Our motto at Walden is Making Good People and as part of that commitment, we teach students the importance of contributing to the community we share. We wanted to continue with our annual Spring food drive but this time we had to be more creative in how organized this drive,” said Christine Johnston, PK Teacher and Walden’s ME to WE coordinator. “These are hard times for many families. People have lost their jobs and struggle to put food on the table…
Read MoreHave you experienced the banging of pots and pans in an early evening salute to front line workers? It’s a raucous symphony of gratitude for the people who put the needs of others above their own.
For this week’s post I chose to take a slightly different tack and bang some virtual pots and pans for our teachers. I was inspired to do this when I read this article about one teacher’s experience with teaching during the pandemic. This lead me to ask some of our Walden teachers to share how they’ve been adapting.
Read MoreReinvention has become a constant in all of our lives and with it has come a requirement to adapt rapidly to new learning and lessons being placed before us on an almost daily basis.
If there is one standout lesson among many learned during the COVID-19 impact on our school it is this: our community - parents, students, teachers and administrative staff - has responded with remarkable initiative…
Read MoreWhether you’re 8 or 68, brain breaks are a great way to refresh our minds. What is a brain break? It is a short mental break that helps us refocus so we can return to our task feeling centered and ready to proceed.
We’ve incorporated these refreshing mental pauses into our daily programmes at Walden and it’s something to introduce with your home-learning programmes too. We’ve learned that brain breaks help children (and adults) re-energize their brains and bring their attention back in a more focused fashion.
Read MoreBy now you’ve all seen the many memes on social media about homeschooling. I have two favourites at the moment. The first was a tweet from Shonda Rhimes, the head writer of Grey’s Anatomy. “Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.”
The second is another tweet from @TheNextMartha. “Our homeschooling curriculum includes: Honours Laundry and AP Vacuuming.”…
Read MoreWe were chatting with some friends on the weekend. Online, not in person. That’s what we do for now. We were talking about our kids and how they were managing the Covid-19 state of emergency.
He said, “It’s especially difficult for them because they have never experienced anything like this.”
Read MoreIt’s hard to know where to start. There is so much coming down the pipe at all of us right now we could easily succumb to overwhelm.
Feeling overwhelmed is perhaps the most common symptom of anxiety and it can affect us both mentally and physically.
Read MoreWe are monitoring the COVID-19 situation on a daily basis as part of our commitment to keeping you informed.
With particular reference to the last point, we have implemented upgraded cleanliness protocols for the school. We take standards for hygiene and cleanliness very seriously and are taking additional steps to ensure the safety of our Walden community.
Read MoreWhen I was young my mother saw a classified ad in our Mississauga neighbourhood newspaper. It offered training for people interested in doing voice-over work for commercials and films. She said, “Daphne, you should do this!”
Next thing I knew I was signed up for broadcast training. As it turned out, I was pretty good and since that time I’ve been doing professional voice-over work.
Read MoreSome of the best lessons we learn are those we have embedded from our moms (and from generations of moms before them!) For example, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
I mentioned in a previous blog that we believe in the absolute benefit of extracurricular activities - to the extent that we even send kids outside for recess when it’s raining!
Read MoreSince the Ontario Government announced its intention to increase average class sizes there has been considerable debate. Much of this debate revolved around the impact on teacher workload and it has created considerable unrest throughout the public education system.
We think of this issue differently at Walden and in this post I’m going to separate the dialogue from the politics.
Read MoreAs we approach this season of celebration, family and reflection I’ve been looking back over the past year with curiosity. On the one hand it has been a whirlwind. When we purchased Glenburnie School we knew that we were acquiring a school with a well-earned reputation and a place of honour in the Oakville community.
At the same time we recognized that change can be uncomfortable for everyone involved. In particular, we knew that our parent community would expect reassurance that their children would be accorded the same level of care they had been accustomed to.
Read MoreChildren are naturally inclined to practice the habits associated with well-being. Often it is the intervention of adults that generates difficulty. That’s why we’re so very conscious of modelling these behaviours and introducing elements of the curriculum that help our students maintain their equilibrium.
Making clear and direct links between being well and doing well are just part of how we approach our mission to make good people.
Read MoreDo you ever feel that it is sometimes challenging to gain a real perspective on important issues? I was remarking the other day how challenging it can be to sort the wheat from the chaff in the bombardment of messaging we receive on a daily basis.
A fact is something that is true everywhere and for everyone. However, something that is true for one person may not be true for everyone. It’s an increasingly complex issue for adults and just imagine how perplexing it can be for children.
Read MoreWhat a summer we’ve experienced at Walden International. In so many ways we have transformed the environment to which our students will return.
There is fresh paint on the walls. New classrooms and offices have been created. And, our school has been rejuvenated to welcome back students eager to experience all that a forward-looking school offers.
Read MoreThis is a quandary we face at our school almost every day and it’s something parents want to talk about often; how does Walden help prepare children for the rough and tumble real world?
It may surprise you to learn that we embrace adversity recognizing that into every life a little rain will fall.
Read MoreLast week I had a bit of an opportunity to gain some space (don’t know if you noticed but the children have left the school!) and think a little bit about Henry David Thoreau from whose book our name Walden derives.
It seems forever that his simple approach to the complexities of life resonated powerfully with me. In this instance one quote stood out.
Read MoreThe school year is almost over! Soon your kids will be flying out of the doors at Walden and joyfully announcing their arrival home…for the entire summer.
What happens now? What are you going to do with your kids for the holidays? Where will you go? How do you keep your kids’ minds active for the next many weeks? What’s the best way to answer “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.”
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