The Parent Inclusion Project

Do we understand disability adequately? Do we convince ourselves to see disability as a check – yes, check-no kind of answer? What if we thought of it more like a spectrum of abilities with all of us lying somewhere in between? We know some people need more help than others – sometimes temporarily and other times ongoing. The Parent Inclusion Project funded by the Ministry of Ontario is a project that aims to reach out and work with parents from Lawrence Heights, Neptune and Lotherton – and the areas in between – to support parents that want to become more involved in the educational needs of their children.

In a series of workshops beginning at the Friday Night Café in Lawrence Heights on Friday February 22, 2013 at 6:30 p.m., the LHION Education Workgroup is pulling together resources to identify the range of needs to help children of all abilities to make the most of their education.

Download LHION Education Workgroup - electronic flyer FINAL

Here are some light picture books that will help understand disability and special needs in children. Share them with friends and family – and get involved in the Parent Inclusion Project.

     

Manners? for the 21st century.

   Most of us will know who Emily Post and Amy Vanderbilt are, or at least be familiar with their many books about etiquette.  (Emily Post died in 1960, but the books continue to be written by Elizabeth and Peggy Post.)  When we were young, we were taught to say  Please and Thank You, and other basics of politeness.  We were expected to be on our "best behaviour" when out in public, and generally polite at home.

    A few years ago, Miss Manners started writing books, with her take on some of the social situations that face people in the modern world – ones that Emily Post might never have imagined.

    And there are plenty of books available addressing specific situations such as weddings, how to  interact with people of other cultures and in business settings.

    But many people will have also noticed a decline in social graces, and have written about this as well.  Lynne Truss wrote a bestseller in 2005, with “Talk to the hand: the utter bloody rudeness of the world today, or six good reasons to stay home and bolt the door.”   Lucinda Holdforth added to the debate in 2007, with “Why manners matter: the case for civilized behavior in a barbarous world.”   Others have chimed in, with “The Civility solution: what to do when people are rude,” by P. M. Forni, and let us know that this sort of thing can cost us money, with “The Cost of bad behavior: how incivility is damaging your business and what to do about it”. 

    Some of the titles are more humourous, such as “I see rude people: one woman’s battle to beat some manners into impolite society” and “Classy: be a lady, not a tramp”.

    We think that this is a 21^st century decline, but there was a book in 1998 called “Can I fax you a thank-you note?”

    But have things really gone too far, because of the ease of social media?  In 2010, Ilana Gershon wrote “The Breakup 2.0 : disconnecting over social media.”  It seems that while breaking up used to be  hard to do – it's much easier now -  you just send a tweet or post it on Facebook.

     

                     
 
     

You are what you Eat

I recently became more aware (and proactive) of the food I put into my body.  Research studies and news reports about restaurant dining and processed foods have me a bit concerned.   I usually don’t give in that easy – there are strong associations with almost everything these days but all things seem to point at the fact that ‘you are what you eat,’ as the old proverb goes.

I know that making your own food is the best way of controlling what goes into your body but I always made excuses, mostly highlighting the time and effort put into making food for one person.  I know that food can be stored and eaten sequentially but it wasn’t enough to get me going.

Then over a casual lunch conversation, a colleague shared some easy to make recipes.   It sparked me to do some searching.  I discovered that there are many resources that help make cooking easy, fast and healthy - three targets that a young cook desires.

Here are some resources that I’m using: