Back to school

How can we make schools safer next fall? It will take more than vaccines

How can we make schools safer next fall? It will take more than vaccines

If ending the disruption to students is important to us, we’ll do what wasn’t done last year: Invest in smaller class sizes and improved ventilation.

Flannery Dean, Chatelaine

How to raise a reader

How to raise a reader

It’s never too early to instill a love of books in your kids. Here’s our age-by-age guide to building good habits and how to read to kids.

Claire Gagne

6 filling after-school snacks

6 filling after-school snacks

Making homemade after-school snacks doesn’t have to involve a fancy recipe. Simply combine protein and carbs, along with a fruit or vegetable, and you’re all set.

Ceri Marsh

How kids are actually coping at school: a teacher's confession

How kids are actually coping at school: a teacher's confession

A Toronto teacher on what it’s been like to be back in class during this turbulent time.

Laura Thomson, Toronto Life

The virus is exposing how inequitable public school has been all along

The virus is exposing how inequitable public school has been all along

While some schools are running around calling arborists about tree stumps for outdoor learning chairs, others aren't quite so privileged.

Charlotte Dobo

Kids should be in school, not six-hour COVID test lineups

Kids should be in school, not six-hour COVID test lineups

Testing is essential. But if it requires small kids to stand outdoors in a lineup for six hours, all due to a runny nose, then something is very broken.

Lindsay Springer

Should kids be sent home because of a runny nose?

Should kids be sent home because of a runny nose?

Even authorities aren't sure, but with COVID testing lines snaking around the block and flu season upon us, we need to figure it out.

Patricia Treble and Lauren Cattermole, Maclean's

I just got the dreaded there's-COVID-in-your-child's-school email

I just got the dreaded there's-COVID-in-your-child's-school email

It happened to me, and there's a good chance it'll happen to you, too. Here's what to do (and what NOT to do) when COVID-19 hits your kid's school.

Ariel Brewster

A strong student-teacher bond will help your kid catch up at school

A strong student-teacher bond will help your kid catch up at school

Teachers need to have agency to address their students’ emotional well-being before embarking on an ambitious plan to make up for lost academic time.

Lisa Bayrami

Back to school—and still not serious about COVID testing

Back to school—and still not serious about COVID testing

Tim Sly, Maclean's

COVID cases are up. Why won't Ontario's government mandate smaller classes?

COVID cases are up. Why won't Ontario's government mandate smaller classes?

In a year that every extra person in a room means extra risk, the Conservative government is ignoring our kids' overflowing classrooms.

Denise Balkissoon, Chatelaine

This is the best way to reduce coronavirus outbreaks in schools

This is the best way to reduce coronavirus outbreaks in schools

Because we don’t have much in the way of experience with these measures for COVID-19, predicting what might happen when school resumes requires some math.

Joshua Gans

Do ‘pandemic pods’ undermine promises of public education?

Do ‘pandemic pods’ undermine promises of public education?

The shift towards private education reduces the responsibility of the government to fund public schools, and to ensure access to high-quality learning.

Sue Winton

9 Answers to Parents' Questions About homework

9 Answers to Parents' Questions About homework

Whether your kid will learn in person or from home this school year, they’ll inevitably have homework. Here are answers to your most pressing queries.

Karen Robock

Stressed parents, please know that teachers will do their very best for your kids

Stressed parents, please know that teachers will do their very best for your kids

We're all worried, but we also need to be patient as teachers figure out what works (and what doesn’t) in a school year unlike any other.

Louise Gleeson

School is about to start in Ontario and we still don't have a safe reopening plan

School is about to start in Ontario and we still don't have a safe reopening plan

The government promised to do "whatever it takes" to safely reopen schools in Ontario, but days before school starts we still don't have a plan.

Erin Pepler

10 Students, Teachers and Parents on How They Feel About Going Back to School in a Pandemic

10 Students, Teachers and Parents on How They Feel About Going Back to School in a Pandemic

For most of Canada, classes will be back in session in September, whether IRL, online or a hybrid of both. And it’ll be one for the books, that’s for sure.

Sadaf Ahsan, FLARE

5 Morning Problems Solved

5 Morning Problems Solved

Weekday mornings suck for almost every parent, for all sorts of reasons. Try these solutions to common-but-painful morning-routine killers.

Claire Gagne

5 Fun and Easy Bento Box Lunch Ideas for Kids

5 Fun and Easy Bento Box Lunch Ideas for Kids

With separate compartments, bento-style lunch boxes make it easy to create Pinterest-worthy school lunches they'll love to eat.

Jennifer (Jay) Baum

Then and now: four parents recreate childhood photos with their own kids

Then and now: four parents recreate childhood photos with their own kids

Recreating "first-day-of-school" photos, four parents share childhood memories, and how they plan to send their own kids off to class—jitters and all

Today's Parent