Winter 2014 - English Montreal School Board

Hampstead Students Enjoy Special Needs Tennis Program
Proset Autism Founder, Philippe Manning, and his assistant Roxane Carrier
with Hampstead B.A.S.E. Daycare students (from left) Hannah Trotman, Grade
4, Christina Phan,Grade 5, Shayanna Shimansky, Grade 4, Aidan Côté, Grade 5,
Netanel Vaknin, Grade 4 and Corey Coombs, Grade 3, during a special needs
tennis class on Friday, October 18, 2013.
Every Friday afternoon from October to December 2013, eight Hampstead B.A.S.E. Daycare students had
the opportunity to participate in a Special Needs Tennis Program offered by
the non-profit Proset Autism. Run by
Philippe Manning, a tennis instructor
and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
and sports therapist, Proset Autism is
just under two years old and recently
received its charitable status.
The English Montreal School Board
is the first school board to offer the Proset Autism Progam to its special needs
clientele. Hampstead and Edward
Murphy Daycares are the first daycare
centres to benefit from the program.
“The kids in Hampstead are a lot
more agile and fluid in their shots,”
says Manning by week eight of the
program. “They’re more confident. I
think they’re ready for the next step,”
he adds, explaining that they will begin
to be exposed to a more typical tennis
environment.
Students don’t immediately begin by whacking away at balls with
rackets in their first class. Depending
on the make up of the class and special needs present, Manning will start
students on simple throws and catches
using large balls or even balloons. Students then move on to using discs with
Velcro or fishnets to practice catching
the ball with a tool before moving on to
rackets when they’re ready. Manning
breaks down tennis skills into many
components, leading students through
warm ups and games that integrate
tennis skills into a fun environment
where the children don’t even realize
they’re learning.
Watching the Hampstead group
play a game of “Princes and Dragons,”
where the Dragons send the balls over
the net to try and hit the castle (cones)
and the Kings and Queens who are
protected by the Princes and Princesses and their rackets, it looks like any
fun tennis related afterschool activity.
The only difference is the amount of
attention being paid to each student,
See TENNIS, page 6
Art Education
Pre-Kindergarten Students Learn Spanish
The English Montreal School Board
held a press conference on Friday,
January 24, 2014 at James Lyng High
School in St. Henri on the eve of the
annual
Kindergarten
Registration
Week (February 3—7, 2014), which
introduced a new campaign aimed at
promoting excellence in the arts.
A myriad of art mediums
From Pre-Kindergarten to Secondary V, EMSB students are exposed to
the arts in many different forms. “Our
schools offer a variety of artistic options
that can include the visual arts, music,
dance, digital and multimedia arts, dramatic arts, spoken word poetry, and we
offer various opportunities for students
to share their talents on a larger scale
through vernissages, festivals, poetry slams, shows and concerts,” said
EMSB Chairman Angela Mancini.
“The arts bring out empathy, creativity, self-esteem, critical thinking, and
communication skills in our students.
Art education empowers students and
The English Montreal School
Board’s Before and After School Enriched (B.A.S.E.) Daycare Program
has implemented a Spanish Language and Drama class in three of the
school board’s inner-city preschool
programs.
The Spanish Language and Drama
program is offered at Carlyle International Elementary School in Town
of Mont-Royal, St. Dorothy Elementary School in Saint Michel and Pierre
Elliott Trudeau Elementary School in
Rosemount.
Preschool children spend half of
their day with a school teacher and the
other half of their day with a B.A.S.E.
Daycare educator.
The B.A.S.E. Daycare program is
always looking for ways to enrich the
lives of its students by offering them
different activities and programs.
“We wanted to offer our four-yearold students a language class because
the younger children are, the easier it
is for them to learn a foreign language,”
said Rosa Fuoco, B.A.S.E. Daycare
Manager.
Since September, children have
been learning to speak Spanish. The
B.A.S.E. Spanish Language and Drama facilitator, Rocio Tamez, spends
anywhere from 45 minutes to one hour
and a half with the students each week,
depending on the preschool program
schedule in each school.
“The children are introduced to a
wide variety of topics that often fall outside of a traditional curriculum, but that
can form a significant foundation for
See ART EDUCATION, page 5
Inside
Workshops Page 2
Kid Facts
Page 4
Art Education
Page 5
Activities
Page 6
Green Initiative
Page 8
Ped Days
Page 10
A New Partnership Page 12
Before and After School Enriched (B.A.S.E.) Daycare tutor Rocio Tamez offers her
Spanish Language and Drama program to Carlyle International Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6 daycare students every Wednesday.
their development and education going forward,” said Tamez. The children
participate in different activities, such
as drama, visual arts, music and singing, and dance.
“I’ve always worked as a teacher
and as a singer, so mixing the two came
natural to me,” said Tamez, who has
been teaching her Spanish Language
and Drama program in Montreal for
seven years in different preschool centres. “I started writing songs in Spanish to make it easier for the children to
learn the language,” said Tamez.
CARLYLE INTERNATIONAL
Carlyle Pre-Kindergarten students
participate in the Spanish Language
and Drama program every Wednesday. The first group of students have
Spanish class from 10:00 am to 11:00
am and the second group from 1:00 pm
to 2:00 pm.
“The Spanish program provides the
students with another opportunity to
be creative,” said Carlyle International
B.A.S.E. Daycare Technician, Angela
See LEARNING SPANISH, page 6
2
Touching Base, Winter 2014
professional development
B.A.S.E. Daycare Services Holds Annual Conference
Staff discovers new solutions
to childcare issues through
sessions and conversations
with their peers
Everyone’s Included!
Before and After School Enriched (B.A.S.E.) Daycare technicians and educators came together for
a professional development day themed “Everyone’s Included” on Friday, November 22, 2013 at the
Renaissance Centre des Congrès et Banquets in
Rivière-des-Prairies.
Daycare technicians and educators followed separate itineraries. Members of the non-profit organization Equitas Quebec, an International Center for
Human Rights Education, facilitated a full-day handson workshop with 28 daycare technicians. The workshop entitled, “Play it Fair!” introduced participants
to the Play it Fair! educational toolkit consisting of
more than 60 games that promote human rights values and peaceful conflict resolution for children ages
six to 12 years old. Daycare technicians spent most
of the day discussing children’s rights and values,
engaging in Play it Fair! games and coming up with
ways to implement the program into their daycare.
DISCUSSION, FUN AND LEARNING
Daycare educators participated in three workshops. Their day began with a lecture on “The Challenge of Behaviours—A Proactive Approach” given
by Dr. Karen Gazith, the Director of Formal Education at the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre and
an adjunct professor at McGill University. With many
years experience in special education, Dr. Gazith presented the reasons behind challenging behaviours
and provided practical strategies and techniques in
responding to them.
“Proactive is always better than reactive,” “Fair is
not equal,” and “Pick your battles” are three rules of
thumb that Dr. Gazith shared with a crowd of roughly
200 daycare educators.
Educators created lists of procedures and processes that they use when working with children who
have challenging behaviours. Dr. Gazith then encouraged everyone to create visual signs for these procedures and processes because they will help children
cooperate and self-regulate throughout their day.
Dr. Gazith also discussed how to use social stories to help children with Autism to better understand
changes or difficult situations, such as sharing. She
also went over ways to deal with meltdowns versus disruptive behaviours. For example, addressing
temper tantrums before they escalate into meltdowns.
Sheryl Smith-Gilman, an early childhood education professor at McGill and Concordia Universities
and Vanier College and a mentor to the B.A.S.E.
Daycare Program since 2011, facilitated the second
and third daycare educator workshops.
The workshop “Great Thoughts Can Come Together” prompted teams of educators to generate
practical suggestions responding to questions about
today’s children and classrooms, such as “When a
child is bored during activity time, and does not want
to participate, what can be done? Can you consider a
variety of approaches, from different perspectives, to
address this authentic situation?” and “If you had a
classroom on wheels, what five materials would you
include and why?”
The third workshop: “Advocate for B.A.S.E. Daycare—Quality Matters” focused on discussing and
developing a daycare philosophy that promotes
positive experiences for children in their extended
school programs. Participants were encouraged to
come up with a two-minute advertorial skit, using
props, promoting the B.A.S.E. Daycare Program.
