ENGAGING. CURRENT. RELEVANT.

Online Canadian Social Studies Program for grades 5 - 9
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Greetings from the great white north

Dear Parents,

Are you like us? Over the years, have you become increasingly uncomfortable with the “approved” curriculum being sanctioned by our educational institutions? Year after year we watched as elected provincial governments took turns “improving” the curriculum merely to garner the same result. Whatever the panel of experts decided to implement, the worldview being propped up has only served to increase the instances of student depression and anxiety.

Waiting for the government and educational institutions to fix the system was never an option for us, so we got down to work and developed our own Social Studies curriculum. Fortunately, we didn’t have to start from scratch. Lively drew on her teaching background to target the problem areas. We have not abandoned nor rewritten the established canon. Instead, we took the established canon and placed the foundation of a child’s worldview – the family - back in its rightful place. The building block of society is the family. The family unit is who has cared for each child from before he or she was born to the present day. Therefore, it stands to reason that when a child is attempting to make sense of the world around him, he does not look first to the government or the school for answers. Rather he looks to the people who know him best – his family. 
Junior Think Tank walks alongside our students as they place one foot in front of the other in navigating the path set before them. Life is a journey that continues long past collecting one’s first paycheque or obtaining a high school diploma. What children learn in school should be the tools they use and continue to refine throughout their lives to avoid the gutter and the ruts in the ground. Our online program provides our students with those tools.

Junior Think Tank Academy recognizes that there are many parents who share our concerns with the world. We do not teach Critical Race Theory nor do we provide Diversity, Inclusion, Equity training. Rather our focus is to support family values and the continued uplifting of the family unit. Through our work, we hope to replace the shifting sand with a firm foundation, and ultimately, to replace depression and anxiety with hope and confidence. To that end, we have compiled a collection of vlogs on our website for parents to peruse and learn more about us at no cost to you. These resources are FREE!

Lively & Steven
  • How we teach and why
  • What is Social Studies?
  • Mental modes (building blocks of society)
  • Scaffolding
COMMUNITY RESOURCES

JTTA Vlog Highlights

What is curriculum?


The 3 components of a curriculum are outlined using an educational model developed by Richards and Rogers.

What is the difference between History
and Social Studies?

Learn the basic difference between these 2 types of curriculum; and see how the Junior Think Tank program excels in preparing middle school students to think purposefully for themselves and about themselves.

Can I teach if I don't have an Education degree?

Excerpt from the "Let's Stay Mindful - The Purpose of Christian Education" webinar about the 4 roles of a parent-teacher within a teaching and learning paradigm.

What is truth?

Coming soon

What are
critical thinking skills?

Coming soon

What is civics?

Conference presentation entitled "Exceeding government expectations for Canadian Social Studies" in which we seek to answer the question, "What is the purpose of Social Studies?"

What about assessments?

Student assessments go far beyond "standardized testing," but rather fall into 4 main categories that determine how students are progressing in their learning. 

What about writing?

Building on theories about learning and childhood development, this interactive workshop considers language and how parents can foster the student's voice in writing assignments for Social Studies. I will highlight the much underutilized authentic assessment, and wrap it up by walking parents through how to use a subjective rubric by evaluating samples of student writing. 

What is a worldview?

Coming soon
IN THEIR OWN WORDS

What conference attendees had to say
about Junior Think Tank Academy

I just listened to Lively Nova-Simpson's presentation about exceeding government Social Studies expectations. Her recommendations were practical and brilliant, creating a total shift in my paradigm in teaching this subject with which I have struggled. I just wanted to thank her so much. I can sense so much good coming from the focus shift from information recall to preparing lifelong learners and responsible citizens.
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I so appreciate that your presentation was well laid out and clearly communicated and compared the two sides of curriculum. It is a refreshing contrast that I can offer my children as a homeschooling parent. The beauty of homeschooling is that we have freedom to creatively weave in relevancy (mock elections and the ideas you gave for community involvement) to make the learning meaningful and memorable. Social Studies is about the process (making connections), which makes the product (thoughtful citizenship) much more successful! Thank you.
VIDEO COMMENT
Great presentation. It has definitely helped to solidify my choices on how we are approaching social studies and has reminded me of what the ultimate goals are so I can adjust and feel confident about how we are getting there. I wish I had seen changes like this made to the approach B&M schools take. I also wish the curriculum outcomes were written with these goals in mind, or explained better so everyone focused on this bigger picture of contributing to our community. Thanks for the inspiration today. Just what I needed.
video comment
While I found the topic a little dry (I must admit Social Studies is not my fav subject!) – Lively Nova-Simpson touched on quite a few points that I intend to utilize – the integration of ‘new’ decision making processes & active citizenship. I intend to use the idea of ‘immediate sphere of influence’ with our youngest child.
VIDEO COMMENT