Curriculum Information for Parents

I often get parents coming into the library asking for curriculum information for the specific grades that their children are registered in.  A great website to check out that will answer many questions is from the Government of Alberta.  It is the "LearnAlberta" website.

A specific page on this site titled: "My Child's Learning: A Parent Resource" is a fountain of information!!!  You can click on any grade, from Kindergarten to High school and it will load information outlining the topics covered under the curriculum for that particular grade.

It is a fantastic resource!  Check it out here: "My Child's Learning"

St. Monica Spring Book Fair

Our latest Scholastic Book Fair was a great success!  Thank you to all our students, families and staff for support this worthwhile cause.  We always want our kids to be reading, but best of all  50 % of the profits comes back to our school library and your children's classrooms.

 

We are now able to get over $ 1000.00 in new books and school resources!!!  Look for them in the library and classrooms!! 

 

And a huge thank you also goes to our Grade 9 book fair assistants who volunteered to help run the book fair.  Great job: Alana, Clemenzia, Dominic, Greg, Hermela, Kalvin, Pamela and Tomi!!!

If you need someone to talk to.......

You can always contact "ConnecTeen."  Hearing YOUth. Helping YOUth

Being a teen can be tough. You have more independence than ever before, but you probably have more questions, concerns and responsibility than ever before too. If you ever have a question, a problem or just need someone to talk to – give "ConnecTeen" a call, drop them an email or chat with them online.



They can connect you directly with a peer who understand your unique perspective and can help talk through your problems.

Check out their website for more information.

So you want to be a Librarian?

One of the best (and smartest) things I ever did was to return to school later in life, to get my Library Information Technology (LIT) diploma from SAIT Polytechnic. 

Now, I could have gone back to University to get an undergraduate degree and then continue on to get a Masters in Library Science (MLS) or Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS), but I chose to complete my studies in Calgary and go with a 2 year program.  The reason I chose to go with the LIT was based in part on my age (already being in my 40's) and that I did not want to invest the time and money it would require to achieve an MLIS. For me, it made more sense to do an LIT, as it would fit in with my time criteria and would it would qualify me to work in the area that I really wanted to: becoming a school librarian.

If you think that the library field may be in your future, you need to think carefully about what it is about librarianship that appeals to you.  It is reading and storytelling?  Is it research, or finding the answer to well hidden, and often obscure answers to the bizarre or extremely technical customer questions?  Do you thrive on cool, new information technologies and want share their use with others?  Do you want to help students or other customers find the answers to course work they are doing, and to help them succeed academically?

I just finished reading a great article by Rick Anderson about becoming a 21st century librarian and some of the worthwhile goals that people might have in mind when they decide to work in the library field.  Here are  some the reasons he listed in his article (click to read article) "Authentic Librarianship and the Question of Service": 

To prepare people for lives of professional scholarship

To increase participation in a democratic society

To support research into solutions to social and scientific problems

To support the development of innovative products and life-saving treatments

To encourage and promote critical thinking

To increase awareness of and tolerance for difference and diversity

To broaden minds and enrich lives

To improve character and ennoble the “whole person”

Whatever your reasons for working in the library field might be, please take the time to check into the various areas you could possibly focus in. Click on the links below to get general information: 

How To Become a 21st Century Librarian

"So You Want to Be A Librarian"

Have you considered a career as a school librarian?

Academic Libraries

Public Libraries

Special (Law, Medicine, Oil and Gas) Libraries

Descriptions of Library related careers

Library Information Technology Diploma from SAIT Polytechnic



If any St. Monica parents or students are interested in getting additional one-on-one information about a career in the library field, I invite you to stop by, anytime that I am in the library, and to speak to me personally.  I truly enjoy sharing my love of librarianship and information gathering knowledge and experience with others.

Mrs. M. Meakin
St. Monica School Librarian

Here's a great Easter book: "The Parable of the Lily"

 

Maggie, the farmer's youngest daughter, loves getting gifts, especially mysterious ones. One wintry day, she receives a package in the mail. She excitedly opens the package to find a bulb buried in a crate of dirt. This was not what Maggie expected. She had hoped for a doll or a game, not a bulb that would one day become a plant. When spring comes, she finds the bulb in the cellar and tosses the lifeless thing into the garden, never to think of it again. . . . Until she walks outside on Easter morning and finds the most beautiful lily she has ever seen. Through the unique gift of a bulb, Maggie discovers the power of grace and forgiveness and the true meaning of Easter.

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Tips For Parents Who Read With Their Children

  

Here are some tips for making reading more fun and successful

• Sit together in a nice spot where both of you will be comfortable
• Make sure both of you can see, touch and experience the book
• Notice the picture on the cover of the book; what clues does it give you about the book?
• Who is the author? Have your read other books or stories that you've liked by the same author?
• Take turns, each reading pages or certain sections
• Take time to talk about the pictures, and others things that both of you like about the book
• Use your finger and glide under each word as you read along
• At the end of the story, review what it was about.
• Try another book if you are both still keen.  Don't push or force, try to simply have fun and enjoy!

"TD Read With Me Program" from the CPL

Does your child, for whatever reason, struggle with reading?  Does he or she need some additional reading practice that will be fun for them?  Consider signing up for the "TD Read With Me Program" sponsored by TD Canada Trust and put on by the Calgary Public Library.
                      

Children are matched up with adult volunteers to spend an hour, one on one at a local library branch practicing their reading skills.  In these one hour sessions children will spend some time: reading, playing literacy oriented games, doing fun exercises, being read to, and other fun activities with their adult volunteer partner. Some of the program goals are listed below:

TD Read With Me is designed*:

• To enhance reading level skills and interest in reading for young readers
• To instill confidence and genuine desire for lifelong learning
• To provide exposure to a fun creative learning environment
• To foster independent learning skills
• To introduce family/caregivers to the Library
• To increase awareness and use of library resources, services and programs

* Information taken from the Calgary Public Library website.

Parents must stay in the library for the full hour that their child is spending with the volunteer.  The child and the volunteer meet once a week and commit to working together for at least a year's time.

If you are interested in getting more information about the program, signing your child up, or volunteering, please click below: 
                 TD Read With Me Program

 "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." — Frederick Douglass