"The rough seas are behind us now that we have found our beacon in the storm. Thank-you for all you do, thank-you for all you are, and thank-you most of all for all you have helped our daughter become. Words are not enough...".

- Trudy Reynolds (parent)

Your Child Facing the Tyranny of Time

From K to three you learn to read, from grade four and for the rest of your life you read to learn. What if you miss the window?

Most of our school systems are set up in a certain way. They assume that by the time a child reaches grade four, he or she will not only know how to read, but will be proficient enough to be able to read in order to learn. For a large portion of school age children, this is simply not the case.

Missing the window does not mean there is anything wrong with the child, it simply means that the school system failed to teach the child to read properly and read effectively. For those children who do miss the window, they often face the tyranny of time.

Lessons From a Snowy Driveway

When I was young my family lived in northern British Columbia, Canada and it was normal to have fourteen feet of snow accumulating every winter. In fact, there were times when we could toboggan off the roof. Now as a youngster it was entertaining; to an adult - not so much.

Lesson #1: Practice Does Not Always Make Perfect

As a youngster I loved going outside with my dad and "help shovel" It was always fun for me but not necessarily for my dad. As he shoveled snow to the sides of the driveway, I shoveled snow from one pile to another in the middle of the drive. (No sense wasting all of that time walking to the edge.)
Day after day the same scenario took place until....

Land of the Free, Home of the Beaver - Literacy Levels in Canada, Why Should We Care?

Logic would tell us that there is something dreadfully wrong when almost half of the nation does not meet the minimum literacy level. However, the problem goes deeper than one might think. We know that being illiterate can effect job prospects, but consider your daily routine and how often you need to read just to get by. To get an idea, try the simple exercise of keeping track of how many times you use your reading skills in a day; it will give you an idea of just what a necessity being literate is and the impact it would have if you could not.

So what? As long as illiteracy does not cost me money!

When you understand that our literacy levels play a huge role in whether or not our 'True North' remains 'Strong and Free' you may feel a slight pang of concern. Our entire democratic society depends on an educated, informed electorate.

Your Child Facing the Tyranny of Time

Lessons From a Snowy Driveway

Lesson #1: Practice Does Not Always Make Perfect

Land of the Free, Home of the Beaver - Literacy Levels in Canada, Why Should We Care?

So what? As long as illiteracy does not cost me money!

What are the real costs?