-----------------------------------------------------------------

Parents of gifted children are often very special too. They have many different approaches, beliefs, levels of understanding and knowledge of giftedness. From experience, almost all are very nurturing and take special interest in ensuring their child lives and works to his/her potential.

Many parents don’t realize just how powerful and influential they really are. Besides keeping facilitators and classroom teachers informed and accountable, they can be real driving forces in urging school boards to meet the needs of their gifted children. They can also influence government policy. Ultimately, they are the taxpayers and have a right to get value for their money.

Parents of gifted children fall into several categories:

• Low key to very actively involved in their gifted child’s life
• Idealists and practical, determined crusaders for change
• Those who patiently wait for change and those who make it happen
• Outgoing, forceful and positively assertive
• Leaders and followers (both are important!)
• Those who compromise and those who accept fate
• Most are very proud of their child’s accomplishments, strengths and abilities and want them to excel to their best levels
• Do not hesitate in organizing and holding public meetings with other parents of gifted children. Encourage participation and togetherness.

The battle to get the kind of attention gifted children deserve is often a very difficult one especially when other areas of special education are getting much of the attention and funding these days.

Parents in Ontario must realize they do have a legal right to services for their gifted children. Many are strong advocates for giftedness and supportive of the special efforts needed to teach gifted children.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Canadian Voyageur Adventures

Canoe Ontario –Canoe Expo

Deep River Science Academy

Encounters With Canada (one week in Ottawa. Until end of May)

***HTS Camps, Richmond Hill

(IF YOU ARE REALLY GOOD IN SCIENCE AND IN A SENIOR GRADE AND YOU MIGHT LIKE A SUMMER JOB AS A TEACHER’S ASSISTANT AT THIS CAMP, CONTACT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE)

McMichael Summer Art Camp

Moorelands Camp

(apply to be a summer camp counsellor for disadvantaged kids)

Ontario Science Centre Science School (apply now for next year)

Summer Opportunity in Applied Research (SOAR)

Toronto Sportsmen’s Show (during March Break)

U. of Toronto Dept. of Computer Science Summer Coarse (apply now)

YMCA Young Leaders Course (apply now)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Question: What is your funniest Spring story?

Visiting Jamaica over March break a few years ago, my friend and I got to know a small local boy about 10 years old. After a while, we started wondering why he wasn’t in school. He told us that he didn’t have a uniform like the other children. My friend and I looked at each other and smiled. We took Troy to local stores and bought him a uniform, shoes, socks, underwear and even a lunchbox. Voila, he was ready to go to school! We felt so proud of ourselves for this kind act.
The next day, we got a very appreciative letter from his mother, who explained that Troy couldn’t go to school because there was no money for books, meals or the bus that would take him a great distance. She was raising 8 kids on her own after her husband was stabbed to death. Troy was needed to bring a little money home as he could.
We ate some humble pie as we realized that our "noble" gesture was just a bandage on the surface of the problems Troy and his family had. We had the best of intentions but were we naïve to think we could just walk in and solve his problem quickly with a few dollars. –M. F.

_____________

(source: Diana Koszycki, Anxiety Disorders Program, Royal Ottawa Hospital)

Social-anxiety Disorder – serious shyness and fear of being publicly humiliated. Mostly among women and affects less than 10% of the population.

Phobias – fear of specific things such as snakes, heights, etc. Mostly among women.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – unusual fears of germs can make people anxious. Rituals may be hand-washing or some other repetitive movement. About 2% of the population of men and women are affected.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder – traumatic events trigger nightmares, flashbacks, cold sweats, disrupted sleep. Mostly in women.

Panic Disorder – symptoms include shortness of breath, stomach constriction, chest pain, choking sensation, fainting. People with this can sometimes dramatically change their lives by restricting driving and shopping. Mostly women are affected.

_____________

-every year, Spain produces enough olives to feed 70 of them to every man, woman, and child living in the country.

-surveys of working habits in Canada suggest that 94% of married men go out to work, 74% of married women, 85% of lone-parent fathers, 55% of lone-parent mothers with preschoolers, 75% of lone-parent mothers with school-aged children, 79% of wives with school-aged children.

-a study from King’s College in London, England suggests that chewing gum after a meal fights acid reflux.

-a good hobby such as gardening, stamp collecting, board games can keep you healthy in body and mind.

-salt in the body is essential in maintaining the body’s acid-alkaline balance and retaining sufficient fluids in the system.

-in studies done in Canada, 70% of women and 57% of men definitely believe in God. In that category, 87% believed that God is one who is present in all nature. Angels (61%) was the number one choice of people that believed spiritual forces are at work in the world.

-facetiously is the only(?) word in the English language in which all vowels appear, in alphabetical order.

-half of Canadian teens gamble for fun, research shows, but many aren’t getting the message that they can develop a gambling problem.

______________

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser. How fast food affects architecture, culture, health, communication, etc.

______________

-Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning." " I got a good woman", is a bad way to begin the Blues, 'less you stick something nasty in the next line, like " I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."
-The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes ....sort of: "Got a good woman - with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Minnie Mouse’s mother -and she weigh 500 pound."
-The Blues are not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch; ain't no way out.
-Blues cars: Chevys and Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or SUV’s. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft an' car pools ain't even in the running.
-Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
-Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. (Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.)
-Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Tucson is just depression, baby. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.
-A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male-pattern-baldness is. Breaking your leg cuz you skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg cuz an alligator be chomping on it is.
-You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
-Good places for the Blues: a. highway b. jailhouse c. empty bed d. bottom of a whiskey glass
-Bad places: a. Nordstrom's b. gallery openings c. Ivy League institutions d. golf courses
-No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
-Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if: a. you're older than dirt b. you're blind c. you shot a man in Memphis d. you can't be satisfied
No, if: a. you have all your teeth b. you were once blind but now can see c. the man in Memphis lived d. you have a retirement plan or trust fund
-Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. (Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Gary Coleman could.)
-If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Money talks…but all mine ever says is goodbye.

Whoever said love is blind is dead wrong. Love is the only thing that lets us see each other with the remotest accuracy. Martha Beck.

The sweetest, most desirable words in the English language are "I love you." The four worst have to be the dreaded "I love you, but…" It usually leads to something hateful. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything. –Adam K. Hollowell.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Questions and answers about Canada that were posted on an "International Tourism" Website:

Q: I have never seen it warm in Canada on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)

A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto. Can I just follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)

A: Sure, it's only four thousand miles. Bring lots of water. . .

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada? (USA)

A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle-shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your North . . . oh, forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada? (USA)

A: Face South and then turn around. Contact us when you get here and we'll send you the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (UK)

A: No. Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)

A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is . . . oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the hippo races.

Q: I was in Canada in 1969 on R+R, and I want to contact the girl I dated while I was staying in Surrey, BC. Can you help? (USA)

A: Yes. (everybody laughs loud and long after coming up with this)

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its name. It's a kind of a big horse with horns. (USA)

A: It's called a moose. Moose are tall and very violent animals, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with skunk odor before you go out walking.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go in Canada? (USA)

A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

***********

Fred: I play chess with my dog.

Bob: Wow, is he any good?

Fred: Nope, I beat him four games out of five so far.

_____________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Courtesy of DiscoverTeenergy.com
All Rights Reserved