barb
New Member
Posts: 1 
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Post by barb on May 10, 2013 7:42:41 GMT -5
I'm curious about how much interest there would be in an alternative EFI program. I'd like to enrol my daughter in a French immersion program that would enable a bit more flexibility for independent learning, and eliminate structured homework for kids in early grades. I think that could be a good option for directing some enrolment to Connaught without having to change any boundaries, if it was an alternative French immersion program that people could opt into, if enough people are interested.
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Post by vickysmallman on May 10, 2013 13:29:27 GMT -5
I would be very interested in that. Grade one has been difficult for G; I think he would benefit from the alternative approach, but he is really good at French and I don't want to take him away from that. We would love to have access to Alternative French Immersion if that were possible and I would stick him on a bus to another neighbourhood if that's what it took.
Of course another approach would be to encourage the new program to adopt more alternative teaching methods, period. The homework really is ridiculous and in our case kind of counterproductive to the learning process. But perhaps that's just us.
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Post by rebeccas on May 10, 2013 14:39:54 GMT -5
Yes, yes, yes. I would also be very interested in that. We had a difficult decision between Churchill and Devonshire for that reason.
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Post by leanneholt on May 11, 2013 15:33:47 GMT -5
I would certainly be interested in the conversation. I'd have some homework to do myself, on alternative learning, but I'm interested.
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megk
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by megk on May 12, 2013 8:24:56 GMT -5
This program doesn't exist in the current curriculum, so while it might be a great addition to Ottawa's public education system (does an EFI Alternative exist anywhere in Ontario?), I think there are bigger hurdles - definitely bigger than the very (very) short consultation period we have with ARC. I find it hard to vote on something that doesn't exist, though I agree with Rebecca that our personal choice for English would be the Alternative program over the traditional program if we hadn't selected EFI. I think gathering information and petitioning the Board to create Alternative EFI is a great thing to do, but it would be completely separate from our current ARC. One thing we learned at the last meeting, the Board recognizes the current issue of kids being streamed out of EFI for whatever reason. They are working with the teachers to better understand how these kids can be helped and remain in EFI. A great radio interview was posted on the Devonshire Parents FB page too: www.cbc.ca/cestlavie/Look for 'French Immersion for All' I think the current EFI program can do better for our kids and as parents we have to demand it do better. |
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