Spring Semester
Officially, the start date of April 7th of the Spring Semester has been cancelled or deferred until we are given the all-clear from the Canadian government.
Once a new date has been secured we will inform you, take a week to plan then resume. Realistically, it may not be until September or later.
As far as we know, anyone that participated at Prep to Step-Up is currently healthy and have returned safely to Canada.
This is an unprecedented and unpredictable time. Please know we are here to support you as much as we can. If you have questions or we can assist you in a proactive way, we will do our best to be helpful.
Contact either
doreenmccall@gmail.com or
prep.stepup@gmail.com to stay connected.
Step-Up News:
May 9th, 2020
A great big warm happy hello!
From All the Staff at Prep to Step-Up
Note to Families
Let's Check-In!
A Message from Erica
Hi everyone! I’ve been thinking of you all and hope you and your families are doing well and staying safe. I also hope that we’ve all been able to use our mindfulness strategies to help us through this time. I’ve been keeping busy teaching online piano lessons, getting out for lots of walks, and rediscovering my love of yoga. I’ve also been checking in on our fishy friends at the church; they are doing well! Can’t wait until we can all see each other again! In the meantime, I would highly recommend looking up some ‘chair yoga’ videos on YouTube. This is a great family activity that incorporates physical activity, mindful breathing exercises, and also offers the familiarity of our yoga sessions at Prep.
This is a resource on the Royal Botanical Gardens that you and your family might enjoy. Nice to connect with nature and celebrate the arrival of Spring!
https://www.rbg.ca/things-to-do/rbg-at-home/
Take care, Erica
A Message from Cassandra
I miss you all! I have been going for long walks every day for exercise but also in an effort to remain positive! The sunshine in the last few weeks has helped lift my mood.
While we cannot explore different sights right now, I thought a great resource online was: 360cities.net. From deserted ghost towns to cities with high rises, you will get to explore it all without leaving your home!
There are also live cams of zoos and aquariums at https://www.inhalton.com/5-best-zoos-offering-live-video-footage-of-animals
Cassandra
An Activity from Aleska
A Message from Aleksa
This has been an interesting time for everyone. I celebrated my birthday quarantine style and I wish anyone else who did the same a big happy birthday! I was fortunate to spend a large portion of the day outside in the sunshine and fresh air, taking walks and sitting on my patio.
What has been helping me stay positive and busy is to follow a routine by setting time aside for different activities! Keeping a routine can be difficult right now while being at home, but can help us cope with these stressful times by knowing what comes next and by including the important things that make us feel good.
Every day I go on a walk and pay attention to everything around me - the weather, the animals, the flowers, the sky. I have included a Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt sheet to try out. It would be fun to look out for those things on the list and count how many you see. Each day brings different beautiful sights, especially being in Spring with new flowers blooming all the time. I enjoy talking to my family about what I see on my walks, especially the number of dogs and birds I encounter!
https://khankids.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041004572-Printable-Activities-for-Parents-and-Teachers
Stay safe everyone!
Aleksa
A Message from Anne
Hearts in the Window
I hope this newsletter finds you all well and safe! As most of you know, I am a hugger so staying at home and physical distancing are hard for me. I miss human contact so much, especially cuddling my granddaughters.
To show my gratitude to the frontline heroes taking care of us all, I have created a window full of hearts and put blue ribbon on my porch railing.
It’s very easy to make hearts out of bright coloured paper and stick them onto the inside of a window. Fold a piece of paper in half and draw a curved line on the folded side. Cut along the line. Unfold and you have a heart!
Why not make lots of all different sizes? You can paint them or use crayons, add glitter or pompoms. Have fun and remember you all have a piece of my heart!
Stay safe, my friends!
Anne
A Message from Doreen
The first blossoms of Spring always make me happy! They tell us that Winter is ending and the new life of Spring is coming to reward us. Looking at these 2 photos of fruit blossoms from different parts of the World, we see that they are not so different. This can remind us that the people who are looking at them in different parts of the World see them with similar eyes and are rewarded, too! We are all neighbours, no matter where we live. We are all going through similar things together. Even though we may be on opposite sides of the global World, we can both feel confused, sad, anxious and a little impatient? Knowing that we can both see the same beautiful flowers can also remind us to feel calm, happy, trusting and hopeful together.
Keep Learning
I know we can’t be near to our neighbours right now but that doesn’t mean we are on our own. We are seeing and feeling the same things. Once the physical distancing has been lifted, think of all the stories we’ll be able to share with each other! Look around yourselves and take in all the senses of Spring; the smells, the colours, the changes! In the moment remember the story, write or tell it often, then you can share it with us all when we get back together! Stay Safe and Have Fun!
Doreen
