Every abandonment, every betrayal, every hateful act towards children returns tenfold a few decades later upon the historical stage, while every empathetic act that helps a child become what he or she wants to become, every expression of love toward children helps society and moves it in unexpected, wondrous new directions.

Lloyd de Mause

journey stories

Nov 11, 2009

My son

My son is seven years old and has been attending Seven Oaks since it opened in April 2009.

I had started visiting schools looking for just the right fit for him well before he turned five only to disappointed because we either lived in the wrong school zone, there were long waiting lists or I felt the school was too conventional to meet his educational and emotional well being.

I spent many a night on the Ministry of Education website searching for schools that may have fit the bill when I happened upon a link to ‘new school to open in Opawa’.  I opened the link and couldn’t believe what I was reading, it sounded too good to be true after all the previous disappointments!

After reading the article and visiting the website I couldn’t wait to register our interest and I can truly say that it was the best thing I ever did, not just for [my son] but the whole family has benefited from his move from mainstream schooling to the wonderful nurturing, educational environment that Seven Oaks provides.

The free flow of the class day means if he feels he needs to burn off energy he can go outside and do just that, if he needs to eat to replenish his energy he can.  If he wants to read about the planets or build a castle he can and I can see how Trent and the other educators cleverly incorporate learning math, reading etc.

The staff at Seven Oaks, have become part of our extended family.  They are working along side us to educate [my son] not just with reading and writing but with life skills that he will take with him throughout his life’s journey.

Matthew has gone from being a sad withdrawn boy who had lost his enthusiasm for school to being eager to attend school to see what the next adventure is!

Thank you for the love and care extended to my family and for re-igniting Matthew’s spark!

Donna