WHAT'S NEW 

ABC Peel Parent Support Line 

ABC Peel Parent Support Line phone number is  905-782-0055. For a full listing of all the ways to contact ABC Peel go to Contact Us

ABC Peel PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING - May 29th, 2008

Understanding and Managing the Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted Learner 

Mrs. Connie Gale, principal of St Mark School (congregated gifted classes grades 5 to 8), will give a presentation that will review various needs of The Gifted Learner, with particular emphasis on their social and emotional needs. Anecdotes from Mrs. Gale’s experiences of working with gifted students will be shared. 

We will look at a variety of models, strategies and resources that focus on assessing and nurturing students in the very important domains of social and emotional wellness. 

Mrs. Gale will also share materials that she has developed and implemented with students, designed to assist in their self reflection and self direction when presented with the challenges in the areas of social and emotional development.

Those attending this Parent Night seminar will have an opportunity to interact and use some of the materials designed by the presenter. 

Join us for an evening of enjoyment, reflection and learning. Children welcome, though parental discretion is suggested.

Date: Thursday May 29th, 2008 

Time: 7:15 p.m. – join us for coffee 7:30 p.m. – presentation starts 

Location: Inglewood Room Peel District School Board HJA Brown Education Centre 5650 Hurontario Street, Mississauga (enter parking off Matheson)

Click here for a copy of the meeting notice in pdf format.

Note: Location change 

ABC Peel PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

"We Are Gifted Program Graduates" 

Parents and students of Peel DSB and Dufferin Peel DSB and other schools are invited to hear from and ask questions of four graduates from the gifted Peel gifted program. 

What did it mean to them? Did they benefit? Do they recommend it? 

A doctor, an engineer, a biologist and a student of politics - all past Peel students - will talk about their experiences.

When: Thursday April 24, 2008 7:15 pm 

Where: Burnhamthorpe Library Theatre, inside the Burnhamthorpe Branch Library, 1350 Burnhamthorpe Road East, Mississauga

Directions: Lots of parking, enter off Dixie (from south or north) or Burnhamthorpe (from west only) Inside the Burnhamthorpe Branch Library, at 1350 Burnhamthorpe Road East, southwest corner of Burnhamthorpe and Dixie Roads 

For a Google Map to the Burnhamthorpe Library click here

Also at the same event, we are having our AGM

Nominate and vote at our AGM

Positions available (2 years) - President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer

Please pass along the date and time of this meeting to anyone who may be interested. See you on Thursday evening!

Vote in person at the ABC Peel AGM April 24, 2008, starts at 7:15 pm

Return Nomination 

via email to activities@abcpeel.org by midday April 23, 2008

or by fax to 905-897-1814 by midday April 23, 2008

Click here for a copy of the Nomination Form 

Where: Burnhamthorpe Library Theatre, inside the Burnhamthorpe Branch Library, 1350 Burnhamthorpe Road East, Mississauga

Directions: Lots of parking, enter off Dixie (from south or north) or Burnhamthorpe (from west only) Inside the Burnhamthorpe Branch Library, at 1350 Burnhamthorpe Road East, southwest corner of Burnhamthorpe and Dixie Roads 

For a Google Map to the Burnhamthorpe Library click here

2008 Annual Conference - ABC Ontario

When: May 9-10, 2008 

Where: Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 

Keynote Speaker: Susan Winebrenner - Author of "Differntiating Content for Gifted Learners in Grades 6-12" and "The Cluster Grouping Handbook"

For details and registration, go to www.abcontario.ca or click here to view the ABC Ontario brochure

Registration Deadline for children's workshops: April 23, 2008

Annual Catharsis Night

Come to our annual Catharsis Night, at the Peel DSB office (details below) 

CA-THAR-SIS, noun, from the Greek, katharsi 

There will be a panel of speakers, including Claire Zeller, Dr. Ed Blackstock, and Joan Dinnin. 

Claire Zeller is a retired math teacher who helped develop the entire gifted special education model for Peel, starting over 20 years ago. 

Dr. Blackstock is a registered psychologist who was Chief Psychologist for the Peel District School Board for over 15 years and now runs the Wings Development Centre in Toronto. 

Joan Dinnin is a Co-ordinator with the Special Education Department at the Peel District School Board. 

