Dear Friends,

If you are anything like me, you spend the winter waiting for the summer to arrive; it is a time to be out doors, to visit with friends, to enjoy the jems of Canada, and to have BBQ’s. Living in Edmonton with 8 months of winter, I find the summers seductive; I want to be outside every single minute. Thankfully for laptops and extra batteries, I can take my laptop anywhere and do work!

But, while the glorious sun is here, and we all feel so very happy, the fall is only a few months away: and with it comes another set of CELBAN exam dates.  To prepare for the exam can take anywhere from 2-6 months, or even more depending on your weaknesses with grammar. In all reality preparing for the CELBAN over the summer is the best time to study! You can:

• read while riding in the car, playing at the beach, or camping;
• practice conducting an assessment with friends and neighbours at picnics, bbq’s and other functions;
• do compare and contrast with your children as you pass through new neighbourhoods, explore the changes in the season, or go shopping for play things for the park;
• listening to medical reports while travelling by bus, train, plane or car;
• write assignments and reports at a picnic table while the children play in the park or wading pool (if they are older), or while enjoying the sun.

There are various ways you can be preparing, even if you are working rather than having time to play in the sun.

This post was inspired after receiving an e-mail from a subscriber who joined CELBANPrep in the winter months. She postponed her exam, as she did not have time to prepare. But she has not been posting her writing assignments. I remembered a story from when I was a child, about a grasshopper. I search for it on youtube and found this cute cartoon of Aesop’s fable: The Ant and the Grasshopper. The cutest thing is the East Indian accents!

So, my question for you, my friend, is over the summer will you be the ant or the grasshopper when it comes to preparing for the CELBAN?

Sincerely,

Kim