Fall brings plenty of things… pumpkins, apples, changing leaves, and for many of us… meetings.
Whether it’s Meet the teacher or the start of a new hockey season, parents often find themselves attending meetings almost every night of the week. That may not seem like it leaves a lot of time for literacy, but there are some tricks to help, especially if you have to take your children with you to these meetings.
Plan ahead, and bring an interesting book or a magazine for kids (like, Owl, Chickadee or Chirp). Add a notebook with some special markers or pens (my favourites are gel pens, because they’re fun to doodle with) and a nutritious snack in a little container (whole wheat penguin crackers anyone?), and you have an hour’s worth of distractions for your child.
And if your children aren’t quite to the reading/writing stage, a bag full of toys they haven’t seen in a while is a good bet – just avoid anything noisy or above your child’s level – you don’t want to be interrupted in the middle of your great idea with the Backyardigan theme song, or (maybe worse) a whining child.
Meetings will die down as everything starts to fall into a routine, but these ideas also work anyplace you have to take your child and wait – doctors office, DMV, or even while meeting a friend at a local cafe.
And if you get the chance, bring your kids and your goody bag to the Tantramar Family Resource Centre’s AG, on Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m., in the upper level mezzanine of the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre.