Bring your concerns and get the answers to any and all questions about gifted education. (You do not have to be a member of ABC Peel to attend) 

Please, join us for coffee and conversation at 7:15 pm; we start at 7:30 pm, ending about 9 pm or a little later, Thursday March 27, 2008.   Any questions? email support@abcpeel.org or call our ABC hotline at 905-782-0055 (yes, there is voicemail there)

Date:  Thursday March 27, 2008. 

Time: When:  7:15 pm or coffee and conversation; 7:30 pm for the panel.

Location: Mississauga Room, ground floor, Peel DSB Offices at 5650 Hurontario (at the south west corner of the Hurontario/Matheson intersection; enter parking off Matheson)

FEBRUARY PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING - date and room change!

YES, IT REALLY IS ROCKET SCIENCE!! 

February 2008, our Parents’ Night will be held on a Tuesday a week earlier than usual. 

The new date will be Tuesday February 19, 2008 at 7:15pm in the Mississauga Room at the board offices. 

The date change is to accommodate our speaker Dr. Jason Lassaline, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at Ryerson University in Toronto. Dr. Lassaline will give a presentation about Ryerson University’s exciting aerospace engineering program that provides only one of two undergraduate degrees of its kind in Canada. Many of you may not realize that Canada has the third largest aerospace industry in the world! The professor will also be available to answer your questions about this program and advise on the prerequisite courses needed to apply to this amazing program. 

The evening is geared towards high school age students and their parents. Tell all of your friends to join us and please RSVP at support@abcpeel.org as we will be providing refreshments.

JANUARY PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

Our Parents’ Night this month will be held on Thursday January 31, 2008 at 7:15 pm in the Inglewood Room at the HJA Brown Building. 

Our topic will be Advocacy and CCAT tests. 

Those of you with children who are about to take the CCAT test or have just received the results from last year’s CCAT test will have your results explained and receive information on the next steps in advocating for your gifted child. Have you ever wondered how to ask for testing from your school, or how to ask to have your child placed in a congregated gifted class? This meeting will help to answer all of those questions, and show you the process. 

Please tell your friends who may have these similar questions to join us on January 31, 2008. We would like to provide information to parents who may not be aware of ABC and may not understand the process of getting a child tested and placed into a contained gifted class. Please pass along the date and time of this meeting to anyone who may be interested. "

ABC Peel Newsletter, December 2007 Edition

December ABC Peel Newsletter  is now available.

This month we include a message from our interim President, Lori D'Aquila, information about the EdGO Conference as well as our list of websites of interest. 

For more information, read the December Newsletter of the ABC Peel Newsletter.

November 2007 Parents' Night is rescheduled

New date - Thursday, December 13, 2007

Attention all parents. 

Our regularly scheduled Parents' Night meeting on November 29, 2007 has been rescheduled to December 13, 2007.  This change has been made due to the fact that Nov. 29th conflicts with Parent Interview night at many schools.  We are sorry for the inconvenience but hope to see you on Thursday, December 13, 2007 in the Inglewood Room at the PDSB at 7:15pm.  (see map on our Parents' Night page)

Our topic will be “An Enhanced Perspective on Secondary School”. 

We have invited the Regional Gifted High School Coordinators to give a short presentation and answer questions about choosing the enhanced program in high school.  The evening will be geared towards children in grades 6 through 8 and their parents. 

We have confirmed the attendance of all 5 coordinators from the Regional Gifted Centres in Peel. Those attending will be: 

Lis Henry - Humberview Secondary School 

David Wingate - Heart Lake Secondary School 

Monika Quinn - The Woodlands Secondary School 

Lois McGinn - Glenforest Secondary School 

Jim Kinnie - Lorne Park Secondary School

We will have a recent graduate from the Woodlands Secondary School to give you her perspective as an alumni of the enhanced program in high school. 

There will be a question and answer period where your specific questions can be answered. 

We hope that children who are in the process of considering high schools for 2008, or, children who are considering the many other regional programs in Peel will join us to see what the enhanced program at the high school level can offer.  

The meeting will be held in the Inglewood room at the PDSB offices at 5650 Hurontario Street in Mississauga. The meeting is open to all parents, children in grades 6 through 8 and anyone interested in the enhanced option at the high school level. Please arrive by 7:15pm and the presentations will begin around 7:30pm.

ABC Peel Newsletter, October 2007 Edition

October ABC Peel Newsletter  is now available.

This month we include information about Learning Styles and Organizational Skills as well as our list of websites of interest. 

For more information, read the October Newsletter of the ABC Peel Newsletter.

October 2007 Parents' Night is cancelled due to unavailability of the room.

