We’ve all seen the happy child who leans into life, smiling all the way, seemingly without a care in the world. How does this happen? Are they born this way, or can we teach kids ways to optimize their emotional well being? Indeed, some children are born happier. Temperament, driven partially by genetic makeup, can make for an easygoing child. However, genetics account for only 20 – 60% of the child’s temperament (source). This is good news, because it means good parents can influence their children’s happiness for the better. There are countless articles about how to raise a happy child, but ..read more

“If many little people, in many little places, do many little things, they can change the face of the Earth” -African Proverb The critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling Something Happened book series presents and explains sensitive and important events happening in communities across the United States and around the world in clear, compelling stories that kids can understand. This was perfect for Earth Day, Something Happened to Our Planet:  Kids Tackle the Climate Crisis, by Drs. Marianne Celano and Marietta Collins, was written to inspire kids to make a difference in their own ..read more

“If many little people, in many little places, do many little things, they can change the face of the Earth” -African Proverb The critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling Something Happened book series presents and explains sensitive and important events happening in communities across the United States and around the world in clear, compelling stories that kids can understand. Perfect for Earth Day, Something Happened to Our Planet:  Kids Tackle the Climate Crisis, by Drs. Marianne Celano and Marietta Collins, was written to inspire kids to make a difference in their own schools a ..read more

Kids across the country have stepped up for sustainability over the last few months as part of the Earth Rangers ‘All Taste, No Waste’ challenge – reinforcing how small changes can make a big impact on the environment. Children learnt how to form and log environmentally friendly ‘habits’ such as reusing leftovers – or ‘upcooking’ – where they saved over 19,000 plates of food from landfill – enough to feed more than a dozen puppies for a year!  As a reward for being climate champions and logging over 100,000 collective habits, Earth Rangers unlocked an exciting leftovers-focused cookbook c ..read more

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. Have you spoken with your child about autism and how to approach neurodivergent people in a respectful manner? April is Autism Awareness Month and we have found a couple of tools to help you have that conversation. 1. My Brother Charlie – A heart-warming story to support Autism Awareness Actor and advocate Holly Robinson Peete is helping to highlight this special ..read more

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. This April is Autism Awareness Month, and actor and advocate Holly Robinson Peete is helping to highlight this special month with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s global children’s literacy program Storyline Online®. Known for her roles in television classics including 21 Jump Street, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper and For Your Love, Robinson Peete is ..read more

As CBC’s great Canadian book debate, Canada Reads, returns for its 22nd edition later this month, a new generation of book lovers are encouraged to participate in the literary celebration with CBC KIDS READS, also running March 27 – 30. All week long, young audiences are invited to join CBC Kids hosts Tony and Janaye, as well as Gary the Unicorn, Mr. Orlando, Cottonball and Makeup Monster, as they share their six favourite Canadian picture books and celebrate the love of reading. With a focus on equity-deserving authors based across Canada, the selected books showcase inclusion, self-love and ..read more

One of my favourite quotes is ‘we don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are’. The recent article ‘Could your Child’s Reading Difficulty be Dyslexia?’ by Sarah Lyons is definitely one perspective.  I would like to offer another perspective from a dyslexic mother of a dyslexic son. When my incredibly smart 5yr old who loved learning went to school, it did not go well.  He seemed to get through the Math, but very quickly fell behind with reading and spelling. He was taken out of class for more of what he couldn’t to already, home reading sessions were on the verge of ruining ..read more

By Samantha McAleese and Matthew Johnson, MediaSmarts New research from MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital media literacy, provides insight into how often young Canadians encounter harmful content online and how they tend to respond to it. The report is the second in a series of reports in the latest phase of Young Canadians in a Wireless World, a national survey of over one thousand youth ages 9 to 17.  First, what do we mean by harmful content?  In the survey, we asked young people about the content they see or receive in online spaces that causes them harm or discomfort. Spe ..read more

Honesty is important in life, and it definitely matters to parents—surveys show that parents value honesty above all other character traits. But did you know that some common ways we teach children about lying actually encourage them to lie more? Let’s look at how our good intentions are getting in the way of raising truthful and trustworthy children, and then we can explore some ways to teach kids about honesty that really work.  Myth 1: Ignore lying because they’ll grow out of it Sometimes children’s lies are so obvious that we figure they must not know what they’re doing. When our ador ..read more