Back to school also means back to juggling extracurricular activities for your kids. After-school and weekend programs like hockey, swimming, dance and music classes, can make the school year an even more expensive and busy time for families. With two weeks left until the first day of school, our girls are already planning their extracurricular [...]
A s a first time parent to a child starting preschool this year, there are some items you will want to have on hand and some things you need to know about in the week leading up to your child’s first day at preschool. Items Backpack: Kids are small at this age and won’t need [...]
This is it! The big countdown is on. As I’ve written before, I have a lot of mixed emotions. But those emotions aside, I don’t actually feel stressed about the start of the school year so much as about the fact that I won’t be enjoying long summer days with my girls. Some schools have [...]
When our kids go back to school, their chances of encountering a health-related issue increase. More friend encounters during the day means more germs, more mistakes, and more opportunity for illnesses to spread a lot faster then it would at home. These illnesses are a part of life for many and can be managed, or [...]
Dear parent, Hold on a little longer. With school just around the corner, I’m looking at the finish line with mixed emotions. On one hand, I have loved my time with my girls this summer. I’ve had them in my life all day, every day for almost two months. On the other hand, I’ve had [...]
Last month, Chef Stefano Faita, host of CBC’s In the Kitchen with Chef Stefano, was in Edmonton with the Nutella Summer Truck Tour. I had the chance to interview him and I asked him his take on back to school breakfast and lunches. I’d like to thank Nutella for arranging the interview while he was [...]
Don’t worry, you’re not special in this regard. This happens to everyone. You put a lot of thought into your child’s school lunch only to have it come home almost completely untouched after a long day at school. Panic sets in. “Is my child going to get sick if they don’t eat?” “Why can’t they [...]
We are already one week into school and I am still having a tough time wrapping my head around the end of summer vacations. Our week has been busy, but everyone is making it through without many issues and here are some things we are focusing on. Create a special area for your child(ren) Before [...]
Put the pitchforks away, I waited until we were into August before mentioning ‘the end of summer as we know it’. The days are still long and gorgeous, but each day brings us closer to the inevitable, and little steps now can help your child easily transition into the routine and structure that comes during [...]
Most parents focus on helping their child(ren) learn to read and write the alphabet, but first you need to think about the foundation for printing skills, which is pre-printing skills! Do you remember spending hours as a child colouring and drawing pictures? We had lots of time to learn and practice these skills. Now, these [...]
Core strength and fine motor skills are both critical for a child’s development and learning. One specific fine motor skill that deserves special attention is scissors skills. Using scissors is not the be-all-end-all of a child’s success in school! However, it is important that children master the ability to use scissors not only so they [...]