Literacy: 
Reading About Our Canada 

​

The past few weeks of reading have been fast-paced.  We’ve learned about the entire country of Canada including our great capitol of Canada, Ottawa, the Provinces and Territories and, of course, the capitol of Ontario, Toronto!

As Toronto is Adam Van Koeverden’s birthplace, it was perfect timing to learn about the big city just prior to meeting Adam during his visit with us at Prep to Step-Up! Adam shared with everyone, that “[His] dedication to Kayaking created a community similar to what you have here at Prep!”

In addition to learning about Canada, the Clients read about our Canadian Firsts; how Canadians have played a major role in shaping the world. From Jonathan reading about the first tabletop hockey game to Alvin reading about the first Superman comic; from Madison reading about the first chocolate bar to Brittany reading about the first healthy canola oil (big shout-out here to Science which brought out lots of laughter), who knew Canadians were leaders in so many discoveries? Prep Clients do!!

Everyone is looking forward to venturing outside of Canada in Literacy with many more discoveries to be revealed! Clients’ portfolios contain customized notes of what they have been reading so they can refresh their knowledge to keep up with their reading over the summer months.  Visiting the Public Library has been encouraged to check-out the great selection of books they have already been exposed to.

Writing has been woven throughout Literacy with Fill-in-the-Blank pages to ensure comprehension of the material they read.  Clients have also continued to journal notes about their friends at Prep. “Helpful, Nice, Fun, Happy, Good Friend and Polite" are only a few characteristics the Clients admire in each other.  More will be shared on Celebration Day.

​

Math and Technology / DPA: 
Currency, Coins and Customers
 

Continuing with our exploration of Canadian Currency, Clients completed their own sets of Canadian coins and bank notes.  We have used these sets to explore how we use our money in practical situations such as The Store and various problem-solving activities and games.

The Store, held during Week 4, went very well!  As well as being customers, Clients worked on a shift-based system to ensure that everyone had a chance to practice working at one of the many positions in The Store.  All the Clients did an amazing job and drew on their theory knowledge of handling money and customer interaction, as well as adapting to the set-up in changes of the new products for sale.

In the coming weeks, Clients will explore another country to discover differences and similarities in how that country’s customers interact with their own currency.

​

Science and Geography: 
Maps, Flight and Food!

This Semester has been flying by! After creating our World Maps, we began to take a closer look at the origins of the foods we eat.  Investigating common food labels showed us that the food in our grocery stores comes from near and far.  This contributed to discussions about important terms including ‘import’, ‘export’ and ‘transportation’.

One of the highlights this Semester has been our day for Canadian cooking! Everyone worked together to follow the steps in a recipe and to measure out the ingredients.  Using Canadian milk, eggs, canola oil, blueberries and real maple syrup, we all enjoyed a delicious pancake treat!

Most recently, we have focused on the science of aeroplanes and flight; not only a method for food transportation but also as a tool for travel and exploration. With our handmade passports, we are now ready to take flight and travel around the world to different destinations. At each step, we will learn more about the places, the people, and of course, the food!!

​

Art: 
A Brilliant Start to Our Canadian Artist Series!

The first artist studied in Our Canadian Artist Series, Ian MacIntyre, taught us how to shade and highlight our “Midnight Glow Pansy” acrylic paintings to learn about depth and definition. Clients demonstrated patience and resilience during these lessons while adding details to their finished artworks. The results were beautiful and will be proudly displayed at the Spring Semester Celebration Day on June 13th.

This past week we also learned about Canadian Artist, Nathalie Parenteau. Clients replicated her “Red Fox” and were given free reign to create fantasy foxes using pencil crayons.

​

Skills-at-Will: 
How Do We Get to Where We Want to Go?

​

This week in Skills-at-Will, Clients focused on our special visitor, Adam Van Koeverden.  The Rotation spent time learning about his career and brainstorming questions they wanted to ask him during his visit with us at Prep to Step-Up!

Later in the week, Clients explored where they would like to travel. We researched information and shared this within our groups.

Our Rotations showed great interest in learning exactly ‘How’ to travel to places both near and far and ‘What’ this would look like in their everyday lives. We are starting with taking an imaginary trip to Toronto. ‘How’ will we get there?  ‘What’ will we do?”  “How can we take the train?” These are all questions we will answer through research, discussion and role play.  Later on, we will use our new skills to learn about travelling further away. We are having a great time exploring and travelling!