Good luck paper and scissors, we’re going to win every time.
May 10, 2024–Jan 5, 2025
rbcm.ca/stonehenge
Growth Mindset
What springs to mind when you think of the word “grow?”
As a parent, there is a good chance you might think back to the teeny baby you held in your arms at the hospital and marvel at the fact they have developed into a much taller, more independent version of themselves seemingly overnight.
It might bring to mind doctors’ appointments where you asked a medical professional if your little one should be crawling or walking or talking yet. Perhaps you recall telling your child to get down off their tippy toes as you marked their height on the chart in your kitchen. Maybe it’s the (now forced) photo you take of your child on the front step every first day of school with their brand-new backpack and fresh-out-of-the-box shoes.
These are obvious examples, but we all experience growth well past the time our bodies have stopped getting taller and far after we have surpassed all the expected developmental milestones.
One could argue that some of the most significant growth in an adult’s life comes after they have a child, and it is up to them to guide their kid through every step of their developmental journey.
When it is in our hands to ensure our child grows and develops into a healthy adult, we expand our horizons and learn
more than we ever have. In our quest to help them grow, we advance our own knowledge vastly.
I often feel like my nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son have already taught me more than I will ever teach them.
Whether you are adding a new member to your family, growing a garden, building confidence with a new sport, expanding your skills by learning to play an instrument or taking steps to eat healthier, you develop with your kids. You can’t help it and you wouldn’t want to.
Growth is a mindset, but it is also a wonderful inevitability. We live, we learn, we grow—together.
– Stacie Gaetz
Parksville Beach Festival
The Parent Support Services of BC offers workshops, parent support, a help line, events and many other resources for parents, grandparents and other caregivers. Access their services to help you on your parenting journey, or find out how you can help by lending your support. parentsupportbc.ca
This five-and-a-half-week Beach Festival in Parksville runs until August 18. The Quality Foods Sand Sculpture event and contest is the main attraction but visit anytime to see buskers, eat delicious food, shop the markets, take in a concert and experience other family fun. parksvillebeachfest.ca
Parent Support
VIRL Summer Reading Club
Garry Oak Learning Meadow
Nestled within the grounds of Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites, the Garry Oak Learning Meadow invites your little one to unveil new treasures on the rugged coastal landscape. Connect with nature and gain some valuable hands-on experience that will be exciting for the whole family. parks.canada.ca
Until September, visit the awardwinning Malahat SkyWalk attraction for a variety of amazing events, activities and special offerings for your family. You can also enjoy extended summer hours as well as a new free shuttle service to and from downtown Victoria. malahatskywalk.com
I ❤ ISLAND
Spinnakers Soda & Sparkling Water
Local Victoria brewpub Spinnakers has been brewing beer and other spirits since 1984—now they have a fantastic line of unique sodas and sparkling water for everyone to enjoy. These delicious beverages are a great addition to all your summer picnics and BBQs. spinnakers.com
The Evolution of
Vacation
Seeing many donning their fashionable sunglasses and sipping on their iced coffee drinks from Starbucks, it’s obvious that shorts, t-shirt and flip-flop season is in full swing. Just last week, it felt like we were bringing out the Christmas decorations and trying to find those ugly Christmas sweaters that resurface every December. Whether it is the Christmas season or summertime, one thing is constant in our lives, the desire to vacate our day-to-day existence and escape to a tropical or magical destination, even if it is just for a week.
I often reminisce about “the good ’ol days.” When summertime meant hoping on your bike and pedalling as fast as you can to the local corner store. You and your friends would grab a Slurpee so big that it would instantly spike your blood sugar to concerning levels, and top that off with a bag of sour keys. You would sit on the curb outside the corner store and talk about nothing in particular, watching people, cracking jokes and wondering where the rest of your gang was. Back on your bike, you would race to an unsuspecting member of your posse’s house. You’d play video games, go on the trampoline and stage epic water
gun fights that all the neighbourhood kids would get into. You were free … you were wild … you were on “vacation.”
Those simple times do not last forever, and soon riding a bike doesn’t seem as attractive as driving a car. You need to drive to get to that job you have now and there are no more Christmas, spring or summer breaks. Those friends you spend time with do not meet up at the corner store anymore. You have all graduated to local watering holes in the city, where you can enjoy some liquid courage, loud music and free spirits.
Life is busy now. New responsibilities. Greater expectations. And the journey into adulthood. Nonetheless, that does not extinguish the need for a break; the need to disconnect from it all and melt away somewhere. You and your gang get together and plan a week of adventure and sheer chaos in some remote land far from here. Flights need to be booked, accommodations need to be confirmed and invites to as many people as possible need to be sent out. Afterall, you need to soak this all in. This is going to be epic—you are going on “vacation.”
Pretty soon, there are little people in the picture. What
happened? Suddenly, you are teaching them to ride bikes, but you are not allowing them near Slurpees or sour keys. Are you kidding me? Those are not organic. They will not be hanging around any corner store any time soon. And a trampoline? Well, it better have netting all around it and only one person on it at a time. Life is exhausting, you crave that word … vacation? But hold on, that term is no longer in your vocabulary. It’s not a vacation any more, it is a “family trip.”
