Category: Youth & Teens
Ten Ways To Help Kids Feel Grounded In A New Place
As summer moves into August and all of us start thinking about how to get our kids slowly but surely moving back into a school-year pace, lots of families across Canada have also packed up their houses and moved across town, the province or even across the country. Summer is the season of relocation. With [...]
Prom Night 101: Getting Mom Geared Up For Grad
At just under two months to go until my son’s high school prom I was itchin’ to get him fitted for his tuxedo. A few of my chick pals with two or three graduated kids recently had given me the go ahead to get on it. With the grad parade and prom to follow scheduled for the first [...]
Teens Do Stupid, Dangerous & Sometimes Illegal Things – Is Mom To Blame?
With a heavy heart I placed my husband’s Canucks jersey on a hanger and tucked it away in the back closet for another year. As a die-hard Canucks fan I felt sadness and relief when that game winning overtime goal hit the back of Cory Schneider’s net last Sunday. Sadness that my favorite team had finished the regular season with the President’s Cup but [...]
Speak Your Teen’s Language – Text Them
“So….what’s your plan tonite?” I said to my big son a few days into Spring Break. He had spent most of the break at a friend’s place, coming home for a change of clothes and a quick check-in before heading back out into the throes of his Grade 12 spring break. “I’m stayin’ here again [...]
Let Them Love Mud – Empowering Our Daughters
In a forest not so far away you’ll find puddles of mud, fallen trees, small Spring sprouts, an owl’s roost, even a few tracks left behind by the creatures that call it home. It’s the domain of the boy, where roughhousing and stomping through the bush, king of the mountain and coming back soaked from [...]
Sex, Teens & Porn in the Mobile Age
Your daughters, right now, right this very minute without you even knowing it, are sexual pawns. Your sons learn a majority of their sex education from the xxx world of the internet. Every time you send them off to school even the youngest of kids whom you thought would at worst be exposed to pop [...]
Is Pokemon the Scourge of the School Yard?
I can say with confidence that hate is not a strong enough word for the way I feel about Pokemon. Long before our oldest showed up at home with a few cards in her pocket begging for more, it lived darn near the very top on my list of things that satan invented in order [...]
Kids & Tech – The Pack of Wild Dogs Syndrome
There’s a school drop-off conversation that keeps popping up over and over lately with the same results. Our young kids are spending more and more time playing video games and we as parents are starting to notice that these electronic universes are having a serious attitude altering effect on them. When they are stomping through [...]
Halloween Movies for Kids (Ranked By Age and Spookiness)
It’s the week before Halloween and when I was a kid the one thing we LOVED to do was hit the local movie theatre or keep an eye out on the TV schedule for any fun, spooky kids shows. Back then, it was Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin and a few other gems. But, [...]
Emma and the Magic Pumpkins
I knew it the moment I spotted them – pure magic. These sparkling pumpkins dotting the barn at Shamrock Farm had a glimmer of wonderment. Shamrock’s owner Shannon Farrel saw the twinkle in my eye and told me the story of how these shimmering bits of Fall came to be. The creation of Valley View [...]
Is It Me, Or Is Every First Grader a School Hater?
It’s one month into the new school year and the last 30 days have definitely seen their ups and downs. Whether it’s figuring out how everything works, making new friends or just trying to get the basics like snapping your snaps and zipping your zippers down, the early days of school days are emotionally exhausting [...]
Top 10 Things Not to Say When Meeting New Parents at School
Our kids are back in school and many of us are learning the ropes (i.e. politics) of the school yard. We’re learning to use our inside voices, temper frustration with the reality of 300 small kids in one place, stop and think before talking to the first person that walks into our kids classrooms. Lots [...]
Kids Not Sleeping Well? Get Them Outside
I‘ve been reading a lot lately about how to help kids sleep better as I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s even possible to get mine on a somewhat matching – or at least complimentary – schedule. There’s everything from relaxation techniques (which so aren’t working in this house) to the old read-em-a-story trick [...]
