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THURSDAY, JULY 05, 2012 THE NEW TANNER 13 BP COATINGS & PAVING · driveway sealing · parking lots · crack filling · pot holes · snow removal · line painting COMMUNITY CORNER Garage Door Works Ken Marttala Free Estimates Sales, Service & Installation Residential, Commercial Overhead Doors & Openers DECK OPENING SEASON SPECIAL SANDING & REFINISHING No Peeling or Flaking Rick - 416-707-6059 Small engine parts, sales & service (519) 856-9955 Toll Free (877) 856-9955 519-853-5615 mcnabbgraphics@cogeco.net Telephone/Fax Email: SAVE 30% 1-289-878-3849 1-705-645-0426 SERVICE & PARTS FOR ALL SNOWBLOWERS 21" to 45" Play like a kid - the benefits of tree-climbing, firefly-chasing and unstructured play All of our well-meaning attempts to fill up our children's summer with enriching activities may actually be harming them. Here is why we need to back off a little and let them just be kids. If you're like many parents, your child's summer may already be booked up with "enriching activities." Maybe you're shipping him off to a rigorous math or computer camp designed to give him an academic edge. Or perhaps she'll be living at home but attending an educational day camp or an intensive sports camp. At the very least you're using the break from school to double up on her (already daunting) schedule of gymnastics and dance classes, supplemented with an ambitious summer reading list. When will your child have time to play? Just...play? It's too bad that the oldfashioned notion of summer as endless free time ­ to climb trees, chase fireflies, build a fort in the woods, maybe set up a lemonade stand ­ has fallen by the wayside. This is what kids need ­ they need it far more than they need a high-priced summer camp or some other program aimed at cramming a little bit more learning into their exhausted brains. Play is serious business. We tend to see it as wasted time, but it's actually anything but. Play is the work of childhood. It's a classroom in which children develop a whole set of skills that really matter in life. Indeed, research shows that children who attend play-based preschools, as opposed to academic preschools, do significantly better in school down the line. So what, exactly, is it that makes play so valuable? It miniaturizes the world so that kids can deal with it. Play primes children for learning. Toddlers, for instance, love to climb up and down stairs. This allows practice in reading visual cues ­ i.e., the height of each stair ­ that plain-old walking doesn't provide. School-age children play games that have rules, which initiate them into the social institutions they'll live and work in all their lives. It teaches them how to handle stress and conflict. Consider the spats, arguments, and out-and-out fights kids get into when they're playing with their friends. If they can't resolve or at least smooth over their disagreements, then the game will grind to a halt ­ and that's not good for anyone. Solitary play, too, provides plenty of problem-solving practice. Watch a young girl playing with her dollhouse and talking to the dolls: If her "child" steals a cookie from the cookie jar she may try out different ways of handling the situation. Does she scold the child? Bash her over the head? Kick her out of the house? Business leaders say that today's young workers have a serious dearth of problem-solving skills. While it may seem counterintuitive, making more time for play may give your child a serious edge when she enters the business world. It gives kids a sense of power in a world in which they are essentially powerless. This is why kids love pretend dragon-slaying so much: They are helpless in the face of real-world "dragons" like parents, teachers, and other authority figures. Try to remember what it felt like to be small and powerless. Much of children's fiction is on this theme (think Dorothy and her shaking clan before the hidden Wizard of Oz). If you want to develop that skill in your kids, let them play freely and often. Do not impose form and structure. Shun pre-packaged experiences and pre-packaged toys when you can. It teaches us about ourselves. Our sense of self must be shaped internally, not externally. We need to learn what we're good at and not good at ­ what we like and don't like ­ on our own rather than being told by parents, coaches, and instructors. This is why it's so important to let our kids try out lots of different activities (art, music, soccer, karate, gymnastics) rather than immersing them full-time in one or two that you prefer. It's also why they need plenty of time not devoted to any structured activity at all. Finally, trust your kids enough to give them some freedom. Choice is the hallmark of true play. Have confidence that when your child is off on his own and enjoying himself and directing himself in activities he chooses...well, that is his job. Chances are, whatever he's doing of his own free will is better than any "enriching" activity you might impose on him. A division of Tyler Transport Ltd. CALL TO RESERVE (519) 853-1550 or toll free 1-800-73TYLER www.popower.ca Pick up & Delivery Available 519-843-7024 105 Alma St. Rockwood ON NOB 2K0 LAWN & GARDEN SALES & SERVICE AUTHORIZED WARRANTY DEALER FOR BRIGGS & STRATTON · KOHLER · HONDA · TECUMSEH MTD · NOMA/MURRAY · JONSERED · HYDRO-GEAR · SCAGG Jim 's Repair Shop Aldo Braida Barrister & Solicitor 69 Mill St. E Acton 28 Paisley St. Guelph Phone: 519-824-2242 Fax :519-824-3049 B.A. L.L.B. TEL: 519-856-2564 FAX: 519-856-9657 1-888-537-7953 SaleS, Service & repairS to all MakeS call dave the `door gUy' 1-866-919-9945 1-866-919-9945 BalliNaFaD ServiciNg actoN & SurrouNDiNg areaS residential garage doors · electric openers commercial overhead doors · dock systems preventative maintenance programs We handle all insurance work · Truck Accessories · Upholstery · Heavy Equipment Glass · Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown (905)873-1655 (905) 873-4244 CONSTRUCTION LIMITED R.R. #1 Acton 853-0960 ROAD BUILDING EARTH MOVING NELLIS HARDWOOD FLOORS SANDING AND FINISHING R.R. #3 ACTON Septic Pumping & Drain Service Radio dispatched trucks · Septic & Holding Tanks · Rejuvenation of leaching field · Baffle inspection & repairs · High-pressure drain cleaning Call Don or Mac McISAAC 781588 Ont. Ltd. Bistro & pub heavenon7@gmail.com 519-856-2693 519-853-2790 Licensed by M.O.E. RR#4, Acton Ron Henry BARRISTER & SOLICITOR & 27 Cork St. Guelph Carin Pelka Licenced Paralegal Specializing in Workplace Safety & Insurance Board Max. Refund Guarantee Serving the Community Claims/Revenue for over 30 Years Accounting 69 Mill Street East Bookkeeping 67 Mill Street East, Acton Acton, ON TAX Tel: 519-853-2255 41 Mill St. E. Acton For a little bit of heaven EXCHANGE CYLINDERS Propane Supplied By A Division of Vomar Industries Inc. 853-1160 By appointment only 519-853-2091 100% Canadian Owned 379 Queen St. East Acton, ON L7J 2N2 (519) 853-1550