There are now 17 suitcases you must load into multiple vehicles at the crack of dawn and head to the airport hoping you have your passports for you and the little people. Boarding passes? We have those, right? Did we put the house alarm on? Did we let the neighbours know we are going to be gone so they can watch for Amazon deliveries? The 30-minute ride to the airport is quite possibly the most stressful time in your life.
The flight is delayed. They lose your luggage, and the resort has you in the wrong room with a broken air conditioning system. Of course, the missing luggage has the home pharmacy that you packed, and your five-year-old gets bit-
ten by some sort of mysterious exotic creature that causes his arm to swell like a bratwurst. This is the best “vacation” ever … I mean, “family trip.”
When it’s all said and done, you come back home and settle into your routine again. You tell everyone that will listen to you the trials and tribulations you had during your “time off.” But it does not matter, does it? Because those little people just got to experience the greatest week of their lives. They loved every minute of the “family trip” and will have zero recall of the lost luggage, the broken AC or the piles of Amazon packages that awaited you when you came back. Afterall, they got to be free … to be wild … to go on “vacation.”
Great job, parent! You just created some more “good ’ol days….”
Christopher Theeparajah works in International Trade for the Canadian Government and is a newcomer to Vancouver Island. He lives in a zoo, along with three monkeys, a dog and his wife, and enjoys anything sports related.
These Days & the Days Yet to Come
These days, you recite a French poem at the dinner table about a dog who doesn’t like cats or bunnies or chickens. I don’t understand it. But I understand that you think you’re telling a silly story, while your teacher thinks she’s teaching you French grammar and negative sentence structures.
These days, you wiggle your front tooth with your tongue, and I wince as it flaps about. These days are the days before your toothless grin, before a gap in your smile, before a new toothy smile filled with adult teeth. These are the days you hope you’ll lose the wiggly tooth at school so you can get a plastic toy chest from the office. We’re in the days when I learn they’re called “bell teeth.” We’re
still years away from your molars falling out, just past your first cavity, a few weeks shy of the first lipstick you’ll wear at your first dance recital.
We’re in the days when you can spell “love” and “Mama” and “Dada” and “to” but still need help spelling “from” and “Grandma” and “Grandpa.” I know you could spell “Nanna” if you tried— but you always ask me anyway.
We’re in the days of your first Scholastic book fair when you call the catalogue a magazine and say. “We don’t need it anyway because I know what I want.” And I know what you want too. You want Bluey’s Vacation and I know I’ll buy it for you because your Bluey stage will run its course soon and then I won’t
be able to watch cartoons about a dog mom who just can’t relax on vacation as hard as she tries.
We’re in the days of an H-shaped band aid over the stitches you got from a skating accident and before the days when we know what the healed scar will look like. We’re in the days of palms covered with popped blisters from the monkey bars and Dada explaining what calluses are. We’re in the days of being able to skip monkey bars but “only on the moving ones.” We’re in the days of “did you get blisters when you were a kid, Mama?”
We’re in the days of hot lunches, of mac and cheese and banana smoothies. We’re passed the days when I didn’t know I was supposed to pack a
fork. Passed the days when I arrived at 12:10pm instead of 12pm to volunteer to put out the lunches. We’re in the days of Grandma and Grandpa feeding you Annie’s pasta and Nanna feeding you frozen Amy’s lasagnas. We’re in the days of Oikos lime yogurt and chopped up sausage and koala cookies from Costco. We’re in the days where I still pack carrot sticks even though they always come back uneaten.
These days, I try not to think of the days when you won’t call me Mama anymore and no longer ask “What do you like better: Spaghetti or lasagna? Unicorns or horses?” The days when girls teasing won’t just be sticking out tongues. The days when you won’t give me running hugs and crawl into our bed for Cocomelon in the morning. These days, I worry I won’t remember whether you preferred Blippi or Meekah.
I wonder what will happen to the drawings in that bank box I meant to do something with. I wonder about the boys in your class and if one day I’ll have to avoid eye contact with their moms when we run into each other in the pool change room. I wonder who you’ll be once soccer teams have try-outs. I wonder what life will be like when the pancakes I make aren’t purple from the sprinkles you put in. I wonder about the days beyond riding pretend unicorns to school. The days when we no longer read “Schtoompa the Funny Austrian” and “Glip and Glop, the Greek Painters.”
Will I ask, “Do you remember when you called excavators snorts?”
“Do you remember how I had to explain Taylor Swift to you?”
“Do you remember that poem about dogs who didn’t like cats or bunnies or chickens?”
“Do you remember your negative French sentence structure?”
Is that what I’ll ask? Or will I just ask, “Do you remember how much I love you?”
Julia Mais is a policy and communications professional in Victoria. She looks for beauty in the everyday through writing, photography and the outdoors. She lives in a messy, cheesefilled home with her husband and young child.
