Literacy: Express Yourself!

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Literacy continues to explore new ways for everyone to express themselves through their own words. The reading and writing of famous quotes this semester evolved into Words of Wisdom which were shared at Celebration. We can all take a page from their books when they say: Don't underestimate me!”; “Keep Trying your Best!” ; “Don't let your guard down.  Speak your mind.  Let it be Free.  Speak from your Soul”; “Don't underestimate the power of Friendship” ; “Life is like a Rollarcoaster” and “Be Happy. We are all one and special in our own way.”

 

Reading continues to be the primary focus in
Literacy and it has been noted that
comprehension of the stories has been
improving. An open environment
encourages everyone to ask the
meaning of new words in addition to
pausing and reviewing what they are
reading out loud. What continues to
be encouraging is the assistance clients
give to each other whether it's helping
with a difficult word or showing
someone what is being read out loud. 
The respect they have for their peers
continues to inspire the educators and
once in awhile it is caught in action.

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The clients have been asking to read “real life stories” including stories about Toronto so Spring Semester promises to fulfil those wishes and looks forward to “trying their best”.

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Math - Spending! Saving! Sharing!
 

Math has had a great send off from the last few weeks of the Winter Semester! We focused entirely on “Money” for the final ‘Store’ of the Semester.

Clients worked hard on the concepts of budgeting their earnings from the Choice Chart;  Spending, Saving and Sharing their money. These concepts were then encouraged through practice at the final ‘Store’ for the Semester.

During the week of The Store, Clients visited The Bank one final time to receive their last deposit from the Semester. Roles for working at both The Store and The Bank were decided on the Wednesday, with a slightly different set-up to before.

Clients were split into two shifts; the first shift working and the second shift attending The Bank and The Store to purchase, save or share their money. When the second shift was through with their shopping, the first shift switched with the second shift, enabling everyone to be part of the structure, giving more ‘Role’ variation for the workers at The Store.

The Clients loved it, showing off their purchases, engaging enthusiastically within their ‘Roles’ and using the concepts of Saving and Sharing as well! All of the donations shared or gathered were from the Clients choosing to volunteer their own earned money. It was wonderful to see! Congratulations to everyone for a job well done!

Please Note: All Shares or Donations will be combined with those collected during the Spring Semester, matched by CTT, then sent to a non-profit organization or cause of the Clients’ choosing. The presentation will also be a highlight at the Celebration Day Party of the Spring Semester.

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Science: Food, Farming and Fun!

 

As the semester came to a close, a visit and presentation from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario was an opportunity to learn about food and farming in the context of milk and dairy cows. Clients learned about the process of cow to carton milk production and were also able to create their own delicious ice cream!

We wrapped up the semester with a farm design project. Utilizing spatial planning skills. This activity helped to tie together all of the concepts covered throughout the semester. The clients engaged in discussions about how the plants and animals are grown and raised on a farm, and how this will result in the production of a wide variety of foods.

My hope is that clients are able to take what we learn in science and apply it on a daily basis. We have seen, through discussions in circle as well as at lunch time, how aware everyone is of the types of food they are eating and also the sources of these foods. As we move into next semester, I hope to support these discussions further by looking at food production on a global level. More to come!

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Art: Winter Blahs Blocked By "Bowls" of Excitement!

 

The Art Projects completed by the end of the Winter Semester caused a lot of excitement for the Clients! Focusing on minimizing the Winter blahs, everyone definitely exceeded their goal!

Is it a hat or a bowl? The Clients made the choice! No matter the choice, their right to Self-Expression is always there! Clients own their artistic achievements! Everyone knows their art comes from themselves and is OKAY!

All who attended the Celebration Day Party were very impressed with all of the achievements in Art. They thought the “bowls” were gorgeous! Comments ranged from, “We’re going to frame that!” to “She produced beautiful art works that gently encourage and challenge her to reach out of her comfort zone.”

Looking forward to the Spring Semester, we will be studying Canadian Artists, their style and influence, and creating an interpretative replica for each! We will proudly begin with our own Resident Artist, Ian MacIntyre!

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Skills-at-Will: Freedom of Association; The Journey Begins

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During the last two weeks of Skills-at-Will, Clients were encouraged to reflect on all three Rights and Responsibilities; Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Equality and Freedom of Association.  Reflections became goals or ‘aims’ and title pages were created as a visual representation of what we all wanted to work on into the Spring Semester. Clients were able to share with their groups and chat about their new goal as well as others already realized within Prep to Step-Up.

In our last week of the Winter Semester, Clients discussed, shared and wrote down what Prep to Step-Up means to them. Answering questions that provided the opportunity for Clients to reflect on their journey at the program covered what aspects they enjoyed and what changes they might choose to make. They also expressed moments that were happy, difficult, funny, new and similar!
 

Winter Semester concluded with our beautiful Celebration Day with Clients sharing publicly, kind words to one another and presenting the Certificates of Success. This Semester was one of personal growth and reflection as Clients realized their responsibility toward the Freedom of Association as it not only pertained to themselves, but to “Others” as well.  During the upcoming Spring Semester, we look forward to continuing this journey through our affecting “The World” all the way to the “Finish Line”!