Left Coast Mama » Education

The Halifax Explosion: Repost

Gwen — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:55:58 +0000

Aftermath from the Halifax Explosion Overlooking the Waterfront

I understand why for most Canadians December 6th is a day of remembrance not for a disaster that killed 2000 people in Nova Scotia, but of a mad man shooting 14 women at an engineering school in Quebec. It was a horrible tragedy and I personally know some people who were attending the school at that time and they have talked about the fear and pain that they and the rest of the school went through on that day. For me though the first thing I think about on December 6th is the collision of the Imo and Mont Blanc during war time in Halifax Harbour.

A Building Damaged in the Explosion

After the explosion on one of Halifax's main street, Gottigen

The whole thing happened because of a mis-communication and a language barrier. Many people stood and watched the ship float closer to Halifax and many people tried to help the crew of the Imo, not knowing it was a munitions ship. When the fire spread and finally exploded it destroyed almost 2 km in radius. Many of the people that didn’t die from the explosion died from the Tsunami that resulted from the explosion. To make matters worse it got really cold and Halifax had its largest blizzard in a decade the next day. Those that were trapped in blown out houses died of exposure.

A house destroyed, though not flattened.

A view across the devastation of Halifax, looking toward the Dartmouth side of the harbour. IMO can be seen aground on the far side of the harbour after the explosion - Halifax 6th December 1917.

Halifax lost more people in the explosion than in the war overseas. Detailed estimates showed that among those killed, 600 were under the age of 15. As many as 1,600 people died immediately in the blast, the tsunami, and collapse of buildings, with about 9,000 more injured, most seriously. 1,630 homes were destroyed in the explosion and fires, with 12,000 more houses damaged. This disaster left roughly 6,000 people homeless and without shelter and 25,000 without adequate housing.

Soldiers worked throughout the blizzard to rescue as many people as they could.

With so many Canadians dead or injured, it always amazes me when I find out most people know nothing about the Halifax explosion. Most people don’t know why there is such a bond between Nova Scotia and Boston. Boston sent as many supplies and people as they could to help with the devastation the explosion caused. Nova Scotia to this day sends a huge Christmas tree as a thank you.

If you want to find out more, CBC has a good site, and a few years ago they made a docu-drama sort of thing about the explosion. You can also go to the Nova Scotia Archives and get more information as well. In fact they have a lot of photographs and a virtual exhibit happening right now.

December 6, 1917: The Halifax Explosion

Gwen — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:47:12 +0000

Aftermath from the Halifax Explosion Overlooking the Waterfront

A Building Damaged in the Explosion

After the explosion on one of Halifax's main street, Gottigen

A house destroyed, though not flattened.

A view across the devastation of Halifax, looking toward the Dartmouth side of the harbour. IMO can be seen aground on the far side of the harbour after the explosion - Halifax 6th December 1917.

Soldiers worked throughout the blizzard to rescue as many people as they could.

Parenting Fail or Am I Overeacting?

Gwen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:19:51 +0000

As I wrote yesterday Aidan’s school had a Halloween carnival on Friday night. There was a ton of fun for all ages and there were kids from babies to grade 7′s there. Most of the costumes on both the kids and adults were great. There were a bunch of animals, fairies, character, knights and some blood, but not too much. Most of the older kids were great and didn’t get in the little kids way, or go out of there way to scare the little ones. Some even were taking little siblings around. All great.

The three kids who did make me and Anthony really uncomfortable were a group of three boys around grade three age. These three boys were wearing fatigues, balaclavas over their faces and pretend machine guns. Everytime they passed us and bumped into someone I looked, paused and thought how inappropriate are these costumes?

In a time where kids have shot kids at schools, how appropriate is it for kids to carry fake guns while their faces are covered in a balaclava? Is it any more inappropriate than kids dressed at a Jedi or a Transformer? What about a vampire or a zombie? Why did these costumes give me such a creepy bad feeling? Why did it make me so uncomfortable?