The Future of Family Life: A New Addition
Ilove my family, and while I would never tell my husband this, I sometimes imagine what life would be like if we had another child. It would cause a lot of changes in our lives and change can be scary, or uncomfortable, but it can also be beautiful. If you are ready to grow your family, and you’re wondering how to help your children adjust to a new child, parent or living situation, these books might be a good way to start the conversation.
The first book is And J.J. Slept by Loretta Garbutt and illustrated by Erika Rodriguez Medina (Kids Can Press, 2022). This book celebrates the beauty of adoption and what home looks (and sounds) like. In And J.J. Slept, little baby J.J. arrives at his forever home and is greeted by his very loud, and very loving older siblings. One weekend, all four of J.J.’s siblings are away, and his home no longer sounds the way home should sound. If you are planning on welcoming a child through adoption, this book might help
you spark a conversation about what will be different and what will stay the same when they arrive. For ages 3 to 7.
Another book about the introduction of a baby to a household is Rising by Sidura Ludwig and illustrated by Sophia Vincent Guy (Candlewick Press, 2024). This story celebrates the art of waiting and resting. The narration follows a Jewish family as they make challah and prepare for Shabbat, while the illustrations focus on their lives as they prepare for a second child. If you love to bake with your children, Ludwig has shared her challah recipe so you can make it too. For ages 3 to 7.
Another story about family growth is Always Your Stepdad by Stephanie Stansbie and illustrated by Tatiana Kamshilina (Doubleday Books, 2024). This book, which is written from the perspective of a little girl’s stepdad, shows how, when families expand and blend through marriage, the love the parents feel for each other can expand to include the children
in wonderful ways. It lets children know that even though their stepparents might not have been there from the beginning, they can still have a solid and amazing relationship. For ages 3 to 7.
Family is Family by Melissa Marr and illustrated by Marcos Almada Rivero (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2024) has bright and bold illustrations that celebrate all the different ways a family can look. They might have lots of siblings and one mom, like the crocodiles, or a protective big older sister, like the tigers, or two moms, like the chickens. For ages 3 to 7.
The final story, Ten Beautiful Things by Molly Beth Griffin and illustrated by Maribel Lechuga (Charlesbridge, 2021), is a much sadder tale than the other ones. In this story, Lily and her grandmother are driving across Iowa from Lily’s old home, to her new one with her grandmother. While the story doesn’t say why Lily is moving in with her grandmother, you can tell Lily is sad about the change. To help her granddaughter, her grand-
mother suggests they find 10 beautiful things along the way. While it doesn’t fix the hurt Lily feels, it does help her realize that she can still feel love. For ages 3 to 7.
Voilà! Five stories that celebrate the beautiful ways that families can grow and change. If your family is changing, I hope these stories will help you prepare
your children for the way things might be different, so that you can experience the beauty of the change with less of the trials that can come with it.
Christina Van Starkenburg lives in Victoria with her husband, children and cat. She is the author of One Tiny Turtle: A Story You Can Colour and many articles. To read more of her work and learn about her upcoming books visit christinavanstarkenburg.com. Facebook: facebook.com/christinavanstarkenburg and X: @Christina_VanS.
Register For Music Lessons Today.
Taking Your Salad from No Thanks to Yes Please!
Salads are not always a favourite with children. Compared to a muffin or a piece of pizza, they’re boring and hard to eat—stabbing a lettuce leaf isn’t easy. Adults often serve salads for health-conscious reasons rather than flavour. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Here are a few ways to turn salads into smiles.
tically guaranteed! Partly sunny balconies are good options for carrots, peas and lettuces. Kids can help with all parts of vegetable gardening. They love planting seeds, watering and harvesting!
1. Start with a large pot. Place small stones or pieces of broken terracotta pot in the bottom for drainage. Fill the pot with
• Serve salad first. When kids sit down for dinner, they are hungry. Invite them to the table as soon as the salad is ready, even if you’re still cooking the rest of the meal. You may be surprised at how quickly the salad disappears. Hunger is the best seasoning.
• Fun and flavourful. Always serve your salads with a few fun ingredients. Check out the salad topping suggestions for ideas to liven it up.
• Grow your own salad. Carrots, tomatoes and lettuce taste best when eaten fresh from the garden. See the section below for some balcony-friendly gardening ideas.
Balcony-Ready Vegetables
It’s easy to grow carrots, lettuce, peas and cherry tomatoes on a balcony. If you have a sunny balcony, then success is prac-
good-quality potting soil. Carrots thrive with light, lofty soil, so starting with fresh soil makes growing them easy.
2. Seed carrots according to the instructions on the package. Buying lettuce, peas and tomato starts is an easy alternative.
3. Water deeply three times a week. The best way to make sure you’re fully hydrating the soil is to water twice, letting the soil sit for 30 minutes in between. Let your kids water first, then water the second time yourself. Then everyone has an important role.
