Hi and sorry for the loooooooooong gap. I don't know where the days went!
To start with, I think we have been really busy with school. Our son leaves at 8 and our daughter at about 8.40. Both had to take an extra pair of soft soled sports shoes to leave in school for gym class. My son also takes a towel and set of gym clothes on the days that he has gym.
So far my son in sixth grade:
Loves school!
Likes his teachers.
Has to read at least four books a month, and write about it in his reading journal.
Has French, which he is learning for the first time. All the other kids are two years ahead, so his teacher helps him at lunch time with extra work to catch up.
Is sharing a locker. The kids keep all their books, lunch and gym clothes in their locker, and take what they need for each class.
They have art, music, library and also a counselling class everyweek.
For homework, they give thought provoking work.......where the kids have to think and do their own work and learn from what they are doing. For example: Yesterday my son had to list 30 different types of transportation. Then he had to divide the thirty into three different classifications. He chose, wheels and no wheels, commercial bulk passenger and non-commercial, and classification on what the particular transport runs on: like fuel (cars), human power (canoe) or nature (hang gliders). He spent a good hour doing this, and he had fun doing it.
He had his class picture taken yesterday. We got a form from the photographers to fill out for this. We had a choice of background color, pose and if we wanted his name on the picture or not. The minimum rate for the basic package of 8 2by3 photos, was 16 dollars. Five dollars more to put his name on them. They also had calendars, magnets, different size photos and other things that you could have the photo on, and all this costs extra. We took the basic package, chose the pose, background color and put the money in the cover and sent him to school for his photo!
So far, anything graded has not come back with a letter grade (A, B,C+ etc) or a number grade (88/100 for example), here it has been level one, level two, level three or level four. Level four means the best work, and of course level one means you didn't even understand the concept of what you had to learn.
My daughter in third grade:
Is picking up Canadian slang very quickly. 'You know what', is a common phrase here.
Is learning the Canadian national anthem, and wants to know if she is a Canadian now that she sings the Canadian anthem and not the Indian one.
Has to read for fifteen minutes minimum every day and has to write two sentences about what she read.
Has a math workbook, where she gets a page or two of homework twice a week. This week the class is going over the spelling of one to hundred.
Is having her class picture taken on Monday. No form to fill out for her yet.
What else did we do? Our furniture that we ordered a few weeks ago finally came in yesterday. Two guys carried all the furniture upstairs (beds, dressers, chest of drawers etc) and made sure all the pieces were fine and not damaged. One dresser drawer had a crack, so that is being replaced this coming week. So after nearly two months here, we are sleeping on beds!!
Have also started driving lessons!! I called up many driving schools and found one that I was comfortable with. I asked for my first lesson last Wednesday at 11.30. The driving instructor was here on the dot. You quickly learn here that people are punctual and are always on time. She first showed me the automatic gear system (I was used to driving a manual car in India) and off we went before I could even get nervous. We first drove around the block, then once she realized that I could steer and brake, we went on the main road. She asked me to make right and left turns, park on an uphill, park on a downhill and practice three point turns. Before I knew it, one hour was up and we were back at home. For my second class, I practiced parallel parking, and driving on crowded roads. Saturday is my next class. I'm trying to get as much driving practice as I possible can, and do my test in the first week of October. Keep your fingers crossed for me!! They charge 30 dollars an hour, which is the normal fee. All the schools seem to charge the same rates.
It has been getting colder with every passing day. It was 9 degrees the other morning, and both kids bundled up in long sleeve shirts and jackets for school. If the sun is out, it can be cold, while your skin feels like it is burning at the same time. It is strange and will take some time to get used to the odd weather here.
Every morning we read the paper.........and the big news here is the Canadian elections coming up next month. The hype is nothing like the U.S elections, but the fight is on here for electing the best candidate to be Prime Minister. Here, the Prime Minister heads the Government, but the Sovereign and Head of State is Queen Elizabeth IInd! It is a mix of the old and the new here, and the courts still follow the British system of having a Governor General.
Almost everyday we read about shootings, stabbings and other forms of murder, and we wonder why we are not packing our bags and running back to India. Like any other country, you have to take care of being safe, not go out at night to downtown areas and trust your instinct.
We watch NDTV here and just hearing their theme music makes us feel at 'home'.