When Anthony and I posted about the costumes on twitter the response was a little divided. Most thought that if it hadn’t been Halloween the guns, pretend or not, wouldn’t have been allowed at school. Some thought that the kids were just playing a role that they have been playing for thousands of years. That stuck with me and I thought, well, is that part of the human race’s problem? If we let violence and aggression be play time, it is healthy or harmful? Is this why we have so many bullies in schools?

I guess that is what made me most uncomfortable about the costumes that these boys were wearing. Yes the costumes themselves weren’t a good idea in my opinion, but the way the boys were acting in the costumes was worse. The pointing of the guns and the aggressive way they were pushing into lines and going around the school really bothered me. Having them pretend to shoot my sons and the kids around gave me a sick feeling.

I am not saying that these particular kids are bad kids or aggressive kids on the playground, but if we let kids behave this way when masked, what are we modeling for them?

This issue is something I struggle with raising my boys. Aidan loves police officers and he has a police helmet, but he does NOT have a pretend gun. We don’t even have water guns and while I let Aidan play with them at his grandparents I have mixed feelings on whether or not it is a good idea.

Are toy guns of any ilk approprite toys in your opinion? Are toy swords different?

First Day of Kindergarten

Gwen — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:18:03 +0000

Another milestone met by my eldest boy Aidan. Another milestone met by his parents. The much anticipated first day of kindergarten. I am excited to have Aidan in “real” school.

Aidan Patrick Floyd age 5.5 years

I wasn’t too sure how Aidan was feeling about kindergarten. Most of the time Aidan was quite happy to talk about going to kindergarten and today he finally asked me what would happen if he skipped school today. I laughed a little and asked him what he wanted to do instead. He said that he wanted to stay home and play. When I informed him that if he didn’t want to go to school we would have to set up a schedule of learning time with mommy every day. He very quickly remembered that his friends would be part of the school experience. This was the first real indication that Aidan was a little nervous about going to a new school. He was used to the kids from preschool and was a little sad that none of them would be a part of his new school.

Once we started the first day of school routine and the pictures on the steps out front Aidan started to get excited about going to school. The walk took us about 22 minutes and hopefully I will keep to my resolution to walk most days.

Aidan on the playground outside his classroom.

Aidan’s teacher seems nice and I was happy to get a chance to see how she works in the classroom and how she was with the kids. While I know from experience that things are not always the same when the parents aren’t around, she had a nice easy way with the kids. This is a good thing because between her two classes she has 44 kids to work with.

Quinlan on the new equipment.

I had a chance to sign up for a chat with Aidan’s new teacher and I was honest about where he is in terms of his reading ability and his tendency towards talkativeness/lecturing. I didn’t tell her that he is also adding and subtracting numbers at least up to 12 because I didn’t want to seem like I am bragging. I am so glad that she was excited that he is reading so well, it really reassured me.

I also have my first volunteer option for his classroom. When I offered to get some things for the classroom like kleenex, Mme. L asked me to make play dough. It is a good thing I have a very cool book with all kinds of recipes.

Quinlan making faces.

The walk home wasn’t as frantic and we took our time and got a celebratory hot chocolate from Starbucks. Both boys downed it very quickly and without mess. I was very impressed. We also managed to meet Monette and Malachi on the way home. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to chat as she was rushing to get another child from school.

When we got back to the house and changed Quinlan I took the boys out to the courtyard to play with the camera and get some better pictures of the boys. While I didn’t manage to get them together I did get some really good shots of Aidan for the first time in a long while. He actually didn’t have the “Cheese” face all the time.

This little boy was in fact saying "Cheeeeeese"

All in all it was a good day. Sunshine, walking, hot chocolate, playing on a new playground, meeting new people, a pirate ship shirt (without a tie), what can be wrong with that?

Aaaaaar!

© 2010 Left Coast Mama | Permalink | 6 comments
Related: Aidan, Education, Firsts, milestones, My Boys, Pictures, Pirates, playgrounds, Quinlan.

Old Toy Trains, Little Toy Tracks

Gwen — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:53:27 +0000

I am the first to admit that we have a lot of plastic toys in our house, and some of them require batteries. Most of those that require batteries have not been purchased by us. What I like about most of the toys we have, whether they be plastic or wooden is that they encourage creative, imaginative play. There is so much room for storytelling and role playing with toys like the little people sets, but my favourite toys are the wooden trains and the dress-up clothes.