Every team presented their skit for all to enjoy,
including the daycare technicians.
Jennifer De Freitas
Touching B.A.S.E. Editor
Clockwise from top: B.A.S.E. Daycare educators participate in the “Great Thoughts Come Together!” workshop where they discuss a question about children and
classrooms; A team of educators practice their B.A.S.E.
Daycare Program advertorial skit to present to the rest
of the conference participants; Educational Consultant Sheryl Smith-Gilman encourages an educator to
comment during the discussion period of the “Great
Thoughts Can Come Together!” workshop; B.A.S.E.
Daycare technicians work together on the “Draw it
Right” Play it Fair! game; Honore Mercier B.A.S.E Daycare educator Shawn gets in character for performing
in his team’s B.A.S.E. Daycare Program advertorial skit;
B.A.S.E. Daycare technicians participate in the “Flying
carpet” Play it Fair! game.
Turn to page 12 for more information about the Play it
Fair! toolkit: Find out how it was implemented during
a pedagogical day at John Caboto Academy Daycare
and read about the new partnership that the B.A.S.E.
program formed with Equitas.
bulletin board
Praise for Daycare Educators
General Vanier B.A.S.E. daycare educators invest a lot of time engaging students in art
activities. All artwork gets displayed on bulletin boards for everyone to enjoy.
General Vanier Daycare
As the technician at General Vanier
School B.A.S.E. Daycare, I need to say
that I have an amazing staff of daycare
educators. They are always on board
with any crazy idea I may have and
any activity I want them to try. They
are all team players and are always
working to make the children feel safe
and happy.
I have to say, that they do exceptional arts and crafts with the children.
Every week there is new artwork dis-
played on the bulletin boards. Staff and
parents are always stopping to take a
look at what new things daycare has
done. That is why I wanted to share at
least one photograph of what is being
done here.
We are always praising the children,
which is very important, but sometimes
someone needs to acknowledge what
a great job the educators are doing,
too!
Maria Iacono
Daycare Technician
Semaine des services de garde
Touching Base, Winter 2014
The EMSB B.A.S.E. Daycares
BANCROFT
Principal: Dorothy Ostrowicz
Technician: Monique Gaudreault
MACKAY
Principal: Patrizia Ciccarelli
Technician: Maria Revuelta
CARLYLE
Principal: Anna Maria Borsellino
Technician: Angela Crescenzi
MICHELANGELO
Principal: Anna Della Rocca
Technician: Teresa Federico
CEDARCREST
Principal: Nadia Sammarco
Technician: Georgia Stamatopoulos
NESBITT
Principal: Eleni Zervas
Technician: Pina Santino
CORONATION
Principal: Joanna Genevezos
Technician: Nancy Mancuso
OUR LADY OF POMPEI
Principal: Steven Rebelo
Technician: Nancy Salituri
DALKEITH
Principal: John Wright
Technician: Cynthia Racicot
PARKDALE
Principal: Maryène Perron
Technician: Filanthi Stavrianeas
DANTE
Principal: Ida Pisano
Technician: Angela Crispino
PHILIP E. LAYTON
Principal: Patrizia Ciccarelli
Technician: Maria Revuelta
DUNRAE GARDENS
Principal: Darlene Kehyayan
Technician: Tina Lanni
PIERRE DE COUBERTIN
Principal: Nicholas Katalifos
Technician: Mary Simeone
EAST HILL:
Principal: Myrianne Lusignan
Technician: Connie Parry
PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU
Principal: Michelle Stein
Technician: Mara Filippone
EDWARD MURPHY
Principal: Franca Cristiano
Technician: Giovanna Giuliana
SINCLAIR LAIRD
Principal: Marco Gagliardi
Technician: Pina Portaro
ELIZABETH BALLANTYNE
Principal: Otis Delaney
Technician: Chantal Riendeau
ST. DOROTHY
Principal: Rosetta Ortona-Perri
Technician: Sandra Petrillo
GENERAL VANIER
Principal: Sylvia Serchuk
Technician: Maria Iacono
ST. GABRIEL
Principal: Jim Daskalakis
Technician: Pamela Faustini
GERALD McSHANE
Principal: Nancy Richer
Technician: Loredana Pallotta
ST. MONICA
Principal: Irini Margetis
Technician: Paquita Nanton
HAMPSTEAD
Principal: Christina Chilelli
Technician: Cathy Agnello
WESTMOUNT PARK
Principal: Daniela Lattanzio
Technician: Deborah Mete
HONORE MERCIER
Principal: Donna Manos
Technician: Daniela Buttino
Deputy Director General:
Paola Miniaci
JOHN CABOTO
Principal: Lucy Buscemi
Technician: Tina Nardolillo
LEONARDO DA VINCI ACADEMY
Principal: Michael Talevi
Technician: Francesca Muro
Semaine des services de garde
L’Association des services de garde
en milieu scolaire du Québec (ASGEMSQ) nous invite à célébrer la Semaine
des services de garde en milieu scolaire
du Québec, qui tiendra du 12 au 16 mai
2014. L’objet de la Semaine est de souligner l’importance et la qualité de ces
services. Le mercredi 14 mai se tiendra également la Journée Reconnaissance du personnel en garde scolaire,
l’occasion idéale de mettre en évidence
l’excellent travail du personnel en garde
scolaire et le lien significatif qu’il partage avec les enfants.
Le thème de cette année est On
<<atout>> pour surprendre! Le service
de garde est un service essentiel aux
parents, une valeur ajoutée a la réussite éducative des élevés, un atout
dans l’équipe-école, une richesse humaine bien présente, primordiale dans
le processus de développement global
de l’enfant.
3
Assistant Director:
Luc Harvey
Daycare Manager:
Rosa Fuoco
Daycare Assistant:
Emily Meo
Produced by: B.A.S.E Daycare Services
English Montreal School Board
6000 Fielding Avenue, Montreal (Quebec) H3X 1T4
Website: www.emsbbase.ca (under construction)
Editor: Jennifer De Freitas
B.A.S.E Daycare Media Advisor
[email protected]
Contributing Editors: Johanna Donovan
Jodi Schwartz
4
kid facts
Touching Base, Winter 2014
Raising Financially Literate Children Begins Early
AN IMPORTANT LIFE SKILL
Perhaps just as important as reading and writing
these days is financial literacy. The skill of knowing
how to manage money will be a determining factor in
a child’s future quality of life. Will they live within their
means? Will they save for the future? Will they be
free from the stress of debt? It all begins quite early
in life and a large part of the responsibility of teaching
financial literacy lies with parents.
A study commissioned by the Canadian Institute
of Chartered Accountants of more than 1,000 16
to 22 year olds found “youths believe that responsible money management teachings lie largely in
the hands of parents.” The study also found that of
the 78% of youths who understood their parents’ financial situation, 83% felt this understanding helped
them establish their own money management goals.
THE ROLE OF THE PARENT
There are two ways parents can help their children
develop financial skills. The first is to be a good role
model of responsible financial behaviour. The second is to openly discuss financial matters early on
and on a regular basis. Not only will these frequent
conversations about money create positive learning
opportunities, they will lessen family tension and arguments over money matters.
According to Money on the Bookshelf: A Family
Financial Literacy Program developed by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, “financial
literacy is being able to set goals for using financial
resources, make plans and use the plans to meet financial demands and achieve goals.” To become financially literate, children need to have experiences
with money, which is why it is recommended to begin
teaching them about money when they are around
the age of five. At five years old, children can count
coins and also may begin coming home from preschool wanting things their new friends have, says
Robin Tobin, author of A Parent’s Guide to Raising
Money-Smart Kids.
Books exploring financial concepts
Money topics of conversation
1. Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, by
Judith Viorst: One of the financial concepts this
1. Wants vs Needs: Teaching children the differ-
book discusses is Decision Making: recognizing
and choosing different ways to do things or ways
to use resources.
2. A Bargain for Frances, by Russel Hoban: One fi-
nancial concept this book explores is Goal Setting:
choosing something to work for.
