Category: Children’s Garden School (CGS)

This is the fifth in a series of stories about Leaside’s Children’s Garden School. All stories  

There are many special events on the CGS calendar — Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights), the Chinese New Year Banquet, Spirit Day and Hockey Day, just to name a few.

Every special event is an opportunity for CGS staff and students to learn new things, dress up and celebrate. The latest addition to the CGS calendar is Dress for Success Day which took place on May 1. Children come to school “dressed to succeed” in their chosen career. There are doctors, dancers, scientists, cashiers, singers, fashion designers, explorers, super heroes and fireman. Students walk the red carpet as they arrive for school, have a picture taken at the CGS photo booth in the gym. They visit the Job Fair (hosted by the Grade 2s), give demonstrations to their classmates about what their jobs entail and have a special pizza lunch in the CGS Career Cafe. The children love imagining what it will be like to be grown up and working.

The special days at CGS continue: The Principal’s Club Mother’s Day Tea (May 8), Grandparent’s Day, (May 14) CGS Track & Field Championships (May 19) and, last but not least, Alice in Wonderland, this year’s musical. The students will render this timeless children’s drama on 27 at 2 p.m.  May 28 at 6:30 p.m. Senior Kindergarten to Grade 3 students will take to the stage with their version of this wonderful tale. Directors Meredith and Ashleigh have been rehearsing with the children since March 23 and can’t wait for the performers to show off their hard work. Tickets available at the door. Adults $15/Children free. Everyone welcome. Interested in the school? Please contact Kelly Scott, Director of Admission, for your complimentary ticket.

The Director of Admission is Kelly Scott who may be contacted at kscott@cgsschool.com and (416) 423-5017 x 43.  The CGS website is here.

This is the fourth in a series of stories about Leaside’s Children’s Garden School published by The South Bayview Bulldog  All stories

Public Speaking is an integral part of the curriculum at Children’s Garden School. From morning announcements and monthly assemblies to the Public Speaking Contest in the Spring, students are given many opportunities to develop their public speaking skills throughout the school year. Public speaking can be a challenging and frightening experience at any age and CGS staff is there to guide, support and challenge children as their skills grow. Over time, students gain the confidence needed to become relaxed speakers, able to communicate with humour and feeling.

Scarves are also baby carriers

This is the third in a series of stories about Leaside’s Children’s Garden School by the South Bayview Bulldog 

Among the exciting opportunities established for students at Children’s Garden School is the chance to help in the philanthropic work done for Ugandan children through the charity Children of Hope Uganda. CGS Co-Founder and Principal Marie Bates created The Principal’s Club to give students an introduction to this and other such selfless giving. The Club is a structure within which children learn the meaning of philanthropy and see first hand how small things can make a very big difference.  Throughout the year the students work on a number of projects, generally making things with their own hands to sell and generate funds for the chosen charity. 

The Principal’s Club has helped a number of charities over the years but since 2012 it has maintained a strong partnership with Children of Hope Uganda. Through their hard work and dedication, CGS students have raised enough money to create a playground and equip classrooms with furniture and supplies for their Ugandan counterparts. Through their Principal’s Club experiences, students are encouraged to think outside of themselves and realize that it is part of our humanity to help those less fortunate and more vulnerable than ourselves. The exercise has been a great success and critically forms a moral framework students may take with them into adulthood. 

Club members have been busy thinking about the children in Barlonyo, Uganda for many months now and they wanted to extend their thoughts to the mothers there as well. The Club decided that, instead of the usual separate classroom events for CGS moms, there would be one Mother’s Day Tea and that they would ask CGS moms to donate a colourful scarf for the Ugandan moms. These scarves are deeply valued by Ugandan women for head covering, to carry food and transport babies. The Principal’s Club is making decorations and preparing for the tea over the next few weeks. Everyone is now looking forward to tea, strawberry shortcake and the celebration of motherhood on Friday, May 8, 2015. A final fund-raising event this year for Children of Hope Uganda will be the CGS Lemonade and Cookie Sale in June. The Director of Admission is Kelly Scott who may be contacted at kscott@cgsschool.com and (416) 423-5017 x 43.  The CGS website is here.