Hi to all my readers out there............will continue our Canadian adventure by blogging about it...and hope that you enjoy reading it!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Maid of the Mist
We have a right answer!! The one dollar coin here is called a Loonie (it has a bird called a Canadian Loon on one side of it). The two dollar coin that came out much later, is called a Toonie (a two...nie). The winner is Minu Vasanth of Chennai who got back to me with the right answer first! Sorry no prizes though, just your name and fame right here!!
Let me take you on an adventure....to one of the most beautiful places on earth...........the Niagara Falls. Most of the other falls I have seen, now seem more like a small shower compared to the Niagara.
The falls itself, are in the city of Niagara. It is on the U.S border, and you have the smaller falls which belongs to the U.S and the bigger, horse shoe shaped falls that belongs to Canada. The Falls are 170 feet high. The water flows down the Niagara river, enters Lake Ontario and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The source of the Falls are the Great Upper Lakes.
Everyone knows there are five great lakes here in North America, but remembering the names can be hard. The clue is the word, HOMES. The names of the Lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
Anyway, about the Falls....when you visit Niagara (it is a one and a half hour drive from Toronto), you drive straight to where the falls are and find a place to park! This is harder than it sounds.........as tourists from all around the world come here.......and it can get quite crowded.
There is a huge paid parking lot a short walk away from the falls, where you will probably end up parking. There are many parking lots around the area. You will have to pay somewhere from 8 to 10 dollars and up for parking. Free parking is rare. Parking lots have buses, or 'people movers' as they call them, to take people from the lots to the Falls.
Once you park, walk down to the Falls. Everyone you see will be walking towards it! Once you get within site of the Falls, most people just take a deep breath and look in awe. It truely is a spectactular sight! The sound of the water is like you are standing in the middle of a huge shower and the water that gets sprayed from the falls hits you at a particular spot on the walkway and you actually get soaked!
After spending some time looking at the Falls, the next best thing to do is to take a ride to get as close to the Falls as possible. The twenty minute boat ride is called, The Maid of the Mist.
What is the Maid of the Mist?:
The Maid of the Mist is a 20 minute ride on a double-decker boat that takes you as close up to Niagara Falls as you can get without swimming.
The boat stops and lingers at the foot of the Falls, 170 feet (52 meters) below the brink.
Be prepared to get wet; fortunately, disposable rain ponchos come with admission.
Where is the Maid of the Mist?:
Maid of the Mist boat rides set sail from both the Canadian and American sides of Niagara Falls.
The Canadian Maid of the Mist boarding dock is at the foot of Clifton Hill.
When Does the Maid of the Mist Operate?:
Depending on weather conditions, the Maid of the Mist generally operates between April and October.
The Maid of the Mist leaves about every 15 - 20 mins between 7:45 am and 4:45 - 7:45pm, depending on the time of season.
Admission prices are Can$14.50 for adults, $8.90 for children 6-12 yrs old and free for kids under 5.
This ride is one of the most thrilling rides you can take, and the best part is that even babies to the very elderly can enjoy it safely.
The day we took this ride, it was an amazing experience especially since we saw not one but two beautiful rainbows!! I took pictures and will put it up on the blog.
After buying the tickets, you get a plastic coat that you have to wear, or else you will get wet in the falls. You can take pictures, but you will have to take care that your expensive equipment does not get soaked.
There is a running commentary on board, first telling you about keeping all arms and legs in the boat, and some information about the falls. Mostly they just allow you to 'soak' it all in. After the ride, we took a walk around, had some pizza for lunch and then left for Toronto as my kids had school the next day. The best thing to do, is stay there over night if possible, for the fireworks show at night. This is supposed to be amazing...as it is done over the fully lit falls.
There are other things to do as well, like taking a walk behind the falls, visit Marineland, the butterfly conservatory, ride the fury (where you take a 4D adventure of the Falls) or just eat at one of the restaurants over looking the falls.
Thats it for now.........I'm leaving you with one interesting fact...
The word cyberspace was coined by Canadian writer William Gibson!
Ciao!
Let me take you on an adventure....to one of the most beautiful places on earth...........the Niagara Falls. Most of the other falls I have seen, now seem more like a small shower compared to the Niagara.
The falls itself, are in the city of Niagara. It is on the U.S border, and you have the smaller falls which belongs to the U.S and the bigger, horse shoe shaped falls that belongs to Canada. The Falls are 170 feet high. The water flows down the Niagara river, enters Lake Ontario and eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The source of the Falls are the Great Upper Lakes.