3. A Chair for My Mother, by Vera Williams: One of
the financial concepts this book discusses is Recognizing Resources: finding different ways to use
what we have, such as skills, talents etc., to get
something we need.
4. Just Shopping with Mom, by Mercer Mayer: One
financial concept this book talks about is Prioritizing: arranging things in order of their importance
to us to then decide what is most worth doing or
having.
5. My First Job, by Julia Allen: One financial concept this book includes is Recognizing Success: to
recognize the completion of a task, goal or problem solved with praise and encouragement.
6. Sheep in a Shop, by Nancy Shaw: One of the fi-
nancial concepts this book explores is Problem
Solving: finding the best way or ways to solve
problems as they arise and make things better.
7. Something Good, by Robert Munsch: One finan-
cial concept this book discusses is Positive Interactions: learning to use supportive words and behaviours to show that you recognize the worth of
another person’s ideas about money.
8. The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble With Money, by
Stan and Jan Berenstain: One of the financial con-
cepts this book includes is Allocating Resources:
choosing a skill, time or money to get something
that is needed.
Photo Credit: themint.org
9. The Purse, by Kathy Caple: One financial concept
ALLOWANCE TIPS
The main benefit of an allowance is to give kids a
chance to learn by trial and error. By handling money
regularly, children have access to various experiences: planning for the future, saving for a specific goal
and perhaps blowing it all in one shot and feeling the
consequences later when “pay day” is a long way
off. They also may spend their money on things they
later discover aren’t that great, a lesson unto itself.
Issues begin to arise when parents need to decide “how much,” “when to begin” and so on. When
to begin should relate to a child’s grasp of money
concepts. How much depends mostly on providing
learning experiences, such as giving enough so the
child can save for the future, spend a little and perhaps give a little to charity.
Another issue is “how often,” which will depend on
this book discusses is Saving: putting aside money until there is enough to buy something we want
that costs more than what we have at one time.
10. Tight Times, by Barabara Shook Hazen: In this
book the financial concepts of Decision Making
and Positive Interactions are present.
age. The younger the child, the more frequent, the
older the child, the more spread out payments should
be to encourage stretching dollars responsibly.
Should allowances be tied to chores? The best approach seems to be paying only for chores that go
above and beyond the basics that everyone already
contributes for the good of the family. Finally, don’t
cave and give advances!
Raising children to be financially literate will have
a big impact on their future spending, budgeting, investing and saving habits, which can in turn affect
ence between needs and wants will help them sort
through the bombardment of advertising messages they will encounter.
2. Smart Shopping: Show your child how to stretch
a dollar. For example, if you buy an item on sale,
put the coins that equal the full purchase price on
the kitchen table and then take away a number of
coins to show how many coins you saved. Next
show what you could buy with those savings, or by
adding just a few more coins.
3. Four Bank System: When your child reaches age
5 or 6, begin teaching that money can be used in
four ways: spending, saving, investing, and giving.
Create fun piggy banks for each one.
4. Money and Work: If children are paid for helping with larger projects around the house, such as
cleaning out the garage, they learn about taking
the initiative and earning.
5. Money is Limited: Let life teach financial lessons!
Don’t give in when your child has run out of money.
6. Money is for More than Spending: Many children
regard allowance as 100% spending money. Using
the four bank system will help them learn about
managing money.
7. Set Saving Goals: If your child really wants a new
bike, determine together how much they should
save each week or month before they reach their
goal. Money smart kids who stick to their savings
goals make things happen.
8. Save First Not Last: When allowance day comes,
have kids divide their money into their four banks
and into their saving jar first. You can only spend
money once, once it’s spent, it’s gone!
9. Keep a Money Diary: Keep a notebook for your
children and fill it in together keeping track of all
spending, saving etc. List what they bought, when
they bought it, how much it cost, and why they
bought the item. Then occasionally review and see
what their money habits say about them.
10. Resist the Urge to Splurge: Many families want
their little ones to have the best of everything and
shower the child with “things.” This sets abundance, more is better, as the norm for the child—a
dangerous message.
their quality of life and mental health.
For more information, tools and resources about
financial literacy visit themint.org, moneyasyougrow.
org, richkidsmartkid.com, earnmykeep.com, practicalmoneyskills.ca, enchantedcollar.com and rbcroyalbank.com/learning-money-with-leo.
Johanna Donovan
Touching B.A.S.E Contributing Editor
Leonardo Da Vinci Academy
Christmas and New Year’s Celebrations
The Grade 3 daycare students at Leonardo Da
Vinci Academy recently enjoyed time off during the
holiday season. They were asked about what they
did for their Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
Here is what they had to say:
“Every year we celebrate Christmas Eve at my
grandparents’ house. First we eat a big meal that
starts with hors d’oeuvres. Then we eat the rest of the
food that includes pasta, calamari, and fried shrimp.
This year, our dessert was special Santa Claus cookies. At 10:00pm, we opened our gifts. On Christmas
day we relaxed at home. On New Year’s Eve, we
had family from Florida over to our house and had a
countdown to midnight together.”
Victoria, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy Daycare
“We celebrated New Year’s Eve at a reception hall
this year. We ate and danced with family and did the
countdown to midnight together. Christmas day was
celebrated at Grandma’s house.”
Alexia, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy Daycare
“We had our special Christmas day meal with family. We went skating indoors with cousins and friends.
We had a big New Year’s Eve party at La Brasseria
with family.”
Matteo, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy Daycare
“We have a special Christmas Eve tradition. First
we open our gifts. Then we celebrate with family at
the Sheraton hotel downtown. We had a buffet style
meal. We ate sushi, calamari, shrimp, and pasta too.
There was also a chocolate fountain. I loved it. After
the meal, we went back to our house and continued
the celebration by opening a bottle of champagne.”
Natasha, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy Daycare
“We celebrated New Year’s day at my dad’s
house. We ate turkey with family and friends. Then
we played the Hedbanz game and watched the movie Avatar.
“Christmas day was at my mom’s house. My cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents came over.
We all ate a big meal and played Limbo.”
Chiara, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy Daycare
“We went to my cousin’s house for Christmas. We
celebrated by playing video games in the basement.
We also played pool. We ate a lot! We opened presents. Then we went to the movie theatre to see “Frozen” the movie.”
Francisco, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy Daycare
art education
Touching Base, Winter 2014
5
Art Education: Empowering Students
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
contributes to the construction of their identity and
the enrichment of their world-view and narrows the
gap between academic learning and the world,” said
Mancini.
The Arts are Alive @ EMSB showcase featured
different art exhibits including: En Masse—a mural
prepared in conjunction with students from Sinclair
Laird Elementary School in Park Extension and Lauren Hill Academy students from St. Laurent; Speak
Up EMSB—a spoken word poetry with students from
Marymount Academy in NDG and Laurier Macdonald High School in St. Leonard; a choral music performance from the award winning Royal Vale High
School in NDG Glee Club and a drum performance
by the Steel Pan Band from the Coronation Elementary School in Côte des Neiges.
The Before and After School Enriched (B.A.S.E.)
Daycare Program also set up a kiosk at the press
conference. Artist Sylvia Garland facilitated a sculpting workshop with five St. Gabriel B.A.S.E. Daycare
kindergarten students.
Creating creators of tangible ideas
Sculpture is at the core of the B.A.S.E.’s Creative
Arts initiative, along with printmaking, painting, drawing, beading, card making, drama and theatre, music, journalism, photography and creative writing.
Available in all of the EMSB’s 29 daycares, nearly
3,000 students from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6
participate in creative arts programs outside of regular scholastic hours. Twenty-eight B.A.S.E. technicians, 185 B.A.S.E. educators and 20 B.A.S.E. tutors
from Concordia and McGill Universities facilitate the
art programs with the students. B.A.S.E. also enlists
services from professionals in the industry, such as
Sylvia Garland.
“Through Garland’s vision and artistic talents,
B.A.S.E. students have been able to experiment with
different mediums where their ideas become tangible
manifestations,” said B.A.S.E. Manager Rosa Fuoco.
“With every child who Garland works with, she invites
them to become their own creators.”