ABC Peel Newsletter, September Edition

The September 2007Edition of ABC Peel's Newsletter is now available. 

This month's issue includes information on ABC Peel membership renewal, topics for upcoming Parent's Nights, Brampton Library and Toastmaster's Leadership Program, along with more web sites of interest.  Read a the newsletter - click here.

SEPTEMBER PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

This month, our Parent's Night will be held on Thursday, September 27,2007. Since there are usually many open houses at each of your children's schools, there will not be a speaker for the evening. Please bring along your coffee, tea or juice drink. We will be having an informal discussion. You can talk about anything you wish, talk to other parents, or ask questions. We hope to have executive members available to answer your specific concerns, or you can just come out to mingle with other parents like yourselves. If you have any friends who are "new" to the gifted community, please feel free to bring them along. 

As always, the meeting will be held at 7:30 pm in the Inglewood Room on the 3rd floor of the Peel District School Board offices at 5650 Hurontario St. (at Matheson).

ABC Peel's 'Bring Your Own Basket' Picnic Day 

Family Picnic Sunday, June 24th, 2007, 10:00am - 3:00pm 

Join us at ABC Peel's Family Picnic Sunday June 24, 2007 from 10 am to 3 pm in Inglewood Park.   Be sure to bring your own food.  Please note that ABC Peel is NOT providing the food.  For more information go to our current events page.

MAY  PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

Thursday May 31, 2007 Parents' Night will include  focus groups to discuss issues in gifted education, so that we may provide the Peel DSB with input for the longer term planning for gifted education in the board.

Please note the meeting time is changed for this month to 6:30 pm

For details go to Current Events.

ABC Peel Newsletter, May 2007 Edition

May ABC Peel Newsletter  is now available.

This month we include information about Think Bowl, Organizational Skills, Psycho-Educational Assessments as well as our list of websites of interest. 

For more information, read the May Newsletter of the ABC Peel Newsletter.

APRIL  PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

Thursday April 26, 2007 Parents' Night features a discussion of year end IPRCs and  reviewing IEPs. 

For details go to Current Events.

ABC Ontario Annual Conference 

Date: April 13 & 14, 2007

Highlights include  key note speaker, Dr Karen Rogers and range of six children's activities arranged by ABC Peel for grades 1 to 7: morning and afternoon sessions.

See details on the Current Events page.

MARCH  PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

Thursday March 29, 2007 Parents' Night is our annual Catharsis Night, this year featuring Claire Zeller, Dr. Ed Blackstock, Lois McGinn, and Lori D’Aquila.  For details go to Current Events. 

ABC Ontario Annual Conference 

Date: April 13 & 14, 2007

Highlights include  key note speaker, Dr Karen Rogers and range of six children's activities arranged by ABC Peel for grades 1 to 7: morning and afternoon sessions.

See details on the Current Events page.

March ABC Peel Newsletter  is now available.

This month we include Myths about Gifted, a continuation of last month's book review on "Genius Denied", fostering persistence in gifted children,  a study on praise, more web sites of interest and an update on Peel Board's "Future Search".

For more information, read the March Newsletter of the ABC Peel Newsletter.

ABC Peel Newsletter, February 2007 Edition

February's ABC Peel Newsletter  is now available.

This month we include an update on SERTs (Special Education Resource Teachers) professional development at PDSB.

This month we review the book "GENIUS DENIED, How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Minds",  by Jan and Bob Davidson with Laura Vanderkam, ISBN #0-7432-5461-9 Published 2004, Simon and Shuster. 

The Davidson’s have discovered over the years that when it comes to “LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND’, highly gifted students are the most likely to fall through the cracks of the classroom. In explaining what they mean by “Genius Denied” the Davidson’s say these students are the most likely to underachieve, and may have the greatest gap between what is asked of them and their potential.  For more information, read the February Newsletter of the ABC Peel Newsletter.

Also in this month's issue - "Ten year old twins enroll in University of Ottawa course", as well as our monthly list of web sites of interest.

FEBRUARY  PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING 

Topic:  "Cognitive Science Program at U of T", a program that combines studies in cognitive psychology, philosophy, linguistics and computer science (artificial intelligence). 

Children in grades 7 and up are welcome.

For details go to the Current Events page.  

Meeting date:  February 22, 2007 

For details go to the Current Events page.   

Meeting date: Thursday, January 25, 2006 

Read January's ABC Peel Newsletter.   