Everyone knows there are five great lakes here in North America, but remembering the names can be hard. The clue is the word, HOMES. The names of the Lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
Anyway, about the Falls....when you visit Niagara (it is a one and a half hour drive from Toronto), you drive straight to where the falls are and find a place to park! This is harder than it sounds.........as tourists from all around the world come here.......and it can get quite crowded.
There is a huge paid parking lot a short walk away from the falls, where you will probably end up parking. There are many parking lots around the area. You will have to pay somewhere from 8 to 10 dollars and up for parking. Free parking is rare. Parking lots have buses, or 'people movers' as they call them, to take people from the lots to the Falls.
Once you park, walk down to the Falls. Everyone you see will be walking towards it! Once you get within site of the Falls, most people just take a deep breath and look in awe. It truely is a spectactular sight! The sound of the water is like you are standing in the middle of a huge shower and the water that gets sprayed from the falls hits you at a particular spot on the walkway and you actually get soaked!
After spending some time looking at the Falls, the next best thing to do is to take a ride to get as close to the Falls as possible. The twenty minute boat ride is called, The Maid of the Mist.
What is the Maid of the Mist?:
The Maid of the Mist is a 20 minute ride on a double-decker boat that takes you as close up to Niagara Falls as you can get without swimming.
The boat stops and lingers at the foot of the Falls, 170 feet (52 meters) below the brink.
Be prepared to get wet; fortunately, disposable rain ponchos come with admission.
Where is the Maid of the Mist?:
Maid of the Mist boat rides set sail from both the Canadian and American sides of Niagara Falls.
The Canadian Maid of the Mist boarding dock is at the foot of Clifton Hill.
When Does the Maid of the Mist Operate?:
Depending on weather conditions, the Maid of the Mist generally operates between April and October.
The Maid of the Mist leaves about every 15 - 20 mins between 7:45 am and 4:45 - 7:45pm, depending on the time of season.
Admission prices are Can$14.50 for adults, $8.90 for children 6-12 yrs old and free for kids under 5.
This ride is one of the most thrilling rides you can take, and the best part is that even babies to the very elderly can enjoy it safely.
The day we took this ride, it was an amazing experience especially since we saw not one but two beautiful rainbows!! I took pictures and will put it up on the blog.
After buying the tickets, you get a plastic coat that you have to wear, or else you will get wet in the falls. You can take pictures, but you will have to take care that your expensive equipment does not get soaked.
There is a running commentary on board, first telling you about keeping all arms and legs in the boat, and some information about the falls. Mostly they just allow you to 'soak' it all in. After the ride, we took a walk around, had some pizza for lunch and then left for Toronto as my kids had school the next day. The best thing to do, is stay there over night if possible, for the fireworks show at night. This is supposed to be amazing...as it is done over the fully lit falls.
There are other things to do as well, like taking a walk behind the falls, visit Marineland, the butterfly conservatory, ride the fury (where you take a 4D adventure of the Falls) or just eat at one of the restaurants over looking the falls.
Thats it for now.........I'm leaving you with one interesting fact...
The word cyberspace was coined by Canadian writer William Gibson!
Ciao!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Summer is over!
Come September, and the days of Summer are officially considered over. Fall has just begun. That's one nice thing about the weather here. You have four clear cut seasons here and can visibly see the differences.
We went to a store yesterday to get cycles for both of my children. They just had a few to chose from as they were pretty much sold out. When we asked them about the next stock..........the Lady gave us a strange look and said, 'After Winter.' Which means after April sometime. They sell many things here by the seasons, unlike India where you get everything all year round.
Kids have started school! A few things that happened:
My eleven year old son had to wait at a particular spot on the first day of school for his bus at 8.05am. I thought, how precise they are!! Well, I thought too soon.......the bus never came and my husband had to do one mad dash and drove him to school. We later found out that the bus driver was new and the driver went to the wrong stop. The last three days however have been fine, and my son has been enjoying taking the bus to school.
My daughter walks to school as it is close by, but I'm sure as it gets colder we'll have to drive her too.