Since 2009, Garland has guided hundreds of daycare students to create two-dimensional and threedimensional works of art that are displayed at the Administration Building in NDG. Garland and students
from 20 daycares collaborated on revamping the
atrium into a green space that houses vegetation and
sculptures. The facelift was completed over a period
of two years.
The first art installation is frames suspended from
the ceiling holding sculptures that represent activities
that students enjoy in daycare, such as animation,
photography, filmmaking, music and journalism. This
installation shows the intangible links that bind relationships in the daycares. The second art installation
is a woman tree, which represents every member of
the daycare staff who supports the children under
their care. The branches of the tree represent the
children in daycare.
ART THERAPHY
Garland believes art can be therapeutic for children. “If a child is experiencing anger, art allows him
Clockwise from top: Daycare students from St. Gabriel
participated in a sculpting atelier with local artist Sylvia
Garland and daycare technician Deborah Mete; Coronation School students play their steel pans; Sinclair
Laird Elementary School and Lauren Hill Academy High
School students collaborate on a mural with En Masse;
St. Gabriel Elementary School students put on a violin
performance.
or her to use that emotion and create something
positive,” said Garland. “They evacuate their
emotions.”
Garland also believes that with art, children develop great problem-solving skills that can be used
in all aspects of their lives. “They can be explorers,
innovators, thinkers and creators. They can take a
concept and visualize it in their minds—manifest it
and make it real.”
Jennifer De Freitas
Touching B.A.S.E. Editor
Michelangelo International
Raising Money for a Good Cause
This Christmas season, Michelangelo International B.A.S.E. Daycare staff and students decided to
give back to the community. On Tuesday, December
10, 2013, the students held a bake sale where they
worked very hard at selling their baked goods for a
good cause. The older children helped sell the baked
goods and were wonderful representatives.
Ms. Maria, one of our daycare educators, announced great news. The daycare raised a total of
$705 through the bake sale, which was donated to
the Welcome Hall Mission. The daycare educators
and students were very happy with the turnout and
support from the parents. The CEO of the Welcome
Hall Mission sent the daycare a letter thanking the
staff, students, and parents for their kindness.
Clara Guedes, Grade 5
Michelangelo International Daycare
Michelangelo International B.A.S.E. Daycare staff and students held a bake sale on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 to
raise money for the Welcome Hall Mission. A total of $705.00 was donated to the cause.
6
Touching Base, Winter 2014
extracurricular activities
Tennis: Adapted Sports Programs Beneficial for All
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
especially those who sometimes wander off, though
this particular game is very engaging.
Students in the class have a range of special
needs from language barriers, Global Development
Delay and Autism. Hannah Trotman, a Grade 4 student with sickle cell disease, says, “Tennis makes me
feel relaxed. It helps me with a lot of things.” Hannah
describes how one day she was sick but didn’t want
to leave because she had tennis in the afternoon. “It
makes me stronger,” she says. Her father, Jasper
Trotman, is happy to have her in the program. “Hannah has a painful case of sickle cell disease but when
she’s involved in this activity, it helps her circulation,”
he says. “It’s good to motivate children to be active
and what’s so good about this program is that anyone can become great at tennis.”
“Not all the children have Autism,” says Manning.
“Most have other special needs, such as motor planning issues, ADHD or Down Syndrome. The games
are meant to integrate all levels of ability,” he adds,
describing how students work on learning to share,
improve motor development and coordination, eye
contact, wait their turn, and socialize together in a
neutral environment. Manning makes sure to create
visual schedules so students know what’s coming
and strives to make transitions between games easy.
Always accompanied by at least one other instructor, Manning handles the attention issues of the students well, keeping them engaged and giving positive reinforcement throughout the class and at the
end during circle time. “Students get a passport each
class and a sticker,” he says.
When describing how they feel after playing tennis, Hannah and Grade 5 student Christina Phan feel
tired, relaxed and happy to have gotten their anger
out. “It makes you sweat,” says Christina.
“The kids look forward to every Friday,” says Daycare Technician Cathy Agnello. “Philippe is great and
keeps the interest of the children with lots of warm
ups and games. It’s more about fun than the actual
sport—there’s no winner or loser.”
“The kids improve in tennis skills they never
Clockwise from right:
Proset Autism Founder,
Philippe Manning, shows
two Hampstead B.A.S.E.
Daycare students how to
use a tennis racket during a Proset Autism class
on Friday, October 18,
2013; Hampstead B.A.S.E.
Daycare student Corey
Coombs enjoys taking a
swing in a game during the
Special Needs Tennis program on Friday, October
18, 2013; Philippe Manning
demonstrates a tennis
technique to Hampstead
B.A.S.E. Daycare student
Shayanna Shimansky during a tennis class on Friday, October 18, 2013.
thought they could do,” says Manning about the rewards of working with special needs children through
tennis. “It empowers them.”
“They’re excited to show you what they’ve learned
and practiced at home,” adds Roxane Carrier,
Manning’s assistant instructor. “It’s nice to see the
promise of an alternative approach to empowering
children with special needs.”
Proset Autism’s adaptive tennis program will be
offered in three more daycares beginning in January.
For more information on Philippe Manning and the
program, visit prosetautism.ca.
Johanna Donovan
Touching B.A.S.E. Contributing Editor
Hampstead
Learning Spanish
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Crescenzi, who also teaches the Pre-Kindergarten
program. “Through my observations, I can see that
the students enjoy learning a new language and
they take pride in letting me know what they have
learned,” said Crescenzi.
Although the children only have Spanish class for
one hour on Wednesdays, they speak Spanish at every opportunity they get.
“They will sing the Spanish songs that they learned
at any time during the week without being prompted,”
said Crescenzi.
Within a few months, the preschool children learn
how to say the numbers, colours, some basic animals and fruits and vegetables in Spanish.
“They will even greet Rocio in Spanish when she
walks into the classroom,” said Crescenzi.
SPANISH PROGRAM FOR ALL
Not only do the preschool students benefit from
the Spanish program, but so do all the other students in the B.A.S.E. Daycare program. Tamez
spends nearly two hours after school on Wednesdays facilitating a Spanish Club with children in
Kindergarten to Grade 6.
“Some students changed the day of their homework program so that they would not miss Spanish
class on Wednesdays,” said Crescenzi.
Tamez and the students are working on various
projects. They are writing Spanish song lyrics, they
are practicing choreography to Spanish music and
they are acting out skits in Spanish.
Tamez also plans on having the students collaborate on a large painting and start up a Video and Photography Club where the students can document all
of the activities they do in the Spanish Club.
“I am really glad that our daycare offers the Spanish
Hampstead B.A.S.E. Daycare student enjoying a pizza!
Top: Carlyle Pre-K students enjoy singing and dancing
in their Spanish class; Bottom: Carlyle Pre-K students
take turns answering Rocio Tamez’s questions.
program and I hope that we can continue to offer it
next year,” said Crescenzi.
Jennifer De Freitas
Touching B.A.S.E. Editor
Baking CluB: Here’s to healthy eating!
Hampstead B.A.S.E. Daycare recently offered its
Kindergarten and Grade 1 students a Baking Club.
B.A.S.E. Daycare tutor Morgan Pudwell facilitated the
Baking Club on Monday afternoons. She guided the
students to bake some scrumptious treats.
During one of the classes, the students made pizzas. Using tomato paste, olive oil, water, garlic, and
basil, they made their sauce and spread it over English muffins. Then came the green and yellow peppers
as toppings with a sprinkling of Mozzarella cheese.
Preparation took 30 minutes and 10 minutes to bake.
Many Hampstead staff members came to investigate the delicious smell wafting down the hallway.
The students were so proud of what they baked! They
were also quite excited to see their tomato paste transform into a delicious sauce. Their favorite part was, of
course, the eating! The students get to eat whatever
they cook. It is much more satisfactory to eat something you’ve produced on your own, than something
that’s been handed to you. Here’s to healthy eating!
Jodi Schwartz
Touching B.A.S.E. Contributing Editor
extracurricular activities
Touching Base, WIinter 2014
7
Cedarcrest
Left and above: Cedarcrest B.A.S.E. Daycare students
showing their leaf prints that they sent to Latvia.