Is Starting School the End of Childhood?
I‘ve been avoiding reality for a while. The whole idea of sending our oldest daughter off to school has me silently cheering for regaining some personal space in my life and allowing her to regain some of her own and – on the other side – remarkable sadness in the face of the stark reality [...]
The Big Impact of Little Helping Hands – Volunteerism for Kids
Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Connecting kids to the community can often be challenging. But, one of the most fun and interesting ways to do so is to get them started early with volunteering. Today, childhood educator Dan Gilbert of Primrose Schools is here to talk a bit about the value of volunteering and how to [...]
Getting Kids Back Into the School Groove
Did you just gasp reading that headline? Back to School? It’s August 2. I have to be kidding, right? Well, as much as we are just getting around to the holiday part of our summer, I’m also spending a lot of time pondering how to get the big kid headed back in the direction of [...]
When Did I Become the Idiot Around Here?
Sometimes, at night, I wander in to our oldest daughter’s room and admire her – sweet, snoozing and silent. I take these times to relieve myself of all of the stress built up between us during the day, to reconnect with her quietly and on my terms. It may seem a bit ridiculous that the [...]
The God Conversation
It’s a conversation that ranks right up there with how babies are made. Some parents tackle it early, some wait until the conversation is absolutely necessary. No one’s judging who’s right or wrong here because this discussion is about God. People have a lot of perspectives – whether it be practicing a certain religion, being [...]
When It Comes to School, Let's Create Community
We homeschool. A great friend of mind has her daughter in Montessori. Another is going the Waldorf route and lots of my friends have decided the traditional public school setting is perfect for their families. I think we all are incredibly grateful for the breadth of options we have in the Comox Valley when it [...]
Stop Bullying Now – Pink Shirt Day 2011
There are very few things in life as sad for a child than to be picked on. It’s the worst to hear the kids around you making fun of you or calling you names – and it can scar forever. Kids should never be subjected to the cruelty of bullying – whether it be the [...]
Teen Talk – Toughening Up The Expectation Generation
They want it all. No. That’s not it. They don’t just want it all, they expect it all and know self-assuredly that they deserve it all. They want stylish clothes, the latest tech gadgets, and open access to music and information and activities. They want life to be happy, easy and, most importantly, entertaining. They [...]
Teen Talk – Depression, When It’s Not Normal
She was a popular girl. She was cute and did alright in school. She had a large circle of friends. But, shortly after her 16th birthday, on a brittle winter night, she walked into her Mom’s kitchen, grabbed a steak knife, and walked back down to her bedroom in the basement and cut all the [...]
Teen Talk – All I Need to Know I Learned from a Teenager
In honor of the spirit of the teenagers that I work with and hopefully to inspire a few adults to rediscover their inner teenager, I bring to you a list of possible resolutions for the New Year. After all, all I really need to know, I learned from teenagers: 1. Sleep in as much as [...]
Tara Colborne – One Book Can Change A Teen Forever
It was all Jane`s fault. She made me feel understood. She really got me like no one else seemed to. My family simply could not appreciate why we were so close. But, it was like we shared the same brain. Okay, okay she wasn`t real and she wasn`t my best friend. I`m just talking about [...]
Inspiring Your Teens to Give Back
Before I understood my ABC’s and 123’s, I understood suffering. At the age of four, my mom’s father died on the streets of the small Ontario city I was born to – Thunder Bay. He was a bum, a street-person, a destitute alcoholic. And before I even went to Kindergarten, I saw countless homeless people [...]
Creative Parenting – Fostering Kids Healthy Obsessions
This Summer, I was reading through one of my favorite everyday education websites and came across an article about kids and their obsessions. I’ve always wondered what could possibly be good about letting kids get sucked into the craziness of Webkins, Pokemon, anything at all that sent a kid reeling when they couldn’t have the [...]
