News & Announcements
Catch up on news, events and trending topics at Oak Learners.
3 Ways Preschool Class Benefits Kids
A good pre-kindergarten program offers important skills development such as social interaction, school readiness, and improved executive function. Let’s look at them further:
Stunning Mural “Tangled Geese” Comes To Life in Mimico Village
The Mimico Village BIA and Oak Learners commissioned an innovative and inspirational mural for the community in September 2023. The mural was unveiled in a community event on October 28, 2023 and brought to life with an interactive video projection.
Our Middle School Students Want YOU to Choose Our Next Class Pet
For the month of September, our Middle School class at the Oak Learners Lake Shore Campus has been engaged in an inquiry-based learning project to choose a class pet. The students have learned about the importance of responsible animal caretaking while also investigating the pros and cons of having a class pet.
Mimico Village BIA Mural Project at Oak Learners
Together with Oak Learners, the Mimico Village BIA has undertaken the commission of an innovative and inspirational for the community.
NEW Mural welcomes students at the Oak Learners Lake Shore Campus
Designed, illustrated and painted by Julia Taylor. Julia taught at Oak Learners from 2020 through 2023 and helped lead the launch of the Lake Shore Campus Location in September 2022.
Oak Learners named “Best in Arts & Culture” for 2023 in the annual GEMS of Etobicoke-Lakeshore Awards
Oak Learners was the distinguished recipient of the 2023 GEMS of Etobicoke-Lakeshore Award in the category of Best Arts & Culture. The GEMS are small business and service organization awards that are presented each year by James Maloney, Minister of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
Food & Gardening at Summer Camp with Oak Learners
At Summer Camps, sometimes we really do get to live out our childhood dreams and play with our food! Our very own garden was the classroom for this week! Campers explored how to plant & grow their own food and then prepare it for themselves, friends and family.
Travelling Around the World at Oak Learners Summer Camps!
Two weeks of Summer Camp just flew by! And we aren’t just saying that because we took a trip around the world! We learned about different cultures and their structures! We made art such as the Chinese Dragon, a Traditional African neckpiece & a Dasara Elephant craft! Our specialty campers learned all about Environmental science with our resident scientist, Richard! We learned about water pollution & experimented with storms in a jar!
Summer Camp is for Art and Adventure at Oak Learners
What an exciting two weeks. Our themes these past two weeks were “Art Attack/Summer in the City” & our speciality camp was “Visual Art & Nature”
Spotlight on our amazing music teacher, Adam!
At Oak Learners, we are fortunate enough to have professional musicians on our team, and this time we are spotlighting our drum/percussion/piano teacher, Adam! When he is not touring or gigging around the city, Adam can be found teaching at both the RY and LS locations!
Move and Groove at Summer Camp with Oak Learners
Wow… time flies when you are having the BEST time ever! This week at the Royal York campus Summer Camps, our theme was “Move & Groove” and we certainly did that! Read more about Summer Camps at Oak Learners.
Musical Theatre Week at Summer Camp 2023
Rain or (lots of) Sunshine, we were out exploring, splashing, playing and enjoying the weather with our wonderful counsellors Emma, Gaby, Ryan & Kristina at the Royal York Campus.
Resources & Activities
Learn at home with ideas, activities and helpful content from Oak Learners.
The Oak Learners Eco Adventures Summer Camp 2022
Oak Learners had another amazing summer! Our Eco Adventures Camp focused on themed activities, and most importantly, the entire day spent outside! ...
The Benefits Of Summer Camp For Your Children
Kids that are more active in summer camp learning, exploring nature, and having memories at camps tend to develop lifelong skills that can be carried over into many aspects of their life.
Back to School 20% Off with Mabel’s Labels Fundraising
Looking for school supplies going back to school, summer camp, or for extracurricular work? Look no further! Mabel’s Labels Fundraising back-to-school sale on all school label packs starts now until the end of July!
Squash Exploration
Comparing and contrasting food is a great way to ask exploratory open-ended questions about how a food engages our senses and later transition to questions on taste. Encourage curiosity and critical thinking by listing observations and making predictions about the squash varieties before you start cooking. Here are some examples from our recent Urban Farming & Cooking Class:
Personalized Guacamole
The key to promoting open-mindedness and excitement over trying new foods with kids is providing them as much control and decision-making power as possible. Trust is reciprocal, and as your child feels trusted with decisions and contributing to the cooking process, they’ll feel like they can trust the space to openly assess how they taste something
Baked Zoodle Cups
Zoodles are an accessible way to put your child in charge of the meal’s main event, while making something visually interesting and with a firmer texture then sliced or chopped options. Engage in some sensory exploration by challenging them to make and find the longest zoodle they can, and count the rings remaining on the end of a spiralized zucchini. This recipe is as great for exploring tastes as it is for enhancing fine and gross motor skills!
Snowflake Cooking Coleslaw
The versatility of cabbage when cooking with kids cannot be emphasized enough. Whether you’re lighting roasting or sautéing the leaves to introduce some oil and salt tastes, searing cabbage-steaks to absorb some Dijon and maple flavours, or munching on it raw in this egg-free coleslaw recipe, kids have ample opportunities to focus on the many ways it can be prepared and their reaction to the variations, rather than deciding the foods merit based on one flavour profile.
Music Lessons – Oak Learners Class Showcase
Oak Learners is dedicated to inspiring minds through Arts Education and our Love of Music! We offer a supportive learning atmosphere, working with your child’s unique learning style to inspire their strengths and interests.
Private music lessons are available to learners of all ages from young to old in a variety of disciplines, including Piano, Guitar, Voice, Ukulele, Drums, Percussion, and Composition.
Oak Learners Classroom Teacher Interview – Maggie Robertson
At the heart of Oak Learners are the teachers that work with students every day to create an environment for the learners to excel with every project, task, and endeavor they complete. We wanted to interview some of our teachers to see their perspectives on their teaching field, get to know them better, and see what inspired them to become a teacher. The first interview we did is with Maggie Robertson, a teacher at Oak Learners wanting to share her experiences! Enjoy!
Oak Learners Before & After-Care Showcase
Oak Learners offers a before and after-care program that has all kinds of exciting activities for your children to be a part of! Before-care starts inside the Oak Learners school between 7 AM-9 AM. After-care starts inside the Oak Learners school between 3 PM-6 PM.
Importance of Matching Students with the Right Teacher
The concept of teaching and learning matching is that it impacts learning in a way that encourages students to respond more positively to instructional methods while informing faculty about effective teaching practices. This encourages collaboration between the teacher and student which in turn reduces classroom management issues.
Recent research has shown that it is not as effective for a teacher to change their teaching preferences to suit the students in their classroom because they may not be as comfortable teaching in that manner.
Exploring colourful salads in Urban Farming & Cooking Class
Exploring watermelon radish, colourful carrots and red kale,How many of your favourite colours can you see in this meal?! We loved making this...