Back at School

Now that I’m back in Nova Scotia for the winter (and missing my little girls in Ontario, I’m keen to do some school author visits. Thanks to the Writers in the Schools program (WITS) offered by the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, I got to spend time at McCulloch Education Centre in Pictou last week, and it reminded me how much I like being with kids! I took a few pictures of wall art, and I wanted to share some of the interesting things kids said/drew:

After I read SKY PIG, I get kids to draw a picture of their dream. If they could have anything in the whole entire world, what would it be? There are always lots of kids who want to be princesses, have a puppy or travel to Disneyland, and the responses range from the hilarious to the sad:

1. My dream is that my mother could be Queen of the World (and the picture showed her entire family as princes, princesses, kings, etc.)

• My dream is to have my own zoo, and it would be full of birds.

• My dream is to visit my dad’s house again.

After I read THE POCKET PIG, it always amazes how many kids have imaginary friends, and they have detailed descriptions of their friendship with those friends, including one boy who said he only plays with his imaginary friend while in the bathroom so he can have privacy. They have fun drawing their imaginary friends, or imagining what that character would look like if they don’t have one (yet). They draw lots of other kids, dogs, and one boy drew a very detailed mouse – another a giant ant. Kids have so much imagination!

I’m trying out hearing aids as I’m tired of constantly asking people to repeat themselves. I had a head injury when I was in my 20s, including damage to my left ear, so it’s time to do something about it. For sure, my hearing is improved with things like radio and TV volume being reduced, but I still struggled to understand some of the younger kids last week. This is something I noticed last year, too, and I wondered if it had to do with Covid/masks, or are kids just having more trouble articulating now? Too much screen time? Not enough human conversation? A combination of everything, most likely. I’m sure it’s super frustrating for them since they know exactly what they’re trying to communicate. And speech pathologists have far too many kids on their caseloads.

I think (hope) there’s a trend towards old-school methods in teaching reading and writing, hopefully involving more phonetics after the Whole Language debacle. I’ve always been a fan of spelling lists, but it seems they disappeared years ago. Life is just so complicated for kids today, and I’m not sure the adults making the key decisions in education are always well-informed on the needs of kids. (ie. Not teachers, but the people in curriculum development offices).

Anyway, that’s my two cents. I got to spend the night with my childhood best friend while I was in Pictou – lots to catch up on! The weather here in Nova Scotia has turned, as it does before Remembrance Day. Hope you’re staying cozy in your little corner!