PRINTMAKING CLUB
Printmaking is a great way to get your children’s
creativity to show. Cedarcrest B.A.S.E. Daycare offered its Grade 3 students a Printmaking Club from
October to December 2013. The class took place
in Room 11 on Tuesday afternoons. Extracurricular
Activities Advisor, Miss Robin Kelley, facilitated the
Printmaking Club from 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm.
One of the printmaking projects that we worked on
was an art exchange with other students who live in
Riga, Latvia. We sent them cards with leaf prints on
the fronts and our names somewhere on there, too!
They sent us back some different prints and trading
cards. Some had animals printed on them, some had
pictures, and some even had another language printed on them that we think might be Latvian.
DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
We used many methods in printmaking, like: mono-prints, relief prints and silkscreen prints.
We did the mono-prints by painting an ink picture
onto a piece of plexiglass. We got to paint whatever
we wanted to. Then we put a piece of white paper
over it and used the brayer to squish the picture onto
the paper. The brayer was made out of rubber and
looked like a mini paint roller. When we removed the
paper, we were left with a good drawing.
For the relief prints, we each drew some pictures
using paper and pencils. The ones that we liked the
best we traced using our pencils to press the design
into the styrofoam. Next, we put some ink onto the
styrofoam, covered it with a thick paper, and used a
barren to squish it all together. Barrens are made out
of banana leaves. The design from the styrofoam imprinted onto our white papers and we were left with a
nice piece of art.
The silkscreen prints were done using a big frame
with a fabric screen stretched in it. We put our white
paper underneath and our silkscreen frame on top.
There was a design on the screen that Miss Robin
made for us. Then we put some ink on top of the design and used the squeegee to lightly spread the ink
over the whole design one time. The squeegee helps
us squeeze all of the ink through the screen and onto
the paper. We squeegeed two or three more times
but pressing hard those times to make sure the ink
really covered it all through the design and screen.
“My favourite method was the mono-prints because we could draw our own pictures,” said Sarah
Pani in Grade 3.
“I loved using all of the new tools,” said Isabel Patrocinio, another Grade 3 student. “loved learning
what they were called and what they did,” continued
Isabel.
Miss Robin told us that she likes art because she
feels it is a wonderful way to express oneself. She
teaches art for the B.A.S.E program because children are exceptionally creative and she thinks it is
truly inspiring to watch them demonstrate their abilities through works of art. Her first art teacher was her
mother. She told us that she has had many art teachers since. We think she is very lucky to be able to do
and teach art to us, and we are also lucky to learn
from her.
We participated in the Printmaking Club to have
fun, to learn and to be creative. We got to bring our
art home to keep or give to someone else as a gift.
Have your son or daughter join a printmaking club.
They will have a lot of fun! Advice: your children will
not come home with all of the knowledge of art after
one class; it might take a couple of weeks.
Haidar Anderson, Sarah Pani,
Isabel Patrocinio, and
James Reid, Grade 3
Cedarcrest Daycare
Our Lady of Pompei General Vanier
St. Gabriel
Hockey Week, Hockey Fever!
Most of us love hockey, especially at the time of
year when our teams are vying for the Stanley Cup,
the most prestigious award in the NHL.
Our daycare class decided to celebrate our national sport by having hockey activities all week long
during the week of May 27 to 31, 2013.
We began the festivities on Monday by writing a
letter to our favorite hockey player, which was very
fun to do. We mailed the letters in hopes of receiving
a response!
On Tuesday we played a hockey game in the gym
to the theme music of Hockey Night in Canada which
made it very realistic and lots of fun. The next day we
watched hockey bloopers on the SMARTBoard in the
classroom. The bloopers were interesting and funny!
Thursday we played Hockey Jeopardy with different categories and real buzzers and that was a cool
activity! We ended the week-long celebrations by
having a Stanley Cup parade in the school yard. We
proudly sang, “Oh Canada” and raised the Stanley
Cup in the air. We had music and posters and took
team pictures as well. We had a hockey themed chocolate cake as a special treat. It was delicious!
Hockey Week was great because even the kids
who don’t like hockey got involved and we encouraged each other as a group and as a team. It was
awesome, amazing, fun, exciting, and fantastic!
HIP HOP CLASS
You should try Hip Hop because it is really good
exercise, but it doesn’t feel like hard work.
Every Thursday from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm Miss
Christine, a dance instructor and owner of the dance
company called H4L, comes to St. Gabriel Elementary School B.A.S.E. Daycare. She takes whichever
daycare students signed up for Hip Hop to the gym
and teaches them dance moves set to all different
kinds of music. Kids from Kindergarten to Grade 6 are
allowed to participate so nobody is left out.
We do Hip Hop to learn new dance moves, to have
fun and to be active. It gives us something fun to do
that also gets us moving instead of watching television like couch potatoes.
In Hip Hop class, we also get to play a cool game
called Freeze Dance. You dance to music and then
when the music stops you have to freeze. Whoever
doesn’t freeze in time gets kicked out of the game.
The last kid standing wins the game.
Sarah McLaughlin, a Grade 5 student, told us that
her “favourite song from Hip Hop class was “Everytime
We Touch” by Cascada.” Destinee Jutras, a Grade 1
student, said that the best part of Hip Hop was “playing Freeze Dance because when you freeze, you feel
like you are a statue.” “The Pop music our instructor
plays is great because it is fast, cool, and you can
breakdance to it,” said Alisha El Baraka, a Grade 6
student.
Hip Hop is fun and gets you to move around. We
love Hip Hop because dancing is awesome when you
are with your friends!
Grade 4 and 5 daycare students and
Ms. Silvia Veltri, Daycare Educator
Our Lady of Pompei Daycare
General Vanier students participating in a yoga class.
Relaxing in Yoga Class
Every Tuesday morning—bright and early—a
group of Grade 3 to 6 General Vanier B.A.S.E daycare students come together to do yoga. Ms. Lia, one
of the B.A.S.E tutors, teaches the group inside the
gymnasium. In these classes, students work towards
creating a mind and body connection. They also learn
to breath, stretch and strengthen their muscles.
It’s a great and non-stressful way to get the body
moving in the early morning, while still taking care of
your health in an easy manner. It helps their bodies
relax before their big school day begins!
The students are engaged and excited when working and playing games with their partners. They enjoy
learning new positions—often through the use of storytelling. Students also enjoy being given the privilege
to lead the group in our morning sun salutations!
Taking the time to breathe and relax feels good and
kicks their day off in a positive way!
Lia Grant
B.A.S.E. Daycare Tutor
Destinee Jutras, Grade 1, Sarah McLaughlin, Grade
5, and Alisha El Baraka, Grade 6
St. Gabriel Daycare
8
green initiative
Touching Base, Winter 2014
Garden Clubs Host Harvest Parties
Reaping the fruits of their labour
Late September is a special time of year in our
school gardens. As the students return from their
summer vacations, they discover that the tiny seedlings they started from seeds back in March, and
planted in the ground in May, have become full-grown
plants, many of which are ready to be harvested.
An age-old tradition, the harvest party celebrates
the hard work and good fortune of farmers and consumers in every corner of the world, so why not do
the same in our school gardens? Well, that is exactly
what we did. Over the course of one week, three
daycares hosted their own harvest parties.
Edward murphy garden
Edward Murphy B.A.S.E. Daycare enjoyed a large
pot of chili, salad, juice and dessert in their first year
garden. B.A.S.E. Daycare’s own Green Initiative Advisor, Marcus Lobb, hosted the event alongside Concordia University’s City Farm School Interns Kat Ying
and Margaret Fraser, who led the students through
the garden searching for spiders, and other hidden
treasures. While feasting on their bowls of chili and
salad, the students of Edward Murphy took a moment to sign our garden banner, leaving behind a
little note of their favourite memory in the garden this
past season.
Pierre de Coubertin garden
Pierre de Coubertin B.A.S.E. Daycare celebrated
their second year of gardening with iced tea and
green salad made by the students, games, and garden tours—which were hosted by the Garden Club
students—for any parents or other daycare students
who wandered into the garden for a look. The students were eager to share with their parents which
plants they had planted and to show off the new picnic benches. This was some of the parents’ first time
visiting the garden. They were really impressed by
the size of it, and all of the different plants growing
there!
