Welcome to the Parents Page of the Northern Aboriginal Education Circle web site as we all have an important role in our children’s education. We encourage all parents to share any story, tidbit or recipe your child has enjoyed or participated in.

How do we share our success stories, recipes and tips? Please provide any suggestions you may have.

Stories

It is always heartwarming to partake in the pride of our children when they graduate from one grade to the next or proceed to higher education. Children beam with pride and confidence when they are recognized for highest achievement, most improved, perfect attendance and other awards that are presented at graduation time.

How have we as parents contributed to this momentous event? At the end of the each school day, we usually ask our children what they learned or what happened to make their day interesting? Sometimes the replies are quite interesting and often they just want someone to listen to their events of the day. When we reflect on our contributions, everyone is a part of this success as the teacher, parents, community and children cooperate to ensure the success of the child is recognized. Graduation is an event that involves everyone in the community.

Is there a success story you would like to share with others on how your child is succeeding in their studies or you know of someone that has overcome many obstacles to continue with their education. Stories are always an inspiration and thought provoking for others to attain their full potential. Go to Stories

Recipes

Have children use measurements to write a recipe page describing themselves, such as: 2 cups fun, 5 cups love, 2 tsp. naughtiness, a dash of smiles, a few hugs; and then have them write directions for making themselves from the recipe, such as: mix the fun, love and naughtiness together well, add a dash of smiles and a few hugs. Bake well in the love and care of friends and family.

You can view the above recipe at this web site. Ashland
If you are aware of any other recipes, please share them by submitting and we will post on the web site.

Educational Resources

The computer is one of many educational tools used in the classroom and at home to assist children in their lessons and studies. We are posting some sites to visit with your child to discover unique and different ways of viewing math and spelling. If you are aware of any other sites, please submit the site.

As with any Internet sites, parental involvement is recommended to ensure the safety of any child. Visiting these sites with your children will provide an opportunity to have fun with them in an educational manner.

Language Arts links

Executive parent

Harcourt school                                  


Here is another interesting web link with different games in a cultural context Native Tech yet another for links to kid safe sites Our Virtual Mall
If you are aware of any other educational sites, please submit. Links

Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO)

Are you interested in learning about EQAO and why children are being tested in Grade 3, 6 and 9? Follow the link and it will provide you with information on provincial testing. EQAO

Parents may come up with their own creative and original ideas. (Let us know what they are).
Other Parents Clubs and the Northern Aboriginal Education Circle want to hear from you. Fill out the following form and start sending updates about your Parents Club, your stories, recipes and tips to:


Northern Aboriginal Education Circle
409 George St.
Thunder Bay, Ontario
p7e-5y9

 



Parents Club Enrollment Form (For sample use, please change to suit your club).
Please return this enrollment form to your Education Director or Parents Club Coordinator

Name:
Home Address:
City:
Postal Code:
Telephone Number:
Email address:
Availability:

Parents Club Organizer

Parents’ Clubs can include a variety of people who wish to be active in providing assistance and support to the children in their community. Your Club may include a mix of community members such as teachers, principals, teaching assistants, parents, First Nations support workers and Community Center staff.

This section includes the following tools to help you organize your Parents Club:

Membership Contact Sheet:
Basic contact information including name, address, phone number and days and times available for meetings.

This information is useful to have on hand when creating meeting schedules. Keep an updated database using this form, as well as the enrollment forms to stay in touch with members.

Membership Contact Sheet (Please put this on a separate page so they can down load).
Name, Address, Telephone Number, Alternate Phone #, Days, available Times available

12 Month Calendar:
Use a calendar and Membership Contact Sheet to plan future meetings.
Decide with members on the frequency of meetings such as bimonthly/monthly.

Keep past months in binder to track meetings, attendance, and notes on progress. You may want to file meeting agendas behind each month as a record of topics covered.

Parents Club Reference Section: click here

This section will provide you with a guideline for creating meeting agendas and other aids for making your meeting successful.

Agendas:
The importance of an agenda is to guide and organize the meeting.
Important information that needs to be covered:
Future meeting dates, events or announcements.
Topic/Issue of the day:
Administration details – updating contact information, meeting time planning, volunteer information.
A sample agenda follows:

Topics:
Always be on the look out for new topic ideas. Hot topics, discussion ideas, and learning tips can be generated through brainstorming sessions, newsletter topics, Parents Club Handbook, or they may stem from community issues and current events.
Involve members in the topic with discussions, examples and tools or tips they can take away to try at home.

Sample Topic Developing Reading Skills

Topic: Classification
Level: Beginner – young children
Style: Games

Learning how to classify objects and identify items by their unique characteristics is an excellent primary skill to teach a child when they begin to learn how to read. This skill is also used in subjects such as math and science.

Discuss how letters and numbers are identified by basic shapes. A child will begin to associate shapes with letters using characteristics such as size and direction as guides. Use visuals to demonstrate this (i.e. b p q o c). You may want to make visual hand outs for parents to take home.

Tips to Take Home:
There are many opportunities to practice classification during daily activities.
Try some of these classification games that make chores fun:
Help your child to pick up scattered toys in categories. For example, things that feel the same as a Teddy Bear, items with wheels or everything red.

Lay out groceries on a table. Have your child group items together by size and shape. Canned goods, boxes and tins are excellent items to categorize and create an opportunity to introduce young children to reading-by-reading labels out loud.

Goal:
Encourage and build observation skills
Strengthen ability to recognize details such as shape direction, rotation, color, and size in a variety of objects.

Sample Agenda
Agenda
First Nations Parents Club Meeting
Meeting Time:
Date:
Place:
Introduction

Parents Club
Parents Club description and background information
Why join? Parents and children’s benefits

Getting involved
Who’s eligible and what members will receive
Role of members
Collect contact information through Enrollment form and Membership Contact Sheet

Other
Feedback from attendees
Question time
Set up next meeting time.