We got Aidan his first wooden train set with a small table when he was 19 months old. It was just a no-name set with some wooden track, houses, trees, some street signs and of course a few trains. While I knew he would like the trains, and he already liked the train set at our local Chapters, for the first year it was mainly for me to play with him. When he was a little older his father and I made tracks for him but the play was all him. He had different scenarios, and often there were terrific “derailments” and emergency vehicles coming to the rescue.

Now at 4 and a half, Aidan is a track making king. Almost everyday our small living room is taken over by intricate tracks, with bridges, tunnels, switches, curves, stations and whatever else he decides is needed for the day’s mission. I am in awe of how much fine motor skills he is honing with each track he makes. The spatial reasoning he displays is amazing. He is using his hands on approach to figure out how things work, and if it doesn’t he goes on to the next idea. These tracks are ever expanding and ever changing. He will take a track in one direction and when he is finished find a way to make another really complicated piece fit in somewhere else and take it in another direction. With the amount of attention that our 1 year old Quinlan shows the trains he will be a track king even sooner than Aidan was.

We are also big fans of the “Tickle Trunk” here in the Floyd household. We have a few hats like a fire helmet, a police helmet and a wizard’s hat, as well as some home made items like the heart shaped magic wand. My favourite item in amongst the costumes is a beautiful wizard’s cape that my brother’s fiancée made for Aidan for Christmas last year. It is a beautiful deep blue velvet with stars all over it. It is even more special because she made it especially for him. Sometimes this cape turns Aidan into a wizard like the sorcerer’s apprentice, and sometimes he is a superhero. Whatever he needs it to be, it is.

Aidan and some intricate track.

I think letting Aidan play dress up has sharpened his imagination and helped him to think outside the box. He wasn’t concerned about being Spiderman or another specific character for Halloween this year. He was happy to be an elephant like he was last year, except he decided this elephant was going to have fairy wings. I thought it was brilliant and I hope that I continue to help him to be his own person through play. I don’t want to ever squash his creativity, in fact I want him to revel in his uniqueness.

I know that it is hard in this day and age to stop ourselves from giving our children everything they want. It is even harder if the children you have are the only grandchildren on both sides of the family. In some ways I know the only reason we are not totally overrun is because we live so far away from our extended family. Both Anthony and I are trying to make the effort to really make sure that the toys we get for our sons are educational, sturdy and engage them in imaginative play. We don’t want to have our sons’ toys be things that don’t last much longer than a few days out of the box. It is an ongoing battle with ourselves and with our 4 year old. Luckily he takes the word “no” a lot better than a lot of kids I know. I also know that we are not the only ones who have these battles, we are just more adept saying “no” at times because we have no room.

What are your favourite toys for creative and imaginative play?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This post was written as a part of Parenting By Nature’s “Can You Inspire?” contest. They are looking for a blogging ambassador as they call it. A parent who is willing to blog about how they are trying to “parent by nature.” The prizes include a $600 Visa Card and a 6 month blogging contract. In the next week I need to get a lot of feedback here on the blog, on twitter and on Facebook in order to become a finalist. Then if I become a finalist there will be a web poll and the person with the most votes will win. Please help by retweeting and commenting. Thanks!

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

Gwen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:41:19 +0000

I am a little apprehensive about the changes that are starting to take place now. I am to pick up the kindergarten registration packages this week. Well I should have picked them up last week but the sickness that knocked us on our butts kept us out of the schools. I need to pick up the packages from three different schools and a package from the district to show that we live in our catchment area.

So we need to fill out 4 sets of paper, get all of Aidan’s vaccination records, and get them into the schools asap. All of this started the first week of November, a full 1o months before he is scheduled to start kindergarten.

I am still a little worried that we will end up with Aidan being part of the french immersion lottery. I want him to be in french immersion so badly because I really want Aidan to flourish and not be at all bored. I am also worrying about having him in a classroom where he need to sit more often than he does in preschool.