City Farm School interns Camille and Christina
wrapped up their internships spending some relaxing time enjoying the garden and all of its wonders.
Members of the Garden Club also strolled harvesting
their efforts and taking some fresh veggies home to
their families.
st. monica garden
We ended our garden party week with a beautiful
day at Saint Monica. In their second year of gardening, the students of the Green Club signed a memory board, were awarded felt pins in the shape of
tomatoes, and harvested from the garden with their
friends and family members. City Farm School intern Don Patton helped serve the students food and
Clockwise from top left: Daycare students proudly sign the Edward Murphy garden board; Green Initiative Advisor,
Marcus Lobb, serving up some chili to an excited student at the Pierre de Coubertin harvest party; Ready to eat raddishes fresh from the ground at PDC Daycare; St. Monica Daycare students showing off their harvesting bags.
drinks, while B.A.S.E. Green Initiative Advisor, Marcus Lobb, helped students add their memories onto
the garden reflection board.
In total, nearly 100 students took part in this season’s garden harvest parties. We were pleased to
welcome a couple dozen parents to our gardens, and
were proud of the students who led them on tours.
A big thanks goes out to all the B.A.S.E. Daycare
technicians and educators who helped out with the
planning and execution of the harvest parties, and a
very enthusiastic thanks is needed for the Concordia
City Farm School interns who helped out all season
long, making these events possible in the first place.
The students are very proud of their achievements in
the gardens and their hard work is both visible and
edible!
Marcus Lobb
B.A.S.E. Green Initiative Advisor
B.A.S.E. Grows a New Green Team
New Green Initiative Experts
The Before and After School Enriched (B.A.S.E.)
Daycare Program welcomed three new members to
its Green Initiative team in September 2013: Green
Initiative Advisor, Marcus Lobb (precedes Maddie
Guerlain) and Green Initiative Tutors Teprine Baldo
and Laurence Fauteux (precede Sophia Kehler).
Marcus joins the B.A.S.E. team after working with
Concordia’s City Farm School for the past three years.
Marcus brings his experience in garden development
and education to the B.A.S.E. team by working with
principals and daycare technicians to establish new
outdoor educational spaces, like the ever increasing
garden sites.
The Green Team recently offered their Fall 2013
Green Club Program to 15 B.A.S.E. daycares. Each
week they took their environmental education program into schools as far west as St. Monica, all the
way up north to Our Lady of Pompei and eastwards to
Edward Murphy and Gerald McShane. They educated
over 170 B.A.S.E. daycare students on topics ranging
from tree identification, to leaf art, to cartography, to
birdhouse making.
Teprine and Laurence worked with the Green Club
curriculum that previous Green Initiative Advisor, Maddie Guerlain, and Green Initiative Tutor, Sophia Kehler,
had put together, bringing their own perspective and
expertise to the program.
Teprine brings with her many years of alternative
minded education expertise, along with her experiences co-founding the Point Saint Charles Alternative
School. Laurence has worked for countless urban agriculture organizations over the past five years, learning garden techniques and outdoor education with Alternatives and Action Communiterre.
The Green Team is currently offering their Winter 2014 curriculum to 16 B.A.S.E. daycares. They
are also busy writing grants and gearing up for the
Top left: Green Initiative Advisor, Marcus Lobb, facilitates
a workshop on how to safely use tools in the garden at
Pierre de Coubertin B.A.S.E. Daycare; Green Initiative Tutor Laurence Fauteux engages students in a discussion
about recycling at Michelangelo International B.A.S.E.
Spring 2014 session when they will be designing and
implementing new gardens at selected schools.
Marcus Lobb
B.A.S.E. Green Initiative Advisor
green initiative
Touching Base, Winter 2014
9
B.A.S.E. Builds Learning Spaces in Gardens
Creating better green spaces
As our 2013 season of gardening has come to a
close, some exciting upgrades have been made at a
number of our schools. The B.A.S.E. Daycare Green
Initiative Advisor, Marcus Lobb, met with daycare
technicians and wood worker colleagues of his to plan
out some important upgrades for the school gardens.
Gerald McShane B.A.S.E. Daycare’s new compost bin.
Gerald McShane garden
Gerald McShane added a three-bin composter to
their beautiful garden just as the season was coming
to an end and the garlic had been planted. The composter is made entirely out of cedar, and will be able
to handle all of the compost that is created by the garden and by their in-school composting program. The
cost of the composting bins ranged between $500
and $600 and took 15 hours to build. This includes the
purchase of all the materials needed for the bins, the
labour, design, and finally the delivery. The composter
is built so that once the organic matter has broken
down, you can easily open up the lower doors and re-
move the rich humus, which can then be added back
into the garden with a shovel.
A composter such as this is needed whenever you
have a large garden, as the smaller black bins cannot
hold the amount of vegetation that is being added on
a weekly basis. This composter should last upwards
of 15 years if taken care of. A worthwhile investment!
John Caboto B.A.S.E. Daycare’s new outdoor classroom.
st. monica garden
St. Monica made the biggest changes to their
magnificent garden with the addition of an outdoor
classroom, a two-bin composter, and two large planter boxes equipped with seating. The project, funded
by the EMSB Green Plan Award, will make available
seating for more than 30 students at a given time.
St. Monica B.A.S.E. Daycare’s new outdoor clasroom.
John Caboto ACADEMY garden
John Caboto Academy upgraded their planter
box garden by attaching seating to the side of their
planter boxes. For less than $200, they had created
an outdoor classroom capable of seating more than
20 students. As you can see in the picture above,
Green Club members are more than enthused about
the recent additions!
In the summer, the benches will give the students
a place to sit, where there is shade because of the
pergola overhead. The students will also use the
surface of the planter boxes to write on when taking
notes about the plants.
A much needed large scale composter was also
added in order to handle the needs of such a large
educational garden. The composter was designed
so you can remove the front panels once the organic
matter has broken down into valuable compost. This
detail makes for easy shoveling by the students. The
entire project of the composter, outdoor classroom
and planter boxes cost approximately $4,000. The
project would usually cost more, but Marcus’ friends
worked for less for the greater good of the community.
The work took two men a week to complete.
After a month and many long hours, the outdoor
classroom was completed.
Students returned to school at the beginning of
September and were thrilled to have the new structures in their playground; educators supervising the
outdoor playtime before school told us that they had
already devised a system for sharing the space, as
both older and younger students are eager to use it.
The outdoor classroom was constructed as part
of a greater beautification initiative in the works at
Pierre de Coubertin Elementary, which also includes
a colourful new outdoor mural painted by a former
student of the school. The plants in the outdoor
classroom and the other new planter box-and-bench
structures in the schoolyard complement the educational garden on the opposite side of the school,
which was designed and built by Marcus during the
spring of 2012.
Marcus Lobb
B.A.S.E. Green Initiative Advisor
Pierre de Coubertin
Beautification: Outdoor classroom
Pierre de Coubertin Elementary School started
the 2013-2014 school year with an exciting new outdoor classroom space. B.A.S.E. Daycare Green Initiative Advisor, Marcus Lobb, worked with carpenterbrother duo Nick and Greg Prescott to design, build
and plant a beautiful outdoor classroom space that
seamlessly blends raised planters with seating for
more than 70 children.
The outdoor classroom cost approximately
$27,000, which includes the labour, planning, designing, materials and plants. Highlights of the
project include the arched entranceway, the timberframed pergola and the gardens, which feature almost 60 varieties of flowers, grasses and shrubs.
At the center of the space is a Japanese Lilac tree,
which will provide shade to students during the sunnier months.
Approximately 60 hours was spent meeting,
preparing and planning for the outdoor classroom.
Above: Circular bench faces Japanese Lilac tree in
PDC’s outdoor classroom. Right: PDC’s beautification
project includes a large and colourful outdoor mural.
Marcus Lobb
B.A.S.E. Green Initiative Advisor
10
Touching Base, Winter 2014
pedagogical days
Bancroft
Mini Golf and Giant Blocks
On Thursday, November 21, 2013 Bancroft Elementary School had a pedagogical day. B.A.S.E.
