TLA TIMES
Bulletin for Traditional Learning Academy Distributed Learning and Homeschool Families
The concept of “education” can mean different things to different people. I think
that most of us can agree though, that a couple of education’s main goals are
helping students to understand the world they live in, and enabling them to discover their talents. Working toward both of these goals will hopefully prepare children
to be capable, fulfilled, and active members of society. This is a very general
statement about the overarching goals of education, and loosely paraphrases a
statement by author and education leader Sir Ken Robinson in his book “Creative
Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education”.
How then do we best work toward these goals? As Mrs. VanderHorst and Mr. Borley both note in their newsletter pieces below, the world is filled with wonder and
children come by a sense of wonder quite naturally. Our job as parents and educators is to continue to nurture and foster this sense of wonder and inquiry for as
long as possible. Most certainly, foundational skills are essential. Children need to
work on developing skills of numeracy and literacy all the way from kindergarten to
graduation. But learning about the world we live in doesn’t have a set roadmap.
None of us can know everything about everything, or even a little bit about everything...but we can all learn quite a bit about some things. Finding out what our children want to learn a lot about, what they have a talent for, what they are curious
and wonder about, is central to the purpose of education.
Oftentimes children go through periods of malaise, where they may complain to
parents of feeling uninspired, bored, uninterested, and perhaps lacking that sense
of wonder or feeling like they don’t have a passion or a strong interest in anything.
This can happen at any age but seems to happen often in early adolescence,
around ages 10-14 (and beyond). If you are faced with a situation like this, one
strategy I’d suggest is trying to have your child focus on a hands-on activity; cooking, puzzles, carpentry, sewing, music, painting, Rubics cubes, robotics,
etc...anything to make the learning experiential, real, and tactile. Try introducing
something new: sign them up for karate, or encourage them to start a small garden for example. Anything to take the focus of learning away from theory and into
practice, with the hope that engaging with real things in the world will re-activate
their sense of wonder and help them find and nurture talents they may not know
they have.
April 2017
IN THIS ISSUE:
Pg. 2– Just Wondering
(Home)
Pg. 2- Ever Wonder
What the Point of Easter
Is? (Tech)
Pg. 3– What is the Difference Between Poor
Vision and Vision Processing? (LSS)
Pg. 3– Don’t Lose Wonder (Online)
Pg. 4– Wonder (TLA in
the Regions
Pg. 6– Curriculum Corner
As we move into the last few months of the school year, and hopefully better
weather ahead, I’d encourage all of you to make plans to enjoy the outdoors, and
to continue the great work you are doing of focusing on the joy and wonder of
learning.
Gabe Linder, Principal of TLA
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JUST WONDERING
BY STEVE BORLEY, TLA HOME
At each report card session I am blessed to read of the joy
experienced by many students as the world of reading is opened
to them. Suddenly, a new reader has before them a world of stories and information. A sense of wonder and excitement seems
much more typical of a Kindergarten and early primary student
than it does of a grade nine student. Why is that? Has a grade
nine student really learned so much about the world around them
that there’s very little left to explore?
Can one look at the amazing patterns (https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaPmYYWsixU) on the ocean floor
created by puffer fish and not marvel? The question of why students lose their wonder at the same rate as they progress through
the grade levels was one of the motivating factors behind the
province moving to a new curriculum. I would welcome any stories
of renewed wonder and enthusiasm for learning that may have
been caused by an increased emphasis on personalizing your
child’s education around areas of interest. And if you haven’t taken huge strides in personalizing your child’s education, I strongly
encourage you to explore that opportunity.
This last week, I was able to explore an area of interest to
me - automation and robotics. I’m not amazed by robots or by automation itself. What I do wonder, though, is where our world is
headed and who is leading the show. I remember some discussions back when I was a young man which asked why Hollywood
was going the direction it was going - more violence, more sex,
more gore. Hollywood wanted to sell its product, but people weren’t pushing for more and more of these things - always, Hollywood
was pushing the envelope a bit further as each year’s shows
came out. Someone in Hollywood had a vision of where society
should go, and moved society in that direction with a product movies and shows.
Do you have a vision of where society should go with robotics and automation (self-driving cars, automated factories,
computer tellers in MacDonalds and the grocery stores)? Do you
have any hope that your child will have a responsible vision in
such areas?
The only way that I foresee we can have any impact on the
future of such tech in our society and the world is to prepare and
be leaders in such areas. Does your child know how to code, to
program? Will your child be conversant with working alongside
TLA Track and Field Meet!
June 16 - Save the date - TLA will be hosting our annual track and field meet at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. We’ll
need parent volunteers! Stay tuned as practice times will be
scheduled in the weeks prior to the event, and announced in the
news forum.
Ever Wonder What the
Point of Easter Is?
By Edward Hewlett, TLA Tech
Christians make a big deal about Easter, but
the point of it tends to be somewhat lost these
days in the general clutter of Easter egg hunts
and chocolate bunny sales.
