Maple Bear Canadian School

Gerald MacLeod, Vice President, Maple Bear Global Schools Ltd., Canada “So often teachers are asked: “What Will My Child Learn at Maple Bear?” Our answer is that they will learn the skills required to succeed in the 21st Century. Major companies such as Imperial Oil Ltd, Merck Frosst Canada, Royal Bank, Investors Group Inc. state that they want people in their organizations that exhibit these skills: numeracy, communication, critical thinking and problem solving, personal and interpersonal skills, technology, and information management. In order to develop these skills the Maple Bear program in early years emphasizes the importance of play, oral language, literacy, and numeracy. Throughout the preschool and elementary programs, learning cooperatively through enquiry and investigation is emphasized. The research has shown that play stimulates young children’s brain development in important and unique ways. Play develops literacy and numeracy skills. And play also fosters many personal experiences which contribute to a child’s problem solving ability, flexibility, self-confidence - skills that are crucial to success in our increasingly high-tech world. As children grow into the primary levels, it is important that they develop the ability to solve problems, to work collaboratively, to communicate effectively and to perform with confidence. The Maple Bear program is written by experienced Canadian educators and is based on the best practices in Canadian schools. One reason that Canada ranks very highly in education in the world is that educational partners never stop learning about and adapting educational practices. Maple Bear uses a methodology that has all the ingredients to ensure that we are preparing the children for the 21st century. But a program is only successful if implemented properly by capable teachers working in a strong educational environment.”