Category Archives: Education

5 Ways to Grow “Greener” Kids

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Let me start this post by saying that I am, in no way, that fabulous enviro-mummy who feeds her beloveds only organic, wholesome foods packed in bio-hazard free, perfectly chilled lunch boxes. We put out a bag of garbage each week and don’t recycle perfectly. Sometimes we yell a little too much, and we are not always kind to one another. We are just average folks living in the suburbs trying to make a little difference in 2019. However, we are making an attempt to be a tad more environmentally conscious. My goal for this year is to live a little bit more simply, a little bit greener, a little bit more sustainable…. and I am dragging the family kicking and screaming along with me. So. Here you have it. 5 things we are trying to do as a family to go a bit more green:

#1: Pop Top Collecting

This one, I am proud to say, belongs to the youngest. She has initiated a small collection of pop tops (or soda can tabs for those of you who speak “American”) and hopes to recycle them with charitable organizations. These collections are used to raise funds for wheelchairs and other assistive devices. We only have a very small amount (we don’t drink a lot of canned pop) but I am happy that the crew is at least thinking about making changes!! The charities (March of Dimes, Ronald McDonald House and others) collect and send the aluminum tabs to be recycled. In exchange, they receive a small fee that is used to fund the new devices. It takes A LOT of tabs to make any significant change, so our little blip is only a start. 1267 pop tabs make one pound of aluminum… and the current price for a pound of aluminum? Sixty cents. Maybe we need to drink more pop.

#2: Useful Containers

This one is a new eco-friendly initiative for me, so I am hoping it will eventually make a little bit of difference. I have started to save some useful containers and cool recyclables to share with my local schools and summer camps. The internet is full of crazy things you can make and create with all kinds of recyclables like toilet paper roles, cans, containers and such. Our summer camp has been collecting these items for years, and so I thought if I could make it easy to separate, we could share the wealth with our schools and local daycares to illicit some greener and creative play! Our primary school is a platinum winner for it’s eco-school initiatives, so I am sure the teachers will use the donations wisely and creatively! And all the materials are free! What’s not to love?

#3: G.O.O.S Paper

Speaking of school, this idea was stolen from my work in grade one classes some years ago. I discovered something called G.O.O.S Paper… which originally I thought was goose, like the Canadian bird, but really means: Good On One Side. We use a tonne of paper at my house. We make notes, lists, homework help, blog ideas and just general crafting. We also get a lot of paper home… school notes, fliers, cards etc. Some time ago, we made these paper maché boxes that tuck themselves neatly in our living room space. One for paper that is still “good on one side”, and one for brand new paper. The new paper is only allowed in the printer for homework projects or important notes. The rest must be pulled from the G.O.O.S box!

#4: No more Juice Boxes for Lunch

None of my kids are super happy about this one… but I have stuck with it! You can read about this initiative in a previous post here. I was sad to discover how wasteful juice boxes were, and that they could not be recycled! Not to mention that maybe we should not be drinking all that juice! So, I have eliminated the juice box cases from my shopping list! It was an environmentally conscious choice that not only has it been lighter on my back, but it has helped a little on the budget too! All of us now have nice, re-usable water bottles. We still occasionally buy a few boxes when we travel — but they are not overflowing our garbage the way they used to!

#5: Hand me Downs

My kids have been used to this one since they were born. I very rarely need to buy new clothes for our kids. We have been blessed with friends and family (and a plethora of thrift shops!) that keep all four of my kids well dressed and looking fine! The crew sees very little value in designer name brands and are happy with comfortable clothes — even used ones. In fact, it is almost funny that my kids will continue to wear clothes even if they are riding up their too tall legs! When they were younger, they used to think the big garbage bags of donations were fabulous gifts and digging in to them was just like Christmas!!

It’s interesting, isn’t it, what priorities we share with our children? How about you? Any green tips to share? Any eco-friendly activities going on at your house? What other values are you trying to impart on the next generation? Unfortunately, (or fortunately?) our beloved babies are not born with a set of instructions. It is up to us to feed their fires, to enrich their creativity, to instill best practices in their minds and hearts. It’s also true when it comes to their thoughts about spirituality and the church. Yes, it is correct to say that each individual must chose his/her own actions, and we cannot “force” our beliefs on anyone. But you’d be surprised to note what influences you have on others… for better or for worse. As they get older, we have always tried to encourage our children to question and discover their faith for real. And we try to lead by example. We don’t schedule sports or lessons on Sundays on purpose. Those days are reserved for church. Yes, you are expected to join us each and every Sunday and participate in the service. Yes, that means getting up out of bed on a snowy Sunday morning. Like “greening” we sometimes have to drag them along, explaining that even a little bit counts.