Fun Salad Toppings
If you can get your kids excited for salads, then you’ll never need to worry about whether they’re getting enough vegetables. Salads are super quick, healthy and delicious! They can be made with pretty much anything you have in the house. The
only secret is to include a bunch of different flavourful and fun ingredients.
I’ve divided the toppings into sweet and savoury options. I like to include one savoury and one sweet topping in a salad.
Savoury Toppings
• Toasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
• Cubes of cheddar cheese or crumbled goat cheese
• Croutons or corn chips
• Crunchy vegetable chips
• Salty pickled vegetables
Sweet Toppings
• Fresh berries or thawed frozen berries
• Grated apple
• Cubes of peach, pear, mango
• Orange segments chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Dried fruit
• Candied nuts
Salad Dressings for the Win!
A simple and flavourful dressing is what brings a salad to gether. Here are a few salad dressings that can be mixed up in the bottom of the salad bowl, all set for tossing. Simply mea sure the ingredients into your salad bowl. Stir them up with a fork. Then build your salad on top.
Green Goddess Dressing
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 pinch of salt
Bright Berry Dressing
1⁄2 cup of fresh or frozen berries
1⁄4 cup of olive oil
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1⁄4 tsp of salt
Creamy Yogurt Dressing
1⁄2 cup of yogurt
1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely diced green onion or fresh chives
1⁄2 tsp lemon juice
1⁄4 tsp dried dill
1⁄4 tsp garlic powder
1⁄4 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Emillie Parrish loves having adventures with her two busy children. You can find more of her recipes in her recently released cookbook Fermenting Made Simple. fermentingforfoodies.com
We provide the best quality music education to young children by blending the pleasure and the joy of music making with sound instruction.
New classes starting in September. Sign up today!
Jennifer Yuen Victoria, BC
www.MYCVictoria.com
jennifer@MYCVictoria.com
5 Key Benefits of Sports
In the evolving world of sport and physical activity, the Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity (LTD) framework developed by Sport for Life represents a strategic approach designed to foster lifelong engagement in sport and physical activity. This framework is especially crucial for community leaders and parents who play pivotal roles in shaping the sport experiences of young participants.
Here, we explore five key benefits of LTD and why it is instrumental in your child’s athletic and personal development.
1. Holistic Development
The LTD framework emphasizes the holistic development of participants. Unlike traditional models that focus primarily on physical skills and high performance, LTD integrates the development of physical, mental, social, and sport-specific capabilities. This approach ensures that children grow not only as participants but also as well-rounded individuals. For instance, the Learn to Train stage of LTD focuses on teaching fundamental movement skills while also encouraging cognitive understanding of the sport, which is crucial for developing decision-making skills and sport intelligence.
2. Prevention of Burnout & Overtraining
One of the fundamental principles of LTD is to match training and competition to the developmental age of the participants, which helps in preventing burnout and overtraining. This is particularly important as children grow, as their engagement should be based on enjoyment and skill development rather than the pressure of early specialization. The LTD framework’s stage-based approach ensures that young participants are not pushed too hard too early, which can lead to physical and psychological burnout.
3. Increased Retention in Sport
By focusing on enjoyment and appropriate developmental challenges, LTD helps increase retention rates in sport. Young participants who enjoy their sport experience and feel challenged at a suitable level are more likely to continue participat-
ing. This is crucial in an era where many young people drop out of sport due to negative experiences or undue pressure. For example, the Active Start and FUNdamentals stages prioritize fun and fundamental movement skills acquisition, which are key to fostering a lifelong love for sport.
4. Better Long-Term Performance Outcomes
Participants trained under the LTD framework tend to achieve better long-term performance outcomes. This is because the framework provides a foundation of broad-based skills before specializing, which is critical for peak performance at older ages. This underscores the advantage of multisport participation at younger ages, leading to better skill development, fewer injuries, and a greater chance of sporting success in the long term.
5. Enhanced Social Integration & Teamwork Skills
One of the other important benefits of LTD is its ability to enhance social integration and teamwork skills among children. By engaging in sports that require cooperation and communication, children learn essential social skills such as empathy, leadership, and conflict resolution. These experiences contribute to their overall social development and help them build meaningful relationships with peers. The LTD framework, through its various stages, ensures that these social skills are developed in tandem with physical and cognitive skills, providing a more comprehensive growth environment for children. This aspect of development is crucial as it helps young participants not only excel in sports but also succeed in group activities and team settings throughout their lives, promoting a sense of community and belonging.
Sport for Life is a catalyst for change both nationally and internationally within the sport and physical activity ecosystem. As a recognized nonprofit organization, it collaborates across sectors to ensure everyone has equitable access to quality sport and physical literacy. Through innovation, inclusion, and integrity, Sport for Life aligns its work with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, creating lasting, positive impacts.
