Saint Casimir
156 Roncesvalles Ave. M6R 2L4 Toronto, ON, Canada

The end-of-year party will take place on Wednesday, June 14th from 6 to 7.30 p.m., in the parish hall of Saint Casimir Church. There will be pizza, indoor activities, an outdoors game of soccer baseball, and more. All students, parents, instructors, and friends of the program are invited to attend. We hope to see you there!

Writing down goals and identifying strategies to overcome potential obstacles can be a powerful way for students to connect their past to a plan for the future.

Placebo-like interventions can improve learning. This article mentions certain ways to better engage the 'wholeness of a person'; for example, by changing how students perceive their abilities in relation to the task at hand. https://ww2.kqed.org//what-believing-in-the-possibilities/

Lessons from the psychology of learning and memory: 'Levels of processing theory' says that deeper processing of information at the time of encoding -- for example, by elaborative rehearsal, which is the processing of the MEANING of learnt material (as opposed to the mere processing of its structural or phonetic properties), thereby making relatively more connections to other bits of information that are already stored in memory -- leads to a better recall of that informatio...n at the time of retrieval. Certain strategies that are based on this theory can be used to improve the learning of new information, such as when having to study for tests and other evaluations. Here's a short video explaining the 'levels of processing theory' in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykD4APOVLB4

New year, new faces. Meet Claudia Jachyra, the newest addition to our group of instructors with a profile. Any persons interested in joining HomeworkAid as instructors are always welcome to get in touch! Claudia Jachyra Educational background: I am currently a third year undergraduate student at Ryerson University. I am working towards obtaining my Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, with a minor in Psychology and a Certificate of Proficiency in French.... Interests and hobbies: My interests and hobbies related to anything involving nature and being active, such as hiking, canoeing, biking, playing sports, and running. I also love to travel because it broadens my understanding of the world Goals and aspirations: As a short-term goal, I aspire to working in the rural communities on the West Coast of Canada in order to gain more nursing experience with the pediatric population and to master my critical thinking skills. My long-term goal is to obtain a Master of Nursing degree with a Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner distinction. I also aspire to teaching in both academic and clinical settings. What inspires you to teach and to work with children and teenagers? I enjoy teaching because I believe strongly in education as an investment: investing time and resources into the education of our children and youth in the present will result in many opportunities for them to pave the road for a better world in the future. Teaching allows me to personally contribute to the achievement of this goal. http://saintcasimir-homeworkaid.weebly.com/instructor-profi

Exercise improves memory and learning. Here are a few tips on how to make exercise a reoccurring pattern of behaviour: http://www.cbc.ca//how-to-trick-yourself-into-getting-more

A call for new tutors! If you need community service hours, are interested in gaining invaluable teaching experience, enjoy working with adolescents and children, or would simply like to do something selfless for others, please get in touch to volunteer as a tutor with our program. There is no minimum level of commitment that you must meet. You volunteer whenever you can!... Contact info: [email protected]; http://saintcasimir-homeworkaid.weebly.com/contact.html; or 'inbox-message' us on Facebook.

Happy new year! Classes will resume on Wednesday, January 18th.

A relatively long but worthwhile article about the importance of developing sensory systems as a foundation for future learning:

Celebrated Marine Corps general and newly appointed secretary of defense, James Mattis, on the importance of reading (quoting from the article that is listed below): "the problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience (or by your men's experience), i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others' experiences, generally a better way to do business []." His reading, he wrote, provides guidance and perspective. "It doesn't give me all the answers, ...but it lights what is often a dark path ahead." https://www.washingtonpost.com//the-avid-reading-habits-/

For many, exam season is just around the corner. Here are a few ways that may help you get straight 'A's: https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk//memory-tricks-exam-succes

In the news today: overconsumption of high-fat diets could disrupt the proper development of the prefrontal cortex during adolescence, which can lead to behavioural deficits in adulthood in areas like personality, attention, impulse control, learning, and memory. Underlying message: eat right to learn better (and to function better overall). https://www.ethz.ch//high-fat-diet-disrupts-brain-maturati... Original source: http://www.nature.com//jo/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/mp2016193a.pdf

Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills: http://www.health.harvard.edu//regular-exercise-changes-br . Regular aerobic exercise appears to be associated with greater prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe volume - the areas of the brain that mediate executive functions (such as attention control, emotional inhibition, and problem solving abilities) and memory/learning, respectively. "Exercise helps memory and thinking through both direct and... indirect means. The benefits of exercise come directly from its ability to reduce insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the release of growth factorschemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance and survival of new brain cells. Indirectly, exercise improves mood and sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas frequently cause or contribute to cognitive impairment." Also, here are links to three studies of older adults that relate to what the above article addresses: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508129/ http://www.pnas.org/content/108/7/3017.abstract http://biomedgerontology.oxfordjournals.org//61/11/1166.sh

"Study Less, Study Smart: The Best Ways to Retain More in Less Time"! This video has well over a million views. It mentions certain study tips that have been proven to be effective one way or another. But since it's an hour long (time that many folks probably cannot afford), the page linked below also summarizes some of the more helpful advice, such as why it's important to... study in chunked sessions...... have a dedicated working area... and know the difference between recognition and recollection while in the later stages of preparing for an exam. http://lifehacker.com/study-less-study-smart-the-best-ways-

"I’ve reviewed dozens of studies on the issue, and taken together they show that music can have three important effects: It can distract your attention from whatever else you’re doing; it can affect your arousal level; and it can change your mood or affective state. The bottom line is, music can help or hinder your work depending on the nature of the task you’re trying to perform and the nature of the music." For general conclusions relating to these studies, and advice about when listening to music while engaging in an activity might be useful, read this short article in Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com//is-background-music-boost

Getting the right amount of sleep is a good thing. Among other benefits, it's thought to help consolidate memories, thereby improving learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gedoSfZvBgE Source: TED-Ed; lesson by Shai Marcu, animation by Javier Saldeña.

If you can endure the presenter's tone and frequent use of anecdotes, there are a few good things to learn from watching this video, which is about certain tendencies in cognitive functioning. Happy Tuesday/Feast Day of St. Vincent! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-sVnmmw6WY

HomeworkAid needs you! If you are a high school student needing volunteer hours, are interested in gaining invaluable teaching experience, enjoy working with adolescents and children, or would simply like to do something altruistic, please get in touch to volunteer as a tutor with our program. There is no minimum level of commitment that you must meet. You volunteer whenever you can! Contact info: [email protected]; http://saintcasimir-homeworkaid.weebly.com/contact.html; or IM us on Facebook.

2016-2017 school year: HomeworkAid classes will resume Wednesday, September 21st at 6 pm. New applicants should print, fill-out, and submit the registration package found on our website: http://saintcasimir-homeworkaid.weebly.com/registration.html. Completed registration packages can be submitted in-person at the first class, which a new applicant attends. Students who were already enrolled in the program in previous years, and who wish to continue attending this year, must ...submit an RVSP via http://saintcasimir-homeworkaid.weebly.com/weekly-rvsp.html on a weekly basis should they plan on coming to class on the Wednesday of that week. If you do not have regular access to the internet, please get in touch and we will provide you with a cell phone number for RVSPs instead. Please visit our website for more information: http://saintcasimir-homeworkaid.weebly.com or send us an email with your questions to [email protected]. We hope that you had an enjoyable summer and look forward to seeing you this year!

http://www.blogto.com//50_things_to_do_with_kids_this_sum/