They both (touch wood) love school so far. My son is in the 6th grade, and he has French. They start French from the fourth grade so he is technically two years behind. The French teacher should tell us today what he can do to catch up. He also has P.E or Phys. Ed as they call it twice a week. He has to take a seperate bag with a change of proper gym clothes. A pair of shoes are kept in the locker, which he shares with a classmate. They keep their backpack, jackets etc in the locker, and take the books, pencil case etc that they need. After each period, they go back to the locker and take what they need for the next class. Their lunch is also kept in the locker until lunch time.
The first two days they gave my son a series of different tests, to check reading, math skills, speed test, spelling and an assignment to write down thier goals for this year. This is done to assess the class and to help the teacher in knowing the students capabilities better. My daughter had a reading and spelling test.
On the first day of school, my daughters homework was to 'hug your parents'. She was so thrilled that this was the kind of homework they give. Her happiness was short lived as she got 'real' homework the second day and had to read a book and write two sentences about what she read. She also started work in Math (they don't say Maths), Science and English.
Both kids have 'agendas' or what we call, the school diary in India. They write down their homework and the parents have to see that it is done, and sign it everyday.
The schools are also very strict about the dress code. No t-shirts with offensive or gang like slogans. No jewellery beyond something simple and not expensive. Girls skirts have to be longer than the level of their extended fingertips facing downwards. No spaghetti straps and tops and bottoms (like pant and shirt, or skirt and top) have to meet in the middle. They don't have uniforms in most schools here, so you have to be make sure your kids have plenty of comfortable clothes and at least two pairs of sports shoes.
Today my son has his first art class and on Monday he has music. I will let you know what they did, as well as a clearer picture of the syllabus.
If you have any questions please email or leave a comment. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Can anyone tell me what the Canadian nickname for the one dollar and two dollar coin here is?
I'll give you the answer in my next post.!!
We went to a store yesterday to get cycles for both of my children. They just had a few to chose from as they were pretty much sold out. When we asked them about the next stock..........the Lady gave us a strange look and said, 'After Winter.' Which means after April sometime. They sell many things here by the seasons, unlike India where you get everything all year round.
Kids have started school! A few things that happened:
My eleven year old son had to wait at a particular spot on the first day of school for his bus at 8.05am. I thought, how precise they are!! Well, I thought too soon.......the bus never came and my husband had to do one mad dash and drove him to school. We later found out that the bus driver was new and the driver went to the wrong stop. The last three days however have been fine, and my son has been enjoying taking the bus to school.
My daughter walks to school as it is close by, but I'm sure as it gets colder we'll have to drive her too.
They both (touch wood) love school so far. My son is in the 6th grade, and he has French. They start French from the fourth grade so he is technically two years behind. The French teacher should tell us today what he can do to catch up. He also has P.E or Phys. Ed as they call it twice a week. He has to take a seperate bag with a change of proper gym clothes. A pair of shoes are kept in the locker, which he shares with a classmate. They keep their backpack, jackets etc in the locker, and take the books, pencil case etc that they need. After each period, they go back to the locker and take what they need for the next class. Their lunch is also kept in the locker until lunch time.
The first two days they gave my son a series of different tests, to check reading, math skills, speed test, spelling and an assignment to write down thier goals for this year. This is done to assess the class and to help the teacher in knowing the students capabilities better. My daughter had a reading and spelling test.
On the first day of school, my daughters homework was to 'hug your parents'. She was so thrilled that this was the kind of homework they give. Her happiness was short lived as she got 'real' homework the second day and had to read a book and write two sentences about what she read. She also started work in Math (they don't say Maths), Science and English.
Both kids have 'agendas' or what we call, the school diary in India. They write down their homework and the parents have to see that it is done, and sign it everyday.
The schools are also very strict about the dress code. No t-shirts with offensive or gang like slogans. No jewellery beyond something simple and not expensive. Girls skirts have to be longer than the level of their extended fingertips facing downwards. No spaghetti straps and tops and bottoms (like pant and shirt, or skirt and top) have to meet in the middle. They don't have uniforms in most schools here, so you have to be make sure your kids have plenty of comfortable clothes and at least two pairs of sports shoes.
Today my son has his first art class and on Monday he has music. I will let you know what they did, as well as a clearer picture of the syllabus.
If you have any questions please email or leave a comment. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Can anyone tell me what the Canadian nickname for the one dollar and two dollar coin here is?
I'll give you the answer in my next post.!!
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