Since Christians believe that Jesus claimed to
be God incarnate (the Creator of the Universe
actually born and living as a human being, one
of His own creations), the Christian understanding that at Easter Jesus not only died but
also rose from the dead has at least four hugely important implications for us:
1. It is evidence that Jesus' claim to be God,
the Creator of life itself, was actually true.
Death held no ultimate power over him.
2. It means that the almighty Creator God actually understands us in the fullest, most intimate
way possible, experientially, with an experience
of the human condition ranging all the way from
birth to death.
3. It reveals to us that our Creator's intention for
us is that death is not the end of everything for
us, but rather a new beginning - which gives all
of our experience of life new and lasting meaning.
4. And, perhaps most importantly of all, it reveals to us the depth of God's love for us, that
our Creator was willing not only to become one
of us but also to suffer and to die as one of us and then to reveal His ultimate intentions for us
in His resurrection as one of us. Easter is the
reason that Christians are confident in making
their ultimate assertion that God is love.
At TLA, we understand and are deeply grateful
for the fact that many of the students who have
been entrusted to our care are coming to us
from family traditions other than Christianity. As
Christians, we honour and respect that trust and at the same time, as educators, we hope
that everyone can come to know and understand the original and actual point of Easter and possibly even come to appreciate the deep
sense of wonder and joy with which Christians
respond to this celebration of the resurrection
of Jesus.
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What is the Difference Between
Poor Vision and Vision Processing?
By Rachel Fordham, LSS
may struggle with the words on a
page moving in and out of focus,
Many children start to have vision is- causing headaches and nausea when
sues as the expectations for reading
reading. Tracking words across a
and written work become more inpage becomes much more challengtense, often in grade 3 or 4. Instead
ing when children progress from picof working on coloring and crafts in
ture books to chapter books. If trackthe early primary years, students are ing is an issue, it is frustrating to try to
now asked to read lengthy passages, make sense of a story with the senwrite stories, and track from the board tences broken up. The brain must also
to their work space. There are fewer be able to take in information from
issues with transferring from far to
both eyes to build a clear picture of
near in a home school setting, (e.g.
what is seen.
transferring notes from a whiteboard
at the front of a room to a notebook)
Children who struggle with vision probut it is a useful skill to have as stucessing are often easily distracted,
dents prepare for high school and post fatigued, and struggle with academ-secondary.
ics. It is a challenge to complete written and reading tasks in particular, but
If children start to complain of headpages with several math questions are
aches, squint, or rub their eyes, paralso difficult. If your child’s optomeents check in with an optometrist to
trist recommends vision therapy, there
see whether perhaps glasses might
are a couple of vision therapists in the
be helpful. If the child has poor vision, Fraser Valley who can suggest eye
they are unable to see clearly close up exercises to improve your child’s abilor far away, and this can easily be re- ity to process visual information. Visolved with glasses. However, there sion therapy tends to be less than a
are times when children have 20/20
year in length to complete and imeye sight but still have vision isprovement is often quickly noticeable.
sues. Vision processing is the ability I have had several students complete
of the brain to process the information vision therapy, as well as my own
taken in by the eyes.
daughter when she was in grade 4. I
would be happy to answer any further
To target one aspect of vision proquestions if you would like more inforcessing, motor function, the eye has
mation about vision processing or vimuscles that control the ability to fosion therapy
cus, track, or work together. Children ([email protected]).
“Our
mission is to
partner with parents and
students to foster
quality learning at home. Our
“family first” motto
ensures that our focus
is on the learner within
family-centred
educational programs.”
- TLA Mission Statement
TLA Fine
Arts Festival
June 6 and 7
6pm - 9pm - TLA is
hosting our first Fine Arts
Festival at the Clova Theatre, with music and dance
performances, an art gallery display, and drama
performances.
Sign-up form is here:
https://goo.gl/W2kEVF
Don’t Lose Wonder
By Mary-Anne Vanderhorst, TLA Online
“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder…..may you never take one single breath for granted.” These lyrics are
from Lee Ann Womack’s song I Hope You Dance and in this month's write up my focus is on wonder and questions.
My three year old daughter is constantly asking me ‘why’ questions. Some days it can be very tiring and I just want
to answer her with ‘because’. However, I have felt convicted that I need to answer her questions, I need to treat
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these questions as teachable moments and feed her desire to know and understand why things are they way they
are. If I don’t answer her now, she might stop asking questions and I do not want that. I want her to be curious
and I want her to learn how to ask good questions (for now, we will stick with the why). We live in an amazing
world and there is so much to learn about.
The new curriculum emphasizes critical thinking skills, a life skill that we use every day. I recently shared with my
team The Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet. The questions are broad and can work with many topics. They are
great conversation starters and fillers. Parents, I encourage you to dialogue with your children and help them ask
good questions. Students, talk and discuss with your peers, parents and teachers. It is my hope that you truly
never lose your sense of wonder. Keep asking questions!
A TLA Alumni Offers Tips To Graduating Students
Andrew Krump, who graduated through TLA, is now in his third year of business studies at the Beedie
School of Business at SFU. He's just finished a group project with three other business students as an
exercise in project management.