Check out my other posts about the Green Debate!

No, we are not perfect. Our children are not perfect. But we strive to build a sense of community — both for our resources and for our church. To do our little part to help. It’s not easy. 1267 pop tops is a lot! It’s hard to wake up early to get to worship practice on a Sunday morning when all your friends are sleeping in. But if we each start with one bit, one church service, one share, one verse memorized, one kind word, one less plastic straw, I think our faith communities… and our pop top collections… will grow and be greener!

Is Homework Necessary?

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 December first has come and gone.  We celebrated the first Sunday of Advent, and are anticipating the weeks of holiday bliss which are about to arrive.  But before the Mitton clan goes whole hog on Christmas, we have to get through the last few weeks of school.  Which, in our neck of the woods, means a whole whack of homework.  A topic that has led to a rather brooding debate amongst us… is homework really necessary?!  My first answer as mom, educator and lover of learning, says yes, yes, of course!  Homework is a must.  How can we continue learning if there is no homework, no testing, no study?  The rest of the clan disagrees.  It’s stressful, it’s useless, it’s too time consuming, it has no purpose.  These are the things I am hearing!  Even the hubby, who is thinking of branching out of his comfort zone and taking a course in the new year (to which I am very proud!) wants only to audit a course and not do the homework.  Awk!  No, no, no, I say!  How can you really learn if you have no concrete evidence… nothing to show at the end…no “mark” of your ability.  But — I am willing to be open minded — and so I muse:  Is homework really necessary?

  From what I have gathered, “homework” — the work sent home because either it is not completed in class, or is assigned to enhance the practice, preparation for, or extensions of, lessons done in class — is becoming a hot topic.  There seems to be a growing trend to eliminate it all together.  In Canada, “no homework policies” are being pushed by both parents and educators alike, labeling homework as stress inducing, and time-robbing.  A 2008 study done in Ontario, discovered that the dreaded homework hour can become the primary source of arguments in a household.  Not only in parent/child power struggles, but even among marriages as well.  (Which seems to be happening in my house, too…)  And so I muse again… Why?

Apparently the answer lies in the amount of time.  The “ideal” amount of homework, as laid out by the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association in the US, suggests a standard of 10 minutes of homework per grade level.  Canadian educators pretty much follow this standard as well.  However, reports are coming in that students are doing much, much more than this.  On average, Ontario students are given 40 minutes of homework per night.  Add multiple subjects and this can get pretty stressful. Families argue that this cuts into family time, not to mention that if there is misunderstanding or learning struggles — that 40 minutes could drag on in to infinity….

So.  Let’s take a step back.  Let’s look at the big picture of why we educate in the first place.  If our Christian lifestyle impacts our understanding in this topic, then God should have something to say about it too.  The Bible tells us in Proverbs to “…get wisdom and understanding at all costs…” (Proverbs 4).  Could this mean giving up some favourite television show to study the multiplication table?  Or forcing our students off the devices to sit with pen and paper to make a “useless” title page?  Possibly.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we are not perfect scholars over here… we have had our fair share of homework struggles… pulling our hair out to get that perfect paper machéd, 3-D model of some obscure parallelogram.  Or setting the timer for exactly 21 minutes of reading because that is the bare minimum required.   I have seen my teens burn the midnight oil on more than one occasion to complete that assignment simply because they procrastinated the rest of the week.  Homework can certainly be stress inducing.  And as parents, I think it is our job to shape, encourage and instruct our children… that yes, education is important.  And yes, this teacher’s expectations may be out of the ball park… so let’s deal with learning to have difficult conversations, let’s deal with how to interact with people who do not see our points of view, let’s be present in our education systems and seek wisdom.  Let’s make homework part of the bigger idea of “gathering wisdom.”

