Last fall, the Ontario Ministry of Education released a new policy on English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Literacy Development (ELD). The ideas presented in this article will help your school meet the requirements set out in that policy.
Many ETFO members have fond memories of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation (OPSTF), the two organizations that came together in 1998 to create ETFO.
Teaching children in the early years is a challenge and an opportunity. it can be one of the most rewarding teaching jobs, as very young children experience enormous learning curves.
Junior kindergarten is a different world from any other grade. When I first started teaching at the junior kindergarten level nine years ago, I was shocked both by the demands of welcoming all these children attending school for the first time and by my own personal reactions to this new level.
Every year the president and general secretary of ETFO go to Queen’s Park to make a presentation to the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee. Our goal is to influence government decisions prior to the release of the school grants later in the spring.
This fall, like every fall, a new group of three- and four-year-old children across the province experienced their first day in elementary school. Some were excited, some were scared, and some were just curious. What was school going to be like?
The federal government’s decision to cancel the child care agreements signed with Ontario and other Canadian provinces is a shameful act. It is a blow to all of us working for the establishment of a national system of early childhood education for our children.
The statistics are in, finally proving what everyone with an arts education has long known: boys in Canadian schools are well behind girls in academic performance, particularity in reading and writing.
"Use your Bingo Voice," the teacher said, as the child tried to tell her story. We were in a kindergarten room doing a Telling Bee, and the five-year-old, eyes downcast, was shyly whispering her story to the class.
Considering its recent assault upon educators and public schools in Ontario, it’s not surprising that the provincial government has been slow to publicize the findings of a report it commissioned in 1998.