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More Help For Worried Parents and Teachers
The Society is proud to introduce a free new tool to help parents and teachers with students who struggle with math.
Our free remedial reading program, Stairway to Reading, has proved so popular that we’ve added a free remedial math program. Check out Stairway to Math, a series of very ingenious math worksheets that will be a welcome support for parents and teachers. Thanks and a tip of the hat to teacher David Harris who created Stairway to Math for us.
And don’t forget some of our other free resources - How to Get the Right Education for your Child (a practical manual for the parents of children who are struggling in school); Charter Schools: Alberta’s Best-Kept Secret (a streamed DVD about charter schools); and our newsletter archives (a wealth of practical information for parents and teachers, organized by topic).
There isn’t room in our blog to mention all our other amenities, like our speaker’s bureau and our e-mail support service. Visit our home page to get an idea of what we have on offer.
More help if you are in the Ottawa area:
The Christ Church Cathedral Choirs, offered by the Anglican Cathedral at Sparks & Bronson, are one of the best-kept secrets in the city in terms of musical education for children. The Men & Boys’ Choir has been in existence for over 100 years, has Ben Heppner and Angela Hewitt as patrons (Angela’s father, Geoffrey Hewitt, was a longtime choirmaster here), and educates boys 7 - 16 years in the master choralworks of the last thousand years, in half a dozen languages. Potential choristers need not be Anglican to apply; youngest boys may join without audition. To be honest, there is a fairly grueling rehearsal and performance schedule to bring them to the level where they are (Canada’s premier traditional choral ensemble) — minimal of 6 hrs. rehearsal per week, Tues. & Thurs. evenings, and Sundays, as well as high Anglican services, and many concerts around Ottawa and elsewhere. Parents are expected to volunteer a fair bit, as well. NO CHARGE for all of this!! It is a ministry of the Anglican Cathedral. Free-will contributions to a choirmaster’s purse at the end of the year, a uniform, and anything else you may wish to contribute (this is a registered charity), but that is all. As I said, the music education these boys receive is absolutely top-notch. Several orchestra members of Canada’s NAC have their sons in the choir to gain their initial music foundation. Many younger boys come in with no musical background at all, however, and do well if they are willing to work at it.
This choir is now on a performing tour of the U.K. —to Cambridge University College Chapels, and to many of the great English Cathedrals. Can’t get a better opportunity than that.
And…..the Cathedral also sponsors a Girls’ Choir, begun in 2000. Excellent as well. Accepts girls 8 - 20 years of age. Same type of repetoire, plus occasional musical theatre. They have auditioned and been chosen as guest choristers at the Washington, D.C. National Cathedral for next summer. Again, need not be Anglican to apply. See the Ottawa Christ Church Cathedral website.
Several homeschooling families take advantage of what these choirs offer, along with children from a number of the best private schools in Ottawa. These are simply music programs second to none. Again, choirmasters Matthew Larkin and Tim Piper expect hard work and dedication, but in return they offer so very, very much.