Carrie Nelson Blogs!: 2016

Last week Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) revealed this year's disappointing test results: half of grade 6 students failed to meet the provincial math standard. This news comes after a five-year trend in declining math performance. Reasons for this development

Questions to Ask Private Schools

Mississauga, parents, private, questions, research, schools

Parents considering which Mississauga private school they should enrol their child in may consider their task to be quite daunting. However, with the aid of a few important research questions and pointers, it becomes much easier to narrow down your

How to Get Excited for Back to School!

fall, kids, Mississauga, orientation, parents, private, schools

For better or for worse, summer vacation is winding down and soon families will no longer be able to ignore those back-to-school ads on television. However, there are a few tips and tricks to get children excited for the upcoming

Ontario’s Struggling Kindergartens

children, education, kindergarten, Ontario, parents, private, school

Ontario's kindergarten classes are still overcrowded after the province instituted all-day kindergarten in 2014. In addition to the new play-based learning model that was implemented, elementary school teachers report an inability to effectively follow the new program of allowing children to move

The Whole Child Philosophy

children, education, Ontario, parents

What is the "whole child" philosophy, and why do so many educators support it, including those at St. Jude's Academy? It is a fairly recent education model adapted from Lynn Stoddard's book: Educating for Human Greatness. Take a moment to consider

Inquiry-Based Learning and its Benefits

benefits, education, IB, inquiry, Ontario, parents, private, school

In order to prevent students from becoming passive learners and instead develop important life skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving, IB World schools encourage inquiry-based learning in the classroom. This is when classroom learning and discussions are driven

Private Schools: Preparing for University

education, Ontario, preparation, private, programs, school, students, university

In a traditional Ontario public school, students are told that only their course averages from grades 11 and 12 count towards their university admission profile. While this is true, it leads to the creation of the mentality among students that

Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning

benefits, Bloom, education, learning, methods, models, Ontario, private, school, taxonomy

Dr. Benjamin Bloom was an education researcher and psychologist who famously developed his taxonomy of learning in 1956. He classified types of learning into three major hierarchical models. For cognitive learning, he classified more passive learning like gaining knowledge, comprehension, and rote

Higher Education Leads to Higher Incomes

children, education, higher, income, Ontario, parents, private, schools, success

Toronto Star education reporter extraordinaire Louise Brown provides definitive research that shows that a university education does lead to an above-average income with a substantial growth in earnings over time. The study cited was conducted by the Education Policy Research Initiative

Keeping Students Engaged at School pt. 2

academics, attention, education, Ontario, parents, private school, students

I have compiled a few more tips for fellow educators and parents to use to help children stay focused during a lesson! I have personal experience with some of these, while others I learned from researching online and recommend trying out!

How to Keep Students Engaged

academics, attention, blog, Canada, engaged, homework, how to, IB, Ontario, parents, private, public, school, students

With the rise of ADHD diagnoses and declining test scores, it is more imperative than ever to ensure students are actively digesting the material they learn in class. The apathetic and unmotivated student can be an educator's worst nightmare. The

Private Schools Better Prepare Students for University...

academics, baccalaureate, benefits, Canada, children, international, Ontario, parents, prepare, private, programs, school, students, teachers, university

... Especially IB World schools. This is because many private schools share similar characteristics with universities. The most obvious example is the rigorous academic environment at IB private schools. Many first-year students entering university from the public education system are overwhelmed by the increased

Private Schools Reduce Need for Tutors

benefits, Canada, children, education, homework, Ontario, parents, private, school, teachers, tutoring, university

Private schools reduce the need for afterschool private tutoring. The ultimate benefits of this are a reduced education cost (depending on the external private tutoring company) and the elimination of a disjointed education experience (a tutor often complicates a child's learning experience

Private Schools Help Deter Bullying

bully, bullying, Canada, children, education, Ontario, parents, prevent, private, public, school, solution

Bullying. It has become so commonplace in our society that it feels like an inescapable reality of school life. It is a parent's greatest fear, and too often it can feel like you are helplessly stuck on the sidelines, only able to hope that it does not happen

Students Need Quality PE Every Day

benefits, Canada, education, exercise, fitness, gym, health, Ontario, PE, private, private schools, schools, sports

Beginning in 2005, Ontario's provincial policy mandates that all students from Grades 1 to 8 must receive at least 20 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every school day during instructional time; this is known as the Daily Physical

STEM: Where Are the Women? Part 2

education, engineering, equality, girls, IB, medicine, Ontario, private, programs, public, report, research, school, STEM, university, women

Last time I talked about the gender imbalance in STEM classes, programs and careers (in regards to female representation and unequal pay). Now I want to attempt to answer two big questions: why does this matter and what can be done

STEM: Where Are the Women? Part 1

Canada, doctors, engineering, equality, gender, girls, medicine, minorities, Ontario, private, programs, report, research, school, science, STEM, university, visible, women

The STEM acronym represents the four non-liberal graduate streams: science, technology, engineering, and medicine. Gender parity in North America has been a running concern, but only recently has it become a well-known issue that in OECD countries, women comprise a very small

The Importance of Extracurriculars in a Child's Education

benefits, Canada, clubs, education, IB, Ontario, private, public, school, sports, teacher

The availability, variety, and participation of extracurricular activities is an important aspect of a child's school experience. Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely week. For today's post, I am writing about the importance of offering,

About Streaming and Why Private Schools Don't Have It

academic, applied, college, education, IB, Ontario, private, report, research, school, Sears, streaming, university

In the Ontario public school education system, there exists a phenomenon from 1999 known as "streaming", which you will most likely already know about even if you have never heard the term. "Streaming" is the division of grade 8 students

POLL: what do you value most in a school?

education, IB, Ontario, poll, private, school, teachers

While sincerely surveying what values are prioritized in the online community, I also want to draw your attention to the character of the entries. Each possible answer represents an advantage of a private school education. In regards to Academic Quality,

Statistics for Thought

Canada, education, Ontario, private school, statistics

In lieu of my traditional blog post, here are some important facts about the private school education system in Canada. Published in 2015, a Statistics Canada study compared the academic progress of over 7,000 public and private school students aged 15 to 23,

Benefits of Smaller Class Sizes

benefits, class, private schools, sizes, small

As a parent sending your child off to school in the morning, you want to be sure they will be making the most out of their day in the classroom. But what if despite being enrolled in a good neighbourhood

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