I’m not convinced there is an easy answer to the homework debate.  We are a full mix of people with many given gifts.  We have different goals and different learning styles.  Good grief… even within my own little clan, we cannot agree on this debate!  For now… I will encourage the completion of homework in our house, with the premise of gathering wisdom.  Skills like multiplication tables and correct spelling and grammar are necessary, yes, but so is good communication, and loving your neighbour, and standing up for what you believe.  Can homework achieve this?  Certainly not in 40 minutes a night.  It becomes a piece of a much, much broader idea, that I will continue to muse about often.

Let me know your thoughts… do you home school and avoid homework altogether?  Do you enforce homework time at your house?  Is it a struggle? Have helpful hints to share?  We’d love to hear from you!   Drop us a line!

Advent

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I hate waiting.  I hate waiting in line, I hate waiting for my food to be cooked, I hate waiting for the kids to get out of school.  I just don’t like sitting around with nothing to do when something else should be happening.  I bring books or snacks or my phone or a crochet project on long car rides because my hands need to be doing something (or else I crash into a nap… which is a whole other story).

So, when I discovered that the real meaning of Advent was anticipatory waiting… I wasn’t too keen.  I don’t think many of us are good at waiting.  Have you noticed that radio stations are playing Christmas music already?!  The stores have been in Christmas mode since the day after Halloween!  The marketers out there certainly don’t like waiting!  They want us to be spending our dough faster and faster these days… no waiting!  Order now!  Direct ship!  Buy online!  Available 24 hours, seven days a week!  

Let’s step back for a minute. In case you are not familiar with the term “advent”… it is a traditional practice of the Christian church to anticipate the coming of Christ at Christmas, and then, in turn, His final return to earth.  Similar to the practice of Lent before Easter, it gives us a chance to slow down, to think and ponder, and to hope for the future.  It’s something I have to work on… this waiting.

My first exposure to advent was those cardboard chocolate calendars.

My first exposure to advent was those cardboard chocolate calendars.  The ones with the little doors you would open every day from December first until the 25th.  Back then, I didn’t understand what it meant… I simply enjoyed the treats everyday!  Later, we began to celebrate the four Sundays of advent at our church.  It was then, that I understood the symbolism, the tradition, and the true meaning of the practice.   It is something I have come to cherish as an adult.  It’s a discipline that that reminds me to slow down, to appreciate my family, to encourage my church family, and to rejoice in the season — and not to be so caught up in the rush of the “stuff”.  It forces me to focus each week on learning to wait.  To anticipate.  To revel in the beauty of hope.

Here’s what I have learned about the traditional advent symbolism:  it begins with an evergreen wreath… the symbol of a circle of eternity.  Our Christ is timeless.  He’s been around much longer than the babe in the manger.  Surrounding the wreath are four candles and one central candle.  Each candle is lit on the four Sundays of Advent, and culminate with the lighting of the white, central candle, which is lit on Christmas eve.  This central candle is sometimes referred to as the Christ candle… and represents His purity and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross.  

The first candle is purple.  It represents “hope” and the prophecies that Isaiah spoke about when He described the coming of our special Christmas baby.  The second purple candle represents love, and is sometimes referred to as the Bethlehem candle or the manger candle.  So much love happened in that lowly stable…. I imagine my own beloveds and how the whole world fell away the moment they were born and I saw them for the first time face to face.   Can you imagine Mary’s first glance at her special baby?  Yup, love for sure.  The next candle is pink… and represents joy.   It is the shepherd’s candle.  It embodies the joy and celebration the shepherds must have felt when they were given the good news that a Saviour had been born!  The last candle is also purple and reminds us to be peaceful.   This “angel” candle points us to worship, to reflection, and to remember that the season is not about gifts under a tree, but the ultimate gift given to us.  The One the angels were made for… simply to worship for eternity.  

So… as you prepare for your Christmas season, and you rush out here and there, be reminded of the advent tradition of waiting.  Take time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas… Christ’s coming.  Anticipate through hope, love, joy and peace, and the pure and holy sacrifice that Christ paid for you.  May you be blessed, my beloveds, as we journey towards the holidays together.   Take time to rejoice in waiting.  Oh… it shall be no easy task!  Especially if there are Christmas cookies in the oven! But we can practice it together, shall we?

Want to learn more about Advent?  Check out my Pinterest Boards for more ideas on DIY calendars, symbols, studies and more!