Cowichan Exhibition
You’ll find family entertainment, logger sports, a variety of food, lots of rides and a whole lot more at the Cowichan Exhibition Park September 13 to 15. Make sure to check out the famous Zucchini Races in the kids zone on Saturday! cowex.ca/the-fair
Campbell River Salmon Fest
Campbell River’s annual salmon fest is something everyone in the Comox Valley looks forward to! This year, make sure to head to Nunns Creek Park between August 9 and 11 to see logger events, highland gatherings, entertainment, craft booths and of course lots of fantastic food and drinks. Admission is minimal and varies by day, kids three and under are free. crsalmonfestival.com
Hub City Soapbox Derby
The third annual Hub City Soapbox Derby hits Franklyn Street in Nanaimo on August 18. Register now for this exciting family event and work together to build and customize your car, watch the races and win prizes. All proceeds go to the Child Development Centre Nanaimo. soapboxnanaimo.com
2024 Saanich Fair
The annual Saanich Fair will take place this year from August 31 to September 2. Your low admission fee covers all the entertainment, visiting the contests, seeing the animals, various musical and theatrical shows and the new improved kid zone. The midway will be open on the other side of the field and food vendors are available throughout. saanichfair.ca
COMOX VALLEY
COWICHAN VALLEY
SOUTH ISLAND
NANAIMO & AREA
Musical Growth & the Road to Success
One of the most important things in a child’s growth is the development of their personality and building their self-confidence. Kids can sometimes feel a lack of self-confidence and become intimidated around people.
There have been a number of reports and endless research that suggests how involvement in music learning has many benefits that can last a lifetime.
Tests have proven music can help students to develop motor skills and do better in classes such as science, math and other subjects.
For children who have difficulty expressing themselves, it can give them a way to communicate when words fail them.
What better gift is there than to give our children an avenue to express themselves?
Music training also helps to process speech more efficiently and improves memorization and listening skills. It teaches them teamwork and discipline, which conditions them to work harder for results; benefits that will help them in school, the workplace and life in general.
Music has so many lifelong benefits. We should never underestimate the power of music learning.
Many successful people have attributed their learning music to their success in life.
For instance, Bill Clinton, who was the 42nd President of the United States, has been quoted as saying he probably would never have been president if he hadn’t taken music lessons as a child.
Other successful people who took mu sic lessons when they were young include musician Nelly Furtado, astronaut Neil Armstrong, actress Julia Roberts and di rector Steven Spielberg.
How many times have you heard in interviews a famous musician say “Music was what saved my life?”
It helps people through difficult times as well as the good times. It also helps with self-control, an important trait to have in life.
When we think about our children’s growth in life, music should be one of the very first things we encourage them to participate in to help them succeed in school, relationships and the workplace.
I’ve always agreed with the organiza tion Coalition For Music Education in Canada when they say, “Success in Mu sic, Success in Life, It’s no Coincidence.”
Growth in the brain, growth in social interaction and confidence in our chil dren’s fuller, happier and more productive life.
Wayne Forseth musician who is now able to devote more time to background work, writing the occasional article on subjects of interest and playing guitar. He remains fit by going for a two-hour walk each morning and spends as much time as possible with his wife and two grandkids.
The Many Meanings of a Milestone Birthday
My oldest grandchild reached a milestone this spring—he celebrated his 10th birthday. Or as he puts it, he celebrated his “doubledigit” birthday. Where have all the years gone? It seems like only yesterday we were pacing the halls of the hospital, waiting on tenterhooks for his arrival. When he was only hours old, and while his parents caught up on some muchneeded rest, I cuddled and rocked him in the nursery. In that cocooned environment, I softly sang my favourite song to him—Moon River. I remember marvelling at his big blue eyes, how alert they were. While they obviously couldn’t
focus, they clearly expressed his fascination with the melody he was hearing. As he listened, his eyebrows knit together in a puzzled frown of concentration. Compared to the muted sounds in his mother’s womb, I am sure he didn’t know what to make of my singing!
Now 10 years have passed. Ten years of birthday parties with little buddies wired on too much birthday cake and treats, trick or treating at Halloween in costumes he didn’t want to take off, Christmas mornings with a frenzy of ripping open presents and first days at school with toothless grins and the classic photo on the front step. Over the
years, he and I have made innumerable trips to the beach and the playground, read scores of books together (at first, me reading to him and then him reading to me), and of course, built lots and lots of LEGO (I have no doubt we have singlehandedly kept LEGO in business…).
Little did I know with my own children that that first decade was actually the easiest. Young kids are small, compact, easy to distract and when all else fails, easy to bribe. In other words, I could usually get my children to do what I needed them to do or go where I needed them to be. It was that second decade that produced the greatest challenges.
As my grandson enters the pre-teen years, I naturally fret over the pitfalls of things like bullying, peer pressure and most especially, social media. These can be turbulent waters nowadays and they are only a prequel to the even scarier teenage years where there are the added worries of drugs and alcohol, drivers’ licenses, dating, depression and anxiety and a host of other issues that can come into play. You’d think, as grandparents (and thus, one generation removed), we would worry less, but I can assure you, that is not the case. We worry just the same, perhaps even more because our own parenting experience has made us acutely aware of the possible perils. After all, we’ve been there, done that. And yet, the dizzying pace of change always presents new challenges. Who would have thought we would all struggle with the far-reaching impact of a global pandemic when the last one (Spanish flu) was in the distant past?