In the Peel District School Board there are 7 different types of programs available to children starting as early as grade 1, with some starting in grades 5 and up.  For more information, read the January Edition of the ABC Peel Newsletter.

Also in this month's issue - "Teaching the Gifted", "Are there too many choices for gifted children?", Book Review- "Hothouse Kids, The Dilemma of the Gifted Child" as well as our monthly list of web sites of interest.

Check out November's ABC Peel Newsletter.   

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS OF GRADE 5 STUDENTS:  If your son or daughter was in a grade 4 class last year in Peel, your child was administered the CCAT test. The CCAT is the Canadian Cognitive Ability Test. It is a group screening test that is done in Peel for all grade 4 students.  This test is one of the tools used to identify gifted students. If your child scores at, or above the 97th percentile in any 1 of the 3 subtests, you may request an I.P.R.C. to have them identified as gifted.  For more information, read o the November ABC Peel Newsletter.

Are you creative, do you enjoy writing or drawing? If so this contest is for you!  “WHAT KINDNESS MEANS TO ME” - An essay and poster contest for Grade 7 and 8 students.   For Full details go to "Things To Do"

Click here for a PDF version of ABC Peel Newsletter, November 2006 Edition

Check out October's ABC Peel Newsletter.  It includes a review of  ‘How To Develop Your Child’s Gifts and Talents During the Elementary Years’ By RaeLynne P. Rein, Ph.D and Rachel Rein.  This book is a how-to guide that will help parents look for and encourage the varied individual interests, gifts and talents that each child has. It also has ideas to help stimulate your children’s critical and creative thinking skills. Both useful tools for the future of any child.

Did you know that our Newsletter team are amazing at finding fascinating web sites?   See their monthly "Web Sites of Interest"  feature.

Click here for a PDF version of ABC Peel Newsletter, October 2006 Edition

NOVEMBER PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING

NOTE: DATE CHANGE for this month only!

"Building and Maintaining Positive Parent-Teacher Relationships"

For details go to the Current Events page.   

Meeting date: Thursday, November 23, 2006 

November Family Game Day

Check out the upcoming ABC PEEL FAMILY GAME DAY scheduled on Saturday, November 25, 2006, from 10 am to noon, at Holy Spirit Church, 1170 Tynegrove Rd, Mississauga.

For full details see the Current Events or Things To Do pages

ABC Peel launched this new web site on September 5, 2006. We are delighted to have the Kids & Teens Gallery & Showcase. The Visual Gallery and Writers’ Gallery exhibit the writing, artwork, projects, photographs and other works by young people associated with ABC Peel! If you are interested in having your work displayed, send it to webadmin@abcpeel.org. Please include your name and age at the time the piece was created. To protect your privacy, we will post your age, first name and initial only.

Special Features at  abcpeel.org. 

Having trouble finding what you are looking for on abcpeel.org? Try our Site Map button in the upper right corner of every page or the Google Site Search feature to the right of the ABCPEEL.org banner. You might find the answer you are looking for on our FAQ page.

Eduspeak Glossary may help clarify some of the of terms used by educators.

Printer friendly versions of many pages are available by clicking on the Print Page button in the upper right corner of every page.

OCTOBER PARENTS' NIGHT MEETING

NOTE: LOCATION CHANGE for this event only!

How should IEPs support learning and provide clear guidance on the programming for your child?  Become well informed about the whole process and the ways to prepare and implement a good IEP.

For details go to the Current Events page.   

Meeting date: Thursday, October 26, 2006

ABC Peel Newsletter, September 2006 Edition

Hello parents, educators, and all those who are interested in the education of bright and gifted children in Peel. In September 2006, ABC Peel published our first newsletter in quite a while and we will be trying out some new things in the next few months. We hope to publish an informative, yet fun and friendly newsletter for all members of ABC. Please feel free to contact anyone on the Communications Team at abcpeelnews@hotmail.com if you have any ideas, articles, websites of interest or anything else that could be published in the newsletter. We would like to make this newsletter a resource for our members and we could always use your ideas and suggestions.   

Click here for a PDF version of ABC Peel Newsletter, September 2006 Edition

September 28, 2006 is the first Parents’ Night of the new school year. It will be a casual coffee night with no scheduled speaker. Drop by and visit. For details and directions go to the Parents’ Night page.

Check out the upcoming ABC PEEL FAMILY GAME DAY scheduled on Saturday, September 23, 2006, from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm, at Holy Spirit Church, 1170 Tynegrove Rd, Mississauga.

For full details see the Current Events or Things To Do pages

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