Here’s my question/bitch. Why are we being forced to pull our kids out of school for two weeks, for the ‘Canada Games Break’. Yes, that’s what it’s listed as in the school calendar, ‘Canada Games Break’. Is the Canada Games committee going to pay for those two weeks of childcare for me? Or are they going to pay my salary, so I can stay home from work for two weeks, in order to take my kids to the games?
Why are our kids being pulled out of school, when it’s not like I can even bring them to the games, while I’m WORKING!!!! Is my company going to give me a two week paid vacation to support the games? Not likely. So I guess I show my support by shelling out for exta childcare instead.
And don’t tell me to take vacation. Would YOU like to be told WHEN and HOW to take YOUR vacation?
Close the schools where the events are taking place. Not the whole freakin’ school district!
Yes, I’m all for Canadian pride. But there’s a difference in having support for your country and having it shoved down your throat. —Stealin’ My Vacation
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2010.
Valid point OP. Drop your kids off at the Canada Games entrance and say “Is this the Canada Games babysitting service I heard about? I’ll be back to pick them up after work.”
I agree, valid bitch.
On top of that, no March Break and an extended school year, ye-haw
Put your kid in private school. Since when is our public school system a free day-care? Oh right….
Well. Isn’t THAT lovely. Not every working parent can just arrange for extra child care. And given financial responsibilities these days, there are a lot more two working parent households (and single working parent households) than 20 or 30 years ago…ugh. this is just ridiculous.
Though. THis gives me an idea. If we started a LTWWB daycare service for those two weeks we could rake in a buttload of $$$…who’s in? LOL Given our great love of kids around here I”m sure we’d do a fantastic job and totally not scar these kids for life! HAHA
While I agree with your point of view to a point, Cranky, the reality is parent depend on kids going to school at certain times and will base their work schedules around that. I guess it is what it is 😉
What do you do with your kid during March Break?
Bwa-Ha-Ha Part of me is laughing my ass off PK, and the other part of me sez, these kids would probably get a better education hanging out with us. Let’s make Annie the Headmaster
God Ivan, Annie? Yep, the kiddies certainly would learn a few new games. As the chicken Lady says – Scarred! Scarred For Life!
Ooooh Thank you Hugo. Whenever I’m blue I watch Chicken Lady’s Blind Date on U-toob.
Dave Foley’s best work ever.
Annie would certainly be overzealous in bringing corporal punishment back into the curriculum. She would add ghastly new dimension to the expression “Flogging the Bishop”
I agree with the OP. Also, don’t count on signing your kid up for an HRM day camp while you’re at work or anything because they are all taking a break because of the games too.
yeah, drop your little darlings off at the nearest government off and tell them it’s their turn to take care of them. i can just see the courts now.
I don’t have kids because of this hassle, why should I pay for your kids to have somewhere to go?
As a teacher in the school board, I will agree that two weeks off in February is not an ideal time. I’d much rather have the regular break at Christmas and then in March. Unfortunately, that’s the way the cookie crumbles and it’s only going to be for this year. My question to OP is, what do you do with your kids for the two weeks at Christmas? March break? And I agree with Cranky, since when are public schools babysitting services??? Your children are in public school to learn. Unfortunately many parents can’t wrap their heads around that one.
Final note: don’t start bitching at me for being a teacher and getting all these holidays, blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it before. Teachers get paid PER DAY. Our union is just smart enough to dole it out throughout the year. Look it up. http://www.hrsb.ns.ca or http://www.nstu.ca
So in reality you don’t get 50-60,000 a year for work but for nine months. You’re not making you point any easier. LOL.
So exactly why will the kids be out? Are they getting tickets everyday for the events that they have to go to or volunteering in some capacity? If not, then to class you go. Oops wait, it’s so the teachers can go to the Games or down south or whatever. I don’t remember kids getting time off for either of the Winter Olympic Games (Calgary and Vancouver)
Many of the local schools are being used as venues for the games, thats why schools are closed. Also shouldn’t you be happy that the province is not spending millions of dollars on building additional new sports facilities to accommodate the games. We are using the facilities we already have to save money!!
Good point Roman, but the issue still stands of what to do with the surplus of children.
BT, obviously school isn’t a babysitting service.. But, it IS a place where you know your kids are safe for the day while you can work. They’re learning, yes, and they’re also surrounded by trained professionals who are protecting them and keeping them safe. Also, if the emphasis is on LEARNING, as you put it, then where is the logic in pulling them out of school?
I understand using exising facilities for some venues, but why pull all schools for two weeks? Surely some desk-bound bureaucrat could have designed a ridiculously complicated scheme to allow the kids to stay in school.