Ferris Bueller Was Wrong – How to Keep Parenting In High School
If Ferris Bueller could jump up and out of that classic 1986 high school comedy, he would tell all parents and teachers today that what teenagers really need is more days off. He’d tell your kids the real trick to surviving school is to skip class as often as possible. He’d proclaim that high school [...]
The Techno Family – Giving In to the Call of the Cell Phone
I’ve known for years now that the time would come when I’d have to acquiesce to my oldest daughter’s constant requests to connect to the virtual world through her own devices and that time has just slapped me right in the face. What it really came down to though, was the cost of trust. Let’s [...]
A Summer Survival Guide For Parents Of Teens
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Today we have Tara Colborne back on site with an informative look at risks that our teens face during the summer months, along with ways that parents can keep them busy, out of trouble and safe. Here she is: Alert! Alert! Parents of teenagers, listen up. It is summer. Do you know what [...]
Must-Haves for Your Tween's Summer Reading List
Summer reading is all about adventures – whether it be to times long gone or another town where a great story lives that your kids can totally relate to. Some of this year’s hottest reads for young adults definitely fall into that category of “disappear for a while,” perfect for the occasional rainy day, a [...]
Four Reasons Facebook Can Make You A Better Parent
Editor’s Note: Happy Thursday. Local teacher and mom Tara Colborne is here with four reasons Facebook can make you a better parent. Here she is: If Facebook were a country it would be the fourth biggest in the world. Since its inception in 2004, membership on Facebook has grown to more than 250 million users [...]
Talking with Teens – Let's Talk About Sex
Editor’s Note: Happy Thursday! Tara Colborne is with us today getting down to the business of how to talk with your teens about sex. Ah, the joys of that conversation.:) Tara always makes it accessible. Here she is: Yo, I don’t think we should talk about this. Come on, why not? People might misunderstand what [...]
The Gift Of Imagination
Editor’s Note: Happy weekend! This morning Rebecca Watkin is back on site reminding us of the importance of imagination. Enjoy. Here she is: “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world” – Albert Einstein I’ve been thinking about [...]
Lady Gaga Says Listen Up to Your Teens
Editor’s Note: If you missed out on Alix Wilson’s post about travelling by train, you can catch it HERE. This afternoon, local teacher Tara Colborne is on site discussing communication with your teens. Here she is: Teenagers talk all the time. Right? I hear them in the hallways of my school – talking, talking, talking. You might [...]
Adventure Learning – Kids Need to Discover the Outdoors
Editor’s Note: If you missed out on Michelle Hughes’ post discussing the benefits of acupuncture during pregnancy, you can read it HERE. Now, here’s Jamie Black with her new column on the incredible learning that comes – at any age – from getting outside and getting into old skool adventures that change us, for the [...]
Remember Your Teens? Start There with Your Teenagers
Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Today I am excited to introduce to you a woman who I think may be as brave as she is foolish:) Highland Secondary English teacher and mom of three Tara Colborne is here to help us all gain some insight into that scary, amazing and oh so wild world that is [...]
Helping Your Daughter Feel Good About Her Body
Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed it this morning, we had local small business consultant Emma Payton exploring attributes of successful entrepreneurs. You can check it out HERE. This afternoon we have Esther Kane on the topic of body image and helping girls be comfortable with their bodies. Here she is: Thanks to Twitter, I’ve been [...]
Public Ed – The Scoop on Split Classrooms
Editor’s Note: Good afternoon! If you missed our morning post you can find book reviews on salmon learning books HERE. This afternoon we have three experienced teachers Marieke Holtkamp, Michelle Honeysett and Eileen David giving us the scoop on public school multi-grade classrooms. Here they are: At the end of the summer, that buzz of back-to-school jitters becomes more and [...]
Kids In The Arts – Get Perspective on Competition
I had a conversation a while back with someone who asked why I did not place my students in competition. When I conveyed my mandate of non-competition the reply was, “Oh, you mean just for fun.” This is an interesting perspective because it is not necessarily what I have in mind when I talk about [...]