The site they created is basically a compilation of blog posts, written by Andrew and his group members,
to introduce graduating high school students to what university is like. It is filled with tips and information
on how to succeed in your first year as you transition from high school to university.
Here's the link: http://talkuni.com/
Wonder
Upcoming Events
By Jen Duncan, TLA in the Regions
Monday, April 24
“Look at everything always as though you were seeing
it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on
earth filled with glory.”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Sign up form and information here
When is the last time you stopped in your tracks and
actually took time to simply look and wonder at something.
I was driving home late last night, and it slowly
dawned on me that I was staring directly at the dancing pattern of the Northern Lights on my northbound
journey. I was somewhat shocked at how long it had
taken me to realize that Fort St. James hadn’t suddenly expanded in size, and that the green, playful
lights were not a human construction. I pulled over to
the side of the dark highway, turned off the confusing
radio program I’d had on (“Ideas” on CBC), and simply gazed up at the sky. After a short time, I
April 25 - 27 TLA
Meet your grad class of
2017!
Teacher Conference
Please note your teacher's response time may
be delayed on these days
May 23, 24
LOL Days
Stay tuned for more information
May 25
TLA Graduation
June 6, 7
TLA Fine Arts Festival
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resumed my journey.
Wonder is lost in the pace of my normal life. The frenzy of answering demands, both on
digital devices and from my non-digital family members, leaves little time to gaze, contemplate, consider and simply wonder at the world around me.
How do we reclaim this ability? For me, I think the answer is in two things.
First, the Arts. Today it was deliberately taking the time to teach an art class celebrating
the artist Claude Monet. His unique view of colour and light, and his ability to transfer this
vision to marvellously huge canvases challenges me to take a closer look at the world
around me. Asking children to play with these colours and create their own original works
helps to expand my sense of wonder. Personally, even more than the wonder evoked by
the visual arts, is the deep satisfaction I feel when I read an idea perfectly expressed in
text. I could fill this article with the quotes I found expressing, far more beautifully than I
ever could, the mystery of wonder. Google “quotes about wonder” and feed your own soul
if you are feeling uninspired! I supposed we must all find that which answers our hunger
for beauty, and since beauty is such a subjective concept, each of us will have a unique
experience of what that is.
Second, get outside. The winter is finally fading (after a horrendous Easter snowfall!!) and
soon the fiddleheads will peek up through the soil, and the morel mushrooms will appear. Birds will begin their singing, and the hummingbirds will begin to arrive en
masse. Already the huge flocks of swans and geese that Vanderhoof is famous for have
gathered on the Nechako River and are beginning their journey back to their northern
summer homes. And yet I can forget this miracle. Sometimes the “getting things done” of
school takes over and I forget the gift of learning at home - we can be flexible! The sun is
shining! Let’s get outside - what comes after that will take care of itself. A whole conference by the Children & Nature Network has just concluded in the lower mainland discussing what we intuitively know to be true! We (both adults and children, but especially children) are healthier when we spend more time outside.
When we do so, the wonder comes naturally. We don’t have to plan or arrange to be
amazed - we simply have to be intentional about making time to be there, fully present.
“Children live in a world of dreams and imagination, a world of aliveness… There is a
voice of wonder and amazement inside all of us; but we grow to realize we can no longer
hear it, and we live in silence. It isn’t that God stopped speaking; it is that our lives became
louder.”
― Mike Yaconelli
Four TLA staff and 24 students are currently on a field trip visiting Ottawa and
Montreal. Most of the time is being spent in Ottawa, experiencing the culture
and history of our nation's capital. The first few days of the trip have been incredible, with visits and tours including: Parliament, the Supreme Court, the
Governor General's residence, Canadian War Museum, and so much more!
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CURRICULUM CORNER
BY REBECCA SHULBA
WONDER. When I was given this month’s theme, I couldn’t help but think of the
fantastic book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Have you read it yet?
As described on its book jacket, “August Pullman was born with a facial difference
that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th
grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—
but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER begins
from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her
boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s
struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.”
Auggie has a favourite teacher, Mr. Browne, who gives his students a daily
precept, otherwise known as words of wisdom. Three of my favourite important precepts that students can take from this book are:
1.Life brings bad days but I can get through them.
2.I will have arguments with my friends but it’s important to resolve
them because friendships with good people are worth it.
3.How I treat others is important.
While I think you will want to purchase your own copy and read it again and
again, we DO have it available in the TLA library to loan out. This book is a
natural kickstarter for conversations about how we treat others. I highly
recommend reading this book aloud as a family so that you can take the
time to have those conversations about all the precepts it suggests in regards to empathy, compassion, and KINDNESS. This novel quickly became a bestseller and started a anti-bullying movement called Choose
Kind. Read more about it here.
There are so many resources online to go with Wonder. Here are just a few :
Discussion and Teacher guide
A list of WONDER-ful activities
Question cards with 97 prompts to get your child thinking deeply about the book during and after reading - $4.95
An awesome final project : create a yearbook for Beecher Prep
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