Uganda students celebrate new reading material and CGS uniforms

Caring, competent and nurturing staff at Leaside’s Children’s Garden School

This is one of a series of stories about Leaside’s Children’s Garden School (CGS).

Children’s Garden School has been serving the Leaside community since 1986. If you are looking for a neighbourhood school with small class sizes and a nurturing and highly capable staff, you are in luck. CGS is situated at 670 Eglinton Ave East, inside Leaside Presbyterian Church. If your child is Preschool-Grade 3 age, Children’s Garden School may very well be a great fit for your family.

One of the main concerns for parents of young children is finding a loving, safe school atmosphere. Children’s Garden School is well known for its caring staff. Because CGS specializes in the younger grades, the staff is particularly adept with this age group. They give gentle guidance and support as well as provide and reinforce appropriate boundaries every day.

CGS staff is a mix of veteran and younger teachers (anywhere from 20 years at CGS to 3 years). This combination provides an excellent balance of experience, perspective, energy and fresh ideas. Teaching young children requires patience, creativity and passion, qualities our veteran and newer staff bring to their classrooms, assemblies and CGS special events all year long.

At CGS, teachers in the Preschool – SK rooms are ECE (Early Child Education) certified and teachers Grade 1 and up have their B.Ed, or equivalent (if they have received training outside of Canada). Many staff have additional qualifications in Reading, Math and Special Education. CGS drama, music and art teachers are also working professionals in the city and bring a unique flare to their projects with the children. Please visit their faculty page here to learn more about current staff.

Teacher qualifications are very important of course, but the feel and culture of a school is also critical to finding the right fit for your child. The culture at CGS is warm, inviting and fun. A ‘family feeling’ is palpable when you visit the school – the children are happy, engaged and polite – a sure sign that they are in a positive environment, just right for young children. The Director of Admission is Kelly Scott who may be contacted at kscott@cgsschool.com and (416) 423-5017 x 43.  The CGS website is here.

Students at CGS at a monthly assembly where parents attend

Parents frequently wonder if their kindergarten kids are learning up to their potential.The issue is in sharp focus this year as all-day kindergarten has been fully implemented across Toronto in the public school system for 2014-2015. Previously, half-day kindergarten had capped the number of children per class but the government specifically refused to do that last fall and some parents complained of classes with as many as 40 children in them. It is one of the things that motivates Marie Bates, principal and founder of Children’s Garden School (CGS) in Leaside to keep kindergarten classes at the appealing ratio of 13:1. The kindergarten classes at CGS also separate Junior and Senior Kindergarten classes. The kids all get to know each other but the classes themselves are separate for JK and SK in both the half-day and full-day programs. It seems like an asset to the task of young learning. Kindergarten is a time of great potential for children. The CGS presentation to parents makes the point. No learning opportunity is to be missed. “Kindergarten age children are very capable students who can achieve high levels of literacy well before Grade 1. At CGS we move beyond the sand table and provide students with daily challenges in a supportive atmosphere.” The foundation of the CGS kindergarten program is a highly successful phonics program called Remediation Plus. It is a program which addresses many different styles of learning using a multisensory approaches. Children manipulate letters on magnet boards, look in mirrors as they watch and experience letter sounds as they speak them and draw in rice trays to “touch” the letter sounds they form words. These techniques guarantee that no young reader is left behind.” With all this innovative teaching comes a structure that most parents find gratifying. The JK children study language arts and mathematics every day, incorporating basic facts mastery all the way along. They learn French four days a week and fit in generous periods of gym, music and specialized visual arts. Parents keep well connected by many means but mostly through the enjoyable monthly assembly. The photo above shows JK kids reporting to their parents on the nature of Trust. In the next few weeks The South Bayview Bulldog will report further on this remarkable local school which was founded in 1986. We hope you are able to catch the articles. The Director of Admission is Kelly Scott who may be contacted at kscott@cgsschool.com and (416) 423-5017 x 43.  The CGS website is here.