I can only hope my grandson will remember what we’ve taught him over the years, important lessons like trusting his gut or that being different is perfectly
fine. I hope he will extend a kind hand when called upon and do the right thing rather than the easy thing when he’s given a choice. It’s hard to tell the measure of someone until they are tested, and I know he will be tested; I just hope he can rely on his inner compass.
In the meantime, he’s still a little boy and I will treasure whatever years, months, weeks or even days that are left in which he still looks forward to spending time with his Nonna. I am fully aware that at some point, I will take a back seat to new interests or new friends or perhaps a student job that makes demands on his time, but until then, I relish his eagerness to come to Nonna’s house.
Now that my grandson is 10, I hope he’s not embarrassed to slip his hand in mine as he has always done, hug me fiercely or tell me his dreams.
Susan Gnucci is a local author and proud “Nonna” to three young grandchildren. She enjoys sharing her experiences as a grandparent.
ECE and specialist teachers provide an outstanding all day licensed program for 2.5–5 year olds at our Fairfield and Gordon Head locations. cathedralschool.ca
Join our learning through play preschool located in Hillcrest Elem. Our caring ECEs offer an enriched Program for 3-4 hour, 2-5 days a week and help with kindergarten transition. heoscmanager@gmail.com
Boost Your Child’s Brainpower Games that Develop Executive Functions
Summer is the perfect time to hone essential executive function skills through engaging games. Whether you’re looking to boost planning, organization or decision-making abilities, these games offer fun ways to strengthen these crucial cognitive abilities while enjoying the sun-filled days.
What Are Executive Function Skills?
Executive function skills are mental processes that help children manage their behaviour, emotions and thoughts to achieve goals. Key skills include:
• Working memory
• Self control
• Sustained attention
• Planning and prioritizing
• Time management
• Cognitive flexibility
• Response inhibition
• Task initiation
• Organization
• Metacognition
Why Executive Function Skills Are Important
Developing these skills is crucial for several reasons:
• Academic Success: Helps with organizing tasks, following instructions and problem-solving, essential for school performance.
• Social Skills: Improves interactions with peers and adults by managing emotions and handling conflicts effectively.
• Life Skills: Essential for daily life management, long-term goal achievement and professional success.
• Behavioural Regulation: Enhances resilience and reduces the likelihood of behavioural issues by promoting emotional regulation and perseverance.
By fostering executive function skills, parents and guardians can help their children build a strong foundation for lifelong learning and success.
Games to Develop Executive Function Skills
Here are 11 board games that develop executive function skills in children ages five and up, along with the specific skills each game targets:
1. Ticket to Ride
Skills Developed: Planning, strategic thinking, working memory.
Description: Players collect train cards to claim railway routes across a map. It requires planning and foresight to block opponents and complete the longest routes.
2. Magic Labyrinth
Skills Developed: Spatial memory, planning, cognitive flexibility.
Description: Players navigate an invisible maze to collect treasures, demanding recall of obstacle locations and strategy adjustment as the maze changes.
3. Jump In’
Skills Developed: Problem-solving, planning.
Description: A single-player game where players must navigate rabbits to their homes while avoiding foxes, enhancing planning and logical thinking skills.
4. Max (the Cat)
Skills Developed: Emotional control, planning, flexible thinking.
Description: A cooperative game where players help critters evade a cat, requiring team-based strategy and adaptability.
5. Jenga
Skills Developed: Self-monitoring, impulse control, flexible thinking.
Description: Players take turns removing blocks from a tower and balancing them on top, demanding careful planning and control over actions.
6. Distraction
Skills Developed: Working memory, cognitive flexibility. Description: Players memorize a sequence of numbers and face interruptions that test their ability to recall the sequence under pressure.
7. MindTrap
Skills Developed: Critical thinking, flexible thinking.
Description: This game presents riddles and puzzles that require creative and logical problem-solving skills.
8. AnimaLogic
Skills Developed: Planning, organization, cognitive flexibility. Description: Players solve pattern puzzles to help animals cross a river, enhancing sequencing and logical thinking skills.
9. Snake Oil
Skills Developed: Task initiation, flexible thinking, organization.
Description: Players create and pitch products to different characters, promoting creativity and quick thinking.
10. Quiddler
Skills Developed: Organization, planning, prioritizing, flexible thinking.
Description: A word game where players use letter cards to form words, requiring strategic use of resources and adaptive thinking.
11. Monopoly deal
Skills Developed: Planning, prioritizing, flexible thinking, task initiation.
Description: A card game adaptation of Monopoly where players collect property sets and money and use action cards to sabotage opponents, aiming to be the first to complete three property sets to win. It’s quick-paced and mixes strategy with a bit of luck.
These games are fun and help children practice and enhance executive function skills essential for their cognitive development and daily life management.
