School Life is Much Easier When You Have Great Teachers
My daughter started in school for the first time this year and my wife and I weren’t sure how she was going to do with the transition from home life to full day Kindergarten. The playground is a busy place with a lot of kids and it can be an intimidating sight for a newcomer. We were pleasantly surprised when on her first day, she strode into the playground, head high and confident, and never looked back.
The sigh of relief was short lived, however, as the next day’s drop off didn’t go exactly according to plan. The day after that was no better as I was forced to walk away while my daughter clenched the fence, crying and screaming, “No, Daddy! Don’t go!!!” It took every ounce of strength I had to not turn around and go back to her but I managed to make it out of the schoolyard. Unfortunately, against all conventional wisdom, I decided to hide behind a plant to make sure she was alright before I left. In my tunnel visioned state, I didn’t notice that I had been spotted by one of my daughter’s teachers, who calmly smiled at me and assured me that she was in good hands.
Later that day, we got an email from her main teacher, letting us know that she was doing really well and that she was smiling and playing with all her new friends. These are just two examples of the amazing teachers we have had the pleasure of dealing with since our children have been in school and we feel very lucky to have them. Something as simple as an email or a letter home to relay how things are going goes a long way towards putting us at ease as parents.
On top of having great teachers, my wife and I like to stay up to date on what’s going on in the world of education by hanging out on the Ontario College of Teachers website. I realize that this may not sound like your idea of a rockin’ good time but their newsletter, The Standard, is an amazing resource that talks about everything from special programs to trends in education.
The College’s website itself is a great resource as well that has things such as a Find a Teacher, the College’s Public Register, that allows you to search for your child’s teacher to see their schooling and previous experience, including certification as all teachers must be certified to teach in Ontario’s publicly funded primary and secondary schools. The website also has a Public Awareness Initiative to raise awareness of the free resources the College provides to parents.
At minimum, I would recommend subscribing to College’s ‘The Standard’ newsletter and then taking it from there. I have always believed in “The More You Know” philosophy and there is a ton of very practical information on the Ontario College of Teachers website. You can also catch up with them on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
Stay knowledgeable, my friends!
Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program.