According to CBC News tow schools are being used, Citadwl High and Sackville High.
http://bing.search.sympatico.ca/?q=schools…
http://bing.search.sympatico.ca/?q=schools…
So two high schools makes not a whole school board.
Send your kids to the mall.
Ok..someone explain this to me. Are they taking away the March break and Christmas breaks and making a Canada Games break instead or are they just making an extra break into the school year?
Both ways sound a little stupid to me and will obviously will put out some parents one way or the other.
Maybe some people that actually like kids can cash in and create some day programs or child care specificallt for that time. I’m sure everyone else will have inflated prices over that time.
I’m adding this whole vacation ruining fiasco to the list of 137 reasons not to have children.
I’m not a sporty person and I’m thinking that if kids won’t be in school AND we’re overrun by sports teams that I might have to take a vacation somewhere far, far away.
Excel and the YMCA are running child care programs during those two weeks.
You know, they did say that this was going to happen about a year ago, right? I don’t even have kids and I knew about it.
Lame. If I were a parent I’d rather have Halifax Rocks back for one more show next year instead.
OP is just pissed about the break timing, near as I can figure. I mean, it’s only a month earlier than March break. So, it has an extra week tagged onto it that you have pay for daycare. That’s the price of having kids. Can’t afford it, don’t have em. She must have to pay daycare for xmas and summer, when the kids are off. Why is this any different?
Why should she have to take vacation to be with her kids during the break, does she do that for the other break times during the year? Must be nice to have that much vacation time where she works. Maybe we should all get jobs there.
As for their only being two schools involved with the actual Games, I suspect closing all schools has something to do with having all the schools having the same end of year closing. If they just closed those two and the others had their normal break, then the closed schools would be getting out later in the year. There’s probably a reason they can’t do that. Have to keep it equal across the board.
Since so many people (Cranky and BT (from what I can tell not an informed teacher)) are asking “Since when are the public schools babysitting services?”.
Schools are child care since the government legislated that a child must be in school until he/she is 16, which is where the dropout age currently stands. There has been talk about raising it to 18 recently. So, if kids have to go to school, why should working parents not have that schedule to rely on? It’s always been a Sept start and 1 week at Christmas and winter break. People are just upset because they now have to take another week of vacation when it is frigid rather than when the weather is warm.
I love how the government was advertising it as a good idea because all the students and teachers would volunteer. I know of 5 teachers who are taking that extra week to go down south with their school aged kids, and I know only 6. So should we infer the non-volunteering to be 80%? I certainly hope not!
I thought they were going to shorten the other breaks to make room for this one? To break up the year more..that’s what I heard. I thought they were getting rid of March break. I don’t believe they’re getting any MORE time off, I think it’s the same amount, just different times. People always complain that kids get too much time off, they definitely wouldn’t give them time off for some sporting event.
I’ll teach phyZed…
I got it all planned out.
the 5 d’s…
dodge
duck
dip
dive and
dodge
Hahaha I imagine the kidlets would have to be fast learners in z3’s phys ed class.
hey bren… you’d like most of these…..
http://www.jinx.com/men?&data=%26ps%3d20%2…
Yeah Jink has quite the selection of awesome t-shirts. A certain comic store in the north end carries some of their shirts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iXP9yoc4VY…
I know where I’m headed then….
I can see the OP’s point. I’m a single parent who has no family in NS so I schedule my vacation around the school breaks. Week for march, week for summer, week for christmas and week for ‘just in case’ days when the kids are sick and I have to stay home.
Kids go to daycamp in the summer.
Don’t bitch about how many weeks I get, I’ve worked over 10yrs at the same company, I earned it!
I agree school is not meant to be a babysitter, but many of us DO schedule much of our lives around it.
More than two schools are being affected. I’m out in Fall River, our schools aren’t being used, but we’re out too.
They removed March Break this year for the extra week in Feb. Christmas break stays ‘as is’.
I can understand the frustration, it’s an extra week of having to find something for you kids to ‘do’ and not everyone can easily work that into their budget or work schedule.
I’m in the same boat as the OB, great bitch. Only in Nova Scotia… What a fucking hell hole this place is turning into – every day it gets more and more bizarre
And… my sons school doesn’t offer Excel – in fact I think it is the only school in the city that doesn’t. Lame!
I went to excel when I was a kid. I remember during inservices they had arrangements to offer full day service for parents where we spent the day in the school library. We had crafts and movies and books and shit (and of course the other kids) to play with so it was a’ight.
What about the YMCA program, dartmouthy?
dartmouthy, “Only in Nova Scotia”…sorry, other provinces have done the same thing in the past, it’s almost standard procedure now.
how was your repast with the admiral?