Aidan can read (and well) and he understands so much about all kinds of things and has all the math skills he needs for passing kindergarten now, he doesn’t like writing or colouring. I know that he can write well enough, but he doesn’t have the patience for colouring much of anything. He hardly ever paints or colours at preschool.

I am glad that Aidan loves his preschool and his friends. He is really blossoming socially. He has a best buddy and even asked if I could arrange a playdate with his friend’s mother. This is why I put him in preschool. I wanted Aidan to be good with other kids and learn to share. I wanted him to be able to work in a classroom of kids that were in different situations and with different disciplines. Aidan needed to learn that he was not the top dog all the time. I think that it was a really good idea. Aidan is so lovely with the other kids and it is wonderful to see him growing socially. I love hearing his stories about preschool and seeing him put up his hand in front of me to get my attention.

All of these things remind me how quickly my little boy is growing up. I am not sure if I am in the growing up too fast or just fast enough camp of thought. I love that Aidan is getting so big and can do so many things, but part of me is a little sad that he might need me less and less. Thought I must admit that when he hugs me and tells me that he “wants to be with me forever because I love you Mommy,” I melt. I guess he just has a way with words.

© 2009 Left Coast Mama | Permalink | 3 comments
Related: Aidan, children, discipline, Education, out of the mouthes of babes, Preschool.

Of Blood and Babies

Gwen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:10:03 +0000

I was going to post this a couple of weeks ago, but I got busy and didn’t finish it. Now with a little editing and some finishing words I think it is ready to go. I am interested in the questions I pose and I would love some feedback from other parents. Where is it ok to bring your kids? What if you have no choice in where you need to bring them?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I had a great post in my head and on some small pieces of paper in my car today while I was waiting for Aidan to finish preschool and Quinlan to finish his nap. It was started with the thought that I was going to take the boys to the blood donor clinic. I then started to think about where I take the boys and what they, especially Aidan, have seen and done. Where do people take their kids when they have no other choice?

When I was pregnant with Quinlan, Aidan was at all my doctors appointments. In fact because of the timing of the appointments, Aidan was at the appointments much more often than Anthony was. He heard Quinlan’s heartbeat at every appointment and if it looked like we were going to forget he was really quick to remind Dr. I. He bonded with Quinlan before he saw him. He was present and involved, and I wonder if this helped us avoid most of the sibling pitfalls you hear about.

I was not worried about how Aidan would react to the blood coming out of my body into the tubes and through to the bags. I knew that he would be ok. I knew he would ask lots of questions and be incredibly interested in what was happening. He was interested and wanted to know exactly how the blood was going to come out of me and go into someone else. I guess something got a little lost in the translation because he drew a picture of the blood coming out of me through tubes and into someone else via an elevator. Who knew that was the way of it?

On more mundane chores, both the boys go grocery shopping and on other errands with me. If I didn’t take them we would never have any free time on the weekends to do any fun family things. I don’t have a family support system out here in Vancouver, so I can’t leave the boys with their grandparents while I run out to go shopping. There is only so often Anthony can miss part of work for doctors and dentist appointments. The main reason I haven’t been to the dentist in a long time is that I draw the line at bringing the boys while I get my teeth cleaned or a cavity filled.

With Advent and Christmas coming up soon the boys will be on more and more errands. I will be the one trying to buy something for one or the other of them and not let them see at the same time. They will also be going to choir practices and other fun things. Plus I am looking forward to all the other holiday favourites like taking the Stanley Park Christmas Train, and going to see Santa Claus or making the holidays brighter for a family who is less fortunate. There are some things that are more fun with the boys and I am looking forward to every one of them.

Aidan Writing

Gwen — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:06:23 +0000

I am increasingly amazed by Aidan and what he is capable of. We have been working on the alphabet for a while now and I am trying to get Aidan to draw and write a bit more. It was always a struggle to get Aidan to hold the crayons with the correct hold. Yesterday Aidan decided he wanted to play with a stencil he saw while I was getting some other craft materials. He wanted to play with the letter so I let him. Today he has been playing with my stencils and by himself he figured out how best to hold the markers. I am so proud, not to mention stoked that he is having so much fun learning. Here is the proof. (I will post the video later.)