Sofia Lopez-Nakashima, LDS – Learn. Develop. Succeed. LDS is a BC-based non-profit charity that offers accessible, innovative learning support to individuals with learning differences, like dyslexia, aged three to adult. Get expert, personalized learning support across BC and see your child grow in confidence and success. ldsociety.ca
Growing Up on a Hobby Farm The Lessons Animals Teach Us
“Mommy!” My daughter cried out as she hobbled towards me. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she bent down with one hand on her calf.
“Mack got my leg.”
I watched our youngest child approach. It was early April in our first spring on our hobby farm, and it had finally happened—our rooster attacked one of our kids.
Being attacked by the rooster is a right of passage on a farm. My job when I was four or five years old was to collect the eggs. My parents say I wielded the egg basket as my shield when I ventured into the chicken run. One day the rooster got me when I wasn’t looking. I probably beelined to my parents, crying woefully much like my seven-year-old. As the story goes, we ate roast rooster the following
evening. I knew this day would come for my own children, and here it was.
“It hurts,” she whined. She rolled up her tights to look at the wound.
There was a small puncture hole with a faint patchy bruise, but roast rooster wasn’t an option. In a few months, I would process many of our flock of aging second-hand hens to fill our deep freeze, but I’d chosen him specifically for his size, breed and colouration. I was going to incubate eggs to sell chicks, and we needed him around for fertilization.
“Yeah, I can see he got you,” I started. “It doesn’t look that bad. I bet it was surprising though.”
My daughter knew the rooster story. She knew I’d been attacked, and she knew Watermelon Grandpa had avenged me with his axe.
“Mack doesn’t like me. He hates me.”
Her eyes filled with fresh tears and her face pinched in that way it does when I can see she feels crushed inside.
“Sweetheart, Mack has the brain the size of a pea,” I said.
The brain of a chicken is actually about the size of a peanut, but pea-brain had a better jingle.
“He doesn’t hate you. Chickens don’t hate, they only think about eating, breeding and being with the flock. He didn’t get you because he doesn’t like you. His brain made a split-second decision, fight or flight, and he chose to fight.”
She sniffled and kept my gaze, wanting to believe me.
“All he cares about is protecting his ladies and he made a pea-brained decision to attack you because he decided you were a threat to his ladies, that’s all.”
My sweet daughter the empath, trying to make sense of why this bird she had been nothing but friendly to had drawn her blood. One of the main things raising our kids on a farm has taught them is you can’t anthropomorphise animals. Sharing space with animals, which behave based on instinct, has proven a bottomless well of educational experience.
I coached the kids on how to “be the boss” with their body language, but after that attack, the kids chose various farm tools to bring with them to the barnyard. They’d march out to collect the eggs with the hoe, broom or rake held stiffly before them. Friends would come by for play dates and recoil in fear. I brimmed with pride to watch our kids grab the rake and lead their peers through the barnyard.
A prized parenting moment for me was being there when it happened again. Nearly a year passed since Mack’s attack, and instead of chickens, we were the proud keepers of 10 ducks and two Pilgrim geese. It was February, and Poppa Goose was getting hormonal, so the geese needed their own temporary breeding enclosure. He would ruffle his feathers and cast his head high in the sky, his long white neck stretched up like a flagpole, then turn his head and stare through your soul with one pale unblinking blue eye.
We picked dandelion greens and squatted down with our treats to poke through the fence. Both geese tore gently at the greens, but Poppa squeezed his head through in an instant and nipped her inner thigh. I was just as shocked as she was. She rolled up her tights. A welt rose on her skin and a patchy bruise was taking shape.
“I’m sorry that happened. I wasn’t expecting that,” I said, feeling terrible.
She bent to roll down the leg of her tights and as she did, she said, “It’s okay, he was only protecting Momma.”
Music Lives Here
Kimberley Veness keeps hilarious ducks, a pair of moody geese, and judging by her guildinspired garden at least one of her thumbs is sort of green. She enjoys teaching her children how to live farm to fork, and is the author of Let’s Eat! Sustainable Food for a Hungry Planet.
Photo: Noelle Fraser
A Journey Through Time Explore a Historic Lighthouse
Whether you’re a history enthusiast or just eager to embark on a thrilling journey with your little ones, Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites offer a unique blend of virtual exploration and on-location experiences that will leave you enchanted.
Virtual Tours: Unveiling the Past from Anywhere
In today’s digital age, the world is at your fingertips, and so is the opportunity to explore historic sites like never before. Along with interesting facts, the virtual tours on the parks.canada.ca site share the layout, what is accessible if using a stroller or mobility aid and the best areas to play and rest.
On-Location: Engaging Summer Adventures Await
If you were a time traveller, who would you choose to be? An 1879 lighthouse keeper recording the weather and ships passing by, or his young niece making candles for the foggy days to come? A “Bluebird” nurse saving lives during the First World War, or a sharply dressed Royal Artillery soldier ready for action?