Daycare students played Mini Golf and Giant Blocks
all day long. Daycare Technician, Madame Monique,
set up the activities for us inside the gymnasium.
MINI GOLF CHALLENGE
There were nine stations for the Mini Golf game.
Each station had a mini hole on a mat with obstacles.
All of the students had fun participating in the Mini
Golf activity. They had to swing the club and try to hit
the ball into the hole in the mat. They had to do it in
the least amount of swings. They had to do all of the
stations but they didn’t have to be in order.
“My favourite part was working together in groups
with my friends,” said Carla Gomes, a Grade 4 student. Carla also told us that the hardest stations were
the most fun because you really had to try hard. Her
favourite station was the one where there was a swirl
obstacle and you had to try to put the ball inside the
hole at the end of the swirl.
GIANT BLOCKS GALORE
The Giant Blocks activity was cool, too! There were
a whole bunch of pieces and we got to build anything
that we wanted to.
“Building forts with my group and then knocking
each other’s forts down was my favourite part of the
activity,” said Grade 3 student Melina Dussault. “You
should be careful after building your house out of giant
blocks because if you don’t stop moving when you go
inside of it, it could fall on top of you,” warned Georgia
Kalomiris, a Grade 4 student. “The giant blocks were
amazing because I had never seen such big blocks
before and I didn’t need as many pieces to build
my giant house as I would with Legos,” said Yvette
Bogardis in Grade 4.
We do these activities to have fun, to learn to
play new games, to experience sportsmanship, to
learn how to build things, to be creative and to work
Our Lady of Pompei
LIFE-SIZE CHESS GAME
Our Lady of Pompei Elementary School had a
pedagogical day packed with activities on Friday,
November 29, 2013.
One of the activities planned for the Grade 5 and
6 students was a life-size chess game facilitated by
B.A.S.E. Daycare Tutor Miss Jodi Schwartz.
The Life-Size Chess game was set up in the gymnasium. When we walked in, Miss Jodi asked us
to take off our shoes so that the huge chessboard
wouldn’t get dirty.
Then we split into two teams. I was on the white
team and the other team was black. Most of us already knew the rules of regular chess so Miss Jodi
had us teach the rest of the group who didn’t know
how to play. You had to try and get the other team’s
king in a position where he couldn’t move. That is
called checkmate and it ends the game.
Everyone put on a paper sandwich board tied together with string that had chess pieces and their
names printed on them so that we became the chess
pieces. Miss Jodi helped us line up in the order of
a chessboard and then we started to play. Just like
in regular chess, the white got to go first. Our game
ended in a stalemate.
My favourite part of the activity was the moment at
the end of the game when everyone tried to get the
opposite team in a checkmate. I liked this part best
because it was exciting and competitive.
This activity was arranged for us to amuse us, to
learn how to play with our teammates and to learn
the rules of a new game. It was an awesome experience to play on such a big board, and it was fun to
become the chess pieces.
I hope that we can play again soon!
Alexandra Macdonald-Neves, Grade 6
Our Lady of Pompei Daycare
Top right: Our Lady of Pompei Grade 5 and 6 daycare
students contemplating their next move; bottom right:
the black team are ready to win!
Top left and bottom right: Bancroft Daycare students
playing mini golf; top right and bottom left: Bancroft Daycare students playing with Giant Blocks.
together. We hope that we get to have another fun
pedagogical day like this one again really soon!
Melina Dussault and Jos Nevison-Reyes, Grade 3,
Yvette Bogardis, Carla Gomes,
and Georgia Kalomiris, Grade 4
Bancroft Daycare
Michelangelo
Michelangelo International Daycare students play a
giant Snakes and Ladders game facilitated by Dynamix.
Dynamix Pedagogical Day
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014, Michelangelo
International School had a day off and Dynamix came
to entertain the daycare students. Dynamix is a company with a big staff whose job is to visit schools,
bring different games and have fun with the kids.
Dynamix brought giant games like Snakes and
Ladders, Kerplunk, Perfection and a few other obstacle course games to play in the gymnasium. Students
were put in teams and each team accumulated points
with each game. The team with the most points at the
end chose their gift from the treasure chest first.
In the giant Kerplunk game there was a tower with
balls at the top of it and sticks in the tower. The students pulled out the sticks to allow the balls to fall
through and the teams had to grab as many balls
as possible. All the games involved teamwork, team
spirit, respect and of course…fun!
Afterwards, we had two art activities: a tree project and a bird project. We also had a baking activity, where daycare educators and students made
brownies. We ate the brownies with milk. When the
scheduled activities were over, we all had playtime.
Clara Guedes, Grade 5
Michelangelo International Daycare
pedagogical days
Touching Base, Winter 2014
11
John Caboto Academy
Life Size Clue GAME
On Friday, November 15, 2013, from 9:30 am to
12:00 pm, some of the John Caboto Academy Daycare students played two games of Life-Size Clue.
We played it inside the library because it is a bigger place to move around in than the other rooms
in our school. It was thought up and put together by
B.A.S.E. Daycare Tutor Miss Jodi Schwartz.
There were six different characters who wore six
colours to help us tell them apart. They were: Colonel
Mustard (yellow), Miss Scarlet (red), Mrs. Peacock
(blue), Mr. Green (green), Professor Plum (purple),
and Mrs. White (white). We separated into teams
of twos or threes and each team was a different colour. Also, there were nine rooms to travel between:
the kitchen, the computer room, the daycare, the
ballroom, the study, the billiard room, the gym, the
conservatory, and the library. There were six musical instruments that could be missing. They were: the
guitar, the violin, the recorder, the triangle, the bongos
and the trumpet. We had to figure out which one had
been taken.
The costumes that we dressed up in made us feel
like we were actually characters in the game and that
the game was real life.
We played the game by rolling the dice and moving the correct number of spaces. When we got into
a room we could do one of two things. We could ask
a question to all of the players mentioning one musical instrument that we thought was missing, one
person who we thought took it, and one room that
we thought they took it from. If we were wrong, one
person showed us one of their cards from our question. If a player has a card, it means it can’t be inside
the mysterious confidential envelope. Or we could accuse someone using the same three things (person,
room and musical instrument). If we were wrong then
we are out of the game so we had to be careful and
100 per cent sure before we accused anyone.
We spoke to some kids who played the Life-Size
Clue game. Samantha Cacchiotti, a Grade 4 student,
said that her favourite part of the game was “the costumes we got to wear because it made [her] feel like
[she] was actually in the game.” Another Grade 4 student, Chianna Christiano, said that the best part for
her was when she got to “accuse someone, because
you never knew if you were right or wrong, and you
could have been kicked out of the game at any time.”
Clockwise from top left: Chianna Christiano, Grade
4 dressed up as Colonel Mustard; the playing board;
B.A.S.E. Daycare Tutor Jodi Schwartz instructs students
on how to play; the six Clue characters’ costumes.
Massimo D’Amico, a Grade 4 student, told us that he
liked playing in the gym room the best because he
got “to play with the ball with [his] friends.” Grade 4
student, Matteo Tatta’s favourite part of the activity
was when he “got to wear a mustache because [he
doesn’t] have one.”
We participated in this activity to have a fun time,
Elizabeth Ballantyne
Elizabeth Ballantyne B.A.S.E. Daycare students eagerly
paint their pumpkins.
Spooks and Pumpkins Activity
Elizabeth Ballantyne Elementary School had a
pedagogical day on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. Every student that came to school participated in the
daycare Spooks and Pumpkins activity.
We were split into two groups. The first group was
made up of the older kids and the second group was
made up of the younger ones. We played in the gymnasium and had our snacks until the activities were
set up and ready for us to start.
Group one began the day creating beautiful artwork in the classroom beside the gym. We decorated
pumpkins for Halloween with paint and recyclable materials. First, we painted our pumpkins in whichever
colours of paint we wanted. Then we dried them with
blow dryers at the drying station that was set up for
us in the hallway. Next, we made hair for our pumpkins out of pieces of paper and used plastic spiders as
to learn a new game, to practice teamwork, to enjoy
ourselves and to make new friends. It was a cool idea
to make Clue into a life size game and it was a great
opportunity to be able to play it!
