these numbers.

Compassion

On Saturday The Toronto Sun ran a cover story about a woman who faced deportation to her native China.  What made her circumstances worthy of a Saturday feature was the fact that she had a one year old daughter, born in Canada, whom she wanted to have declared a ward of the state.  She did not want her daughter adopted because she wanted to remain the child's mother, and hoped the daughter would sponsor her return as an adult (after the daughter reached 18 years of age).  Also of note was the fact that if the child were to return to China, the mother would be charged a large fine, the daughter would not be a Chinese citizen, and would be responsible to pay for her own education.

Seat Belts On School Buses

Recently, a school bus was involved in an accident on the 410 in Brampton.  A group of fourth grade students were being taken on a field trip to an outdoor education facility when the bus came in contact with a transport truck.  The bus ended up in a ditch without rolling over.  There were a number of injuries, and one boy has died as a result of his.  This has renewed the debate in Toronto media about seat belts in school buses, especially since the bus did not roll over, which is the known failing of the current school bus design, and yet a child died and many more were injured.

Hip to be Square

by nomotherearth

Anyone who knows me knows the following: I don’t think that television is all that bad for young children. Yes, I’ve done the research. Yes, I’ve read all the reports. I don’t think that television should be used as a babysitter (although I’ve done it on occasion and no doubt will again). I don’t think that television should always be on in the background. However, if you use television sparingly, as an interactive activity, I think that television can be one of many important learning tools for kids. It can teach kids about different parts of the world that they may not have the opportunity to visit. It can casually bring up difficult topics that you want to discuss with your kids. It can teach them new skills, ones that you may or may not have yourself.