From June to September, Parks Canada’s heritage interpreters offer programs filled with captivating facts that will spark your family’s imagination and role-playing games for weeks to follow.
Look for Parka—Parks Canada’s busy little beaver—statue and take a photo with her. Your preschooler will enjoy the Club Parka activity booklet or for ages six to 12, request an Xplorers booklet to make the most of your visit.
Things to Do from Home: Keeping the Adventure Alive
The journey doesn’t end when you leave: deepen your connection to this special place and other national parks and national historic sites in Canada online. Become a member of Club Parka and enjoy online games and activities. Get inspired on YouTube with short videos where Parka explores Parks Canada places or dig deeper with hundreds of videos on the Parks Canada YouTube Channel. Tune into the miniseries What’s the Buzz? with Leo to find out all the buzz on Parks Canada’s efforts to help pollinators.
Do you enjoy cooking together? Learning about historic favourite foods through the Digital Guided Tour might leave you questioning your ancestors’ taste preferences with dishes like pickled pigs’ feet and Camas bulbs. If you are still intrigued and want to try recipes from the past, check out Parks Canada’s Heritage Gourmet website featuring over 60 recipes.
Of course, nothing beats the real thing: visit in person to savour the soothing melody of ocean waves, the hum of bees in the learning meadow and the ambiance of a bygone era—all at an affordable destination.
Sophie Lauro for Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites: where history and nature meet. A century-old coast artillery fort, Canada’s first West Coast lighthouse, a special meadow where vulnerable species are protected and an extensive shoreline to spot elusive wildlife. For more information, visit Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse NHS or go to parks.canada.ca
BUSINESSES YOU NEED TO KNOW
These local businesses are family-focused and committed to our community and helping you.
Through a balance of inquiry and structure, Oak and Orca offers inclusive, supportive, personalised K–12 education for a diversity of learners.
Swim Safe: Top Tips for Water Safety
Visiting swimming pools and playing on the beaches of our beautiful local lakes and oceans is an important part of summer for kids growing up on Vancouver Island. But as fun as it is, being around water can also pose a safety risk. We want you and your kids to be able to enjoy the water without worry, so here are some important water safety tips.
Ensure Supervision
The most crucial aspect of pool safety is constant, attentive supervision. Children should never be left unattended near a body of water, even for a moment. Public pools and some lakes have lifeguards on duty, but it’s hard for them to see everything that’s going on so make sure to keep your eyes on your kids. For older children and adults, who are all capable swimmers, you should still implement the buddy system to keep each other safe–just in case.
Use Life Jackets
Even if you don’t intend to let your little one go into the water, have them wear a life jacket in case they accidentally fall in. All swimmers of any age who aren’t confident in the water should wear a life jacket in a body of water where no lifeguard is present.
Take Swim Lessons
We all know that swim lessons are hard to secure in most communities of Vancouver Island, but it’s important to keep trying to find certified classes for kids–or yourself. The more lessons taken, the more confident and safer you are in the water.
Educate About Water Safety
Teach your kids the importance of water safety and explain–in an age-appropriate way–the potential dangers that can occur in the water and how they can be best avoided.
Set & Follow Rules
If you are at a beach or public pool where rules are posted, review them and ensure everyone follows them. And feel free to set extra rules for your kids. Making them wear a life jacket,
staying in the shallow end, or only using the kids’ pools are just some rules you can set to help keep your kids safe. If you have educated them about water safety, your kids should understand and respect your rules.
Stay Hydrated
Being dehydrated or overexerted can lead to potential accidents. Ensure everyone is well hydrated before heading to the pool or beach and take frequent breaks to rehydrate during the day.
Always Have a Phone Nearby
Fast action is important in an emergency so ensure you have a cell phone on you or there are working phones close to where you will be spending the day. Have emergency numbers programmed into your phone and know the exact name and location of where you are so you can quickly relay it to whoever answers.
Stay Sober
We know it can be tempting to relax on the beach with a drink and watch the sunset… but if you are with anyone who is swimming, or you are going to be swimming yourself, skip the alcohol and other substances. You want your reflexes to be as sharp as possible, should an emergency arise.
Wear the Right Bathing Suit
While the above steps are certainly the most important for keeping safe in the water, why not take an extra step to ensure you are noticeable while in the water by wearing the right coloured bathing suit and/or cap. Neon colours and bright red will be the most noticeable in pools as well as in lakes and oceans, while lighter blues and greens, as well as black, can blend in with darker waters or even the dark bottoms of pools. You may also consider buying bathing suits and caps with reflective stripes on them.
Erika Palmer is a writer living in Victoria with her husband and daughter. She believes most problems can be solved with a good cup of tea and a huge piece of chocolate.
BURNABY SCHOOL DISTRICT ONLINE PROGRAM
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Kindergarten to Grade 12 program
Contemporary Indigenous Studies 12 available for enrollment
Full time or part time available Grade 10 to 12
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Grade 8 to 12: over 50 course options
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Develop communication and technical online skills registering full-time or for a single course