You should ask your daycare educators to get Miss
Jodi to come facilitate this amazing pedagogical day
activity at your school! Remember: Don’t cheat because you will pay the price!
If you want to have as much fun as us, join the
B.A.S.E. Daycare program.
Samantha Cacchiotti, Chianna Christiano,
and Ivana Petrocchini, Grade 4
John Caboto Academy Daycare
Michelangelo
decoration that we could recycle later.
While we were doing all of that, group two went
off to the gym to play games. There was a race with
obstacles and a game where kids had tails attached
to them and we had to pull them off. Whoever had
collected the most tails by the end of the game won.
Then we switched so that everyone could have a
chance to do each activity.
Next, we had a break for lunch. After lunch, group
one went outside to play, while group two wrote Halloween stories and shared them with the rest of the
group, and then we switched again.
When both groups had finished sharing their stories we all went into the hallway. There was a table
that had covered bowls on it. We put our hands inside
the bowls to feel the creepy and slimy things inside
without seeing what the things really were. The gross
things in the bowls turned out to be spaghetti, oatmeal, and Jell-O.
To end this great day, we each got to take home a
little bag filled with candies and stickers.
We went outside to play and when we came back
inside we watched the movie Ghost Busters while
eating popcorn.
The daycare staff arranged the Spooks and Pumpkins activity for us so that we could participate in an
activity with our friends, and also because it was almost Halloween. It was great fun for all grade levels
to join in on.
Caroline Dahdah, Grade 5,
and Mika Rabinovich, Grade 6
Elizabeth Ballantyne Daycare
Michelangelo International Daycare students had a blast
when they spent a pedagogical day at Funtropolis.
Funtropolis Pedagogical Day
For Michelangelo International School’s third pedagogical day, the B.A.S.E. Daycare students went to
the most fun place ever in Laval. They spent their day
at Funtropolis from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm.
Funtropolis is a fun amusement center where there
are lots of games—like giant spider webs where the
students have to climb all the way to the top. There
is also a giant maze with slides where children can
spend their time running in, out and through each obstacle. Ball-o-City is another game that is just so awesome! These are the games that Grades 2 to 6 students played in during the day. The Kindergarten and
Grade 1 children mostly played in the ball pit area. It
was a fun day.
Giancarlo Laurieri, Grade 5
Michelangelo International Daycare
12
Touching Base, Winter 2014
a new partnership
John Caboto Academy Students Learn Their Rights Through Play
An engaging human rights Toolkit
The rights of our children are very important to us at
B.A.S.E. Play It Fair! is a Human Rights Education
Toolkit designed by the organization Equitas to promote human rights, non-discrimination and peaceful
conflict resolution within non-formal educational programs for children. The toolkit is a perfect complement to the amazing work our daycare educators already do with the daycare children when it comes to
teaching them about values. Play It Fair! is an excellent resource pairing interactive activities with discussion questions that promote positive values among
children.
On Thursday, November 14, 2013, B.A.S.E. Daycare Advisors Jennifer De Freitas, Robin Kelley and
Marcus Lobb facilitated a Play It Fair! pedagogical
day at John Caboto Academy, organizing a fun-filled
day of human rights education for its daycare students. The students played many different games
and contributed to thoughtful discussions afterwards
about respect, inclusiveness and cooperation. Each
discussion included questions about what they
thought of the game, how they felt playing it, how they
might have felt in playing a different role in the game,
and how they might act if they encountered a similar
situation in class, on the playground or at home.
FUN AND THOUGHT PROVOKING GAMES
The morning began with groups of Grades 3 to 6
students participating in six different value-promoting
activities and discussions, earning a sticker for each
value they covered. Highlights included the game
Crocodile, which had the children moving from lily
pad to lily pad while trying to escape the crocodile.
Each time the crocodile appeared he took away a lily
pad or two, slowly reducing the number of lily pads
to one. Afterwards the children talked about how
they tried to share the lily pads as best they could,
even though they knew eventually there would not be
enough space for everyone.
Another popular game with the older students was
Saturn and Jupiter. In this game the two planets were
defined at either sides of the room and a direction to
go to one planet was called out based on something
the children know about themselves. For example,
“Go to planet Jupiter if you have brown hair; Saturn
if you do not.” During the discussion the children said
they liked this game because they got to know more
about each other. They had an interesting conversation about why it’s great to have friends who are
similar to you as well as have friends who are different
from you. One impressive surprise everyone learned
from playing this game was that most of the students
knew three or more languages!
In the afternoon, the Kindergarten, Grade 1 and
2 children participated in an age-appropriate version of the morning activities. The children played a
game about inclusion and exclusion, using their nonverbal communication skills to find teammates within
Clockwise from top: Students created a collective work
of art illustrating children’s rights; Students participate
in the “I Have a Disability” game, which teaches students to respect and include others; B.A.S.E. Daycare
educator, Ms. Rose, puts stickers on students’ forehead
as part of the game “Inclusion...Exclusion;” B.A.S.E. Advisor Jennifer De Freitas engages students in a conversation about respect for diversity and accepting others.
the group. They also played a game called “I have
a disability” in which they had to transport a small
ball across the room to a bucket and drop it in, with
various senses and limbs restricted. The children really took to this challenge and the discussion afterwards revealed their understanding of disabilities,
particularly those related to mobility.
INCLUSIVE ART PROJECT
To conclude the day, all of the students worked
together on an artistic project. The students were divided into teams and given a value, large paper and
paint with which to create large banners proclaiming
the values they had learned about throughout the
day. The final posters reflect the great teamwork of
the students.
The Play It Fair! pedagogical day was a wonderful success. The activities not only kept students
engaged and moving, but thinking and talking about
how to put the values of the day into action outside
of school. Jennifer, Robin, Marcus and the rest of the
B.A.S.E. team look forward to holding more Play It
Fair! Pedagogical Days throughout the school year.
Robin Kelley,
Extracurricular Activities Advisor
B.A.S.E. and Equitas Announce Partnership on Global Television News
B.A.S.E. and equitas partnership
The English Montreal School Board’s B.A.S.E.
Daycare Program formed a new partnership with the
organization Equitas, the International Centre for Human Rights Education, in November 2013. B.A.S.E.
spokesperson, Jennifer De Freitas, and one of Equitas’ Program Officers, Laura Butler, appeared on
Global Television News on Friday, January 17, 2014
to speak about the Play It Fair! program.
In 2004, Equitas implemented Play It Fair! in day
camps and after school classes. It aims to teach
children about human rights, respect for diversity
and peaceful conflict resolution through games and
discussions. Butler said, “The Play It Fair! program
is really a Montreal success story. It started here in
the city and now we are in 24 communities across
Canada.”
What does a partnership like this mean to the
EMSB? “Play it Fair! was implemented last November to teach children about basic values,” said De
Freitas. “What’s great about it is that the children
have fun with these games. They are really learning,
but having fun at the same time.”
The topic of the digital evolution came up during
the conversation and both were asked if they thought
the strategy behind Play It Fair! was needed now
more then ever, with the Internet and social media
being so open to showcasing violence and terrorism.
Butler agreed: “We see the importance around issues of diversity and inclusion coming up more and
more and children are being expected to deal with
quite serious issues around bullying and identity. I
think it speaks to tools such as Play It Fair! which are
holistic and can equip children with critical thinking
skills and human rights based knowledge through
which they can analyse the situations that are happening, whether its internationally or in their school
and local community. They can learn to think about
how they can take action themselves or take responsibility to make that community a better place.”
When asked if the new partnership has anything
to do with the Quebec Charter of Values, De Freitas
replied, “the Play It Fair! program was implemented
because everyone plays a role in anti-bullying. By
teaching children early on that we need to respect
everyone’s rights and values, maybe we can prevent
bullying and discrimination from happening.”
The EMSB B.A.S.E. Daycare Program has so far
The Play it Fair! Human Rights Educational toolkit for kids.
trained 30 employees in the Play it Fair! program, with
more trainings scheduled in the upcoming months.
Brittany Witt-Segal
Touching B.A.S.E. Contributor