Sticks and Stones

Gwen — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:05:27 +0000

I am always hearing about Hockey or Soccer or (insert some other sport/activity here) parent who feels that their son or daughter is not being treated fairly by their coach or referee. This is fine, and the parents who talk reasonably to the coach/referee about whatever issue they feel they have is great. I have no problem with that at all. It is the parents that feel that they need to go and rage at the coach/referee that make me crazy. The reason I bring this up? The Parent Bloggers Network asked “How far would you go for your kids?” Have your ethics changed since having a child? I think for the most part none of my ethics have changed. I don’t see myself yelling uncontrollably at a coach who isn’t playing my child enough. I don’t think I would ever come to blows with an umpire or referee. I really can’t see myself arguing with another parent and nearly or actually hitting them because I feel they are in the wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my son and I would do almost anything for him. I will make sure that he is well adjusted and fairly treated. I will be a growly Mama if I have to, but I will (hope to god) keep my temper. Ok well maybe I will get angry, but I will never use violence to solve a problem. Hmm, well I guess I won’t say that entirely either. If I or my family was in danger I would do anything I had to to keep us alive and well. I am not talking about that in this instance though.

I am an elementary teacher by trade and I have come across a lot of parents who are great and do so much for their kids and actually have a good idea of what their children are capable of. They are the parents that actually take a look at what their kids are doing in school and how they interact with other kids and adults. I have also come across a number of parents who thought the sun shone right out of their child’s butt and nothing I said about their child’s behaviour or work made any sense to them even when confronted with the evidence.

When I was teaching a few years ago I had one such parent. Her son was a personable boy, but had a tendency to be a little lazy about the work he actually did. His philosophy was do as little as he possibly could of any work at all. His mother thought that he was a very smart and wonderful boy and though he hadn’t done most of the work he deserved to get all A’s. Even when confronted with all the evidence, the work he had done, samples of A and B students work for comparison, a list of all his marks, the percentages they were worth, a copy of all the notes sent home for her to supervise what he was supposed to be doing (which she had signed) she got very angry. Now I will say that at the best of times she was an intimidating woman, when she was angry she was a very intimidating woman. When she decided (even with everything I had shown her) that her boy deserved better marks she got very close and started yelling at me. She got closer and this ended with me saying very firmly that the parent-teacher interview was over and that she could talk to my principal if she felt the need. She didn’t back off and got even closer. This interview ended with me opening the door and walking very quickly out of my classroom calling out that that it was enough and she needed to stay away. I felt physically threatened.

I am sure that while I will want to make sure that my child is treated fairly, I will never make a teacher feel the way that parent made me feel. I will not be so physically intimidating that I make a teacher or another parent feel unsafe. That is way further than I would go. So I guess you have no need to worry about me bumping off the figure skater who took my darling child off the podium, or intimidating a teacher to give my son A’s. I will be a fierce Mama bear if I have to but I prefer you see my child’s potential on your own.

____________________________________

Want to be part of the fun? The Parent Bloggers Network is having a blog blast today on ethics in parenting. You could win a visa check card with some beer and popcorn money.

© 2007 Left Coast Mama | Permalink | 2 comments
Related: Blog Blast, child care, children, Contests, Education, Gwen, Parent Bloggers Network.

Dog Days of Summer: Bloggy Giveaway

Gwen — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:43:10 +0000

Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer fame is having a Dog Days of Summer: Bloggy Giveaway Carnival and I decided I wanted to become part of it. I thought about this and I figured out what would be a good giveaway for me. I have two extra copies of “Holes” by Louis Sachar. I was going to work on a novel study basket but I am now a SAHM so it isn’t as urgent as it once was. So good for you! I will send a copy to two people who leave a comment on this post. The winner will be randomly drawn from the comments I receive by Friday the 27th July at midnight.

If the people who win would also like some novel study ideas for grades 5-8 let me know and I can send some with the books.