A Giveaway from Oxford Learning!

Along with the excitement summer brings… my children will bury themselves in a couple of books where further adventures will find them.  Next week, we’ll head to the store to pick up our “summer reading” where by summer’s end, the pages will be sand filled and sunscreen damaged!  I know I should go to the local library, but it usually costs me more in late fees and lost books than it does to just buy them in the first place!

I’m an avid reader and while both Bones and The Tall Blond followed in my footsteps… Spiderman struggled.  A year at Oxford Learning made the world of difference.  He has come so far… to the point of devouring and discussing the books he’s grown to love and I truly believe it was the confidence he gained, along with skills he learned, that got him over the hump… allowing him to continue to soar.  I owe Oxford… along with the teachers who’ve been patient, who pushed him, who expected more… a debt of gratitude.

To celebrate summer… Oxford Learning is offering a Giveaway for the readers of Curtains are Open!!!! They’ve put together a fabulous GIFT PACKAGE (value $350) for you to win!

The package includes a Dynamic Diagnostic Assessment (details below), a $50 gift certificate to Chapters Indigo and Oxford Learning items including an Oxford Learning bag, water bottle, note pad, pens and pencils!

Here’s how you can win…

1. Go to the Oxford Learning Halifax and Hammonds Plains Facebook site and “Like” the page.  Here you’ll find valuable information on your children’s education along with plenty of tips and tricks for keeping them active this summer.
2. Comment on this blog post with your thoughts on the following question:  “With Summer upon us, how do you keep your children ‘challenged, learning and sharp’ until September arrives again?”
3. Add your email address and name to the comment so we know how to contact you (if you don’t have a google account, make an “Anonymous” comment but provide your contact information so we know who you are!)

RULES:

1. You must be able to pick up your prize package at Oxford Learning, 6270 Quinpool Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia or 1376 Hammonds Plains Road, Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia.  (Apologies to distant readers but this one is for local folks only!)
2. The giveaway will be open until Thursday, June 30th, 2011 (Report Card Day in HRM) until twelve noon (my time!)
3. Share the information with your friends… unless you don’t want them to win!
4. Winner will be chosen using random.org and notified by email.
5. Only comments on the “A Giveaway from Oxford Learning!” post on “Curtains are Open” are eligible to win… comments on other posts, Facebook or Twitter will not be considered.
6. Only one comment per reader is eligible.  Additional comments will be deleted.
7. And finally… if you’re having trouble making a comment, email me and I’ll help you out.  Oh… and if you don’t want to put your email in your comment… add your name or initials… then email me your address!

Good luck! And thanks to Oxford Learning for a fabulous giveaway! 

Here is a little more detail from Oxford Learning about the assessment:

Our Dynamic Diagnostic Assessment process allows us to measure a child’s skills and potentials; perceptual strengths and weaknesses; oral language inventory and use; nonverbal problem-solving intelligence; and a complete array of cognitive skills, in addition to academic achievement, potential, how one learns and thinks, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Our written report will provide programming suggestions for both home and school.

Oxford Learning is the only supplemental education provider in North American, authorized by Pearson, formally Psycan to administer the testing we do. We administer the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4), Detroit Test of Learning Aptitude (DTLA-4) and Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills. Although the tests are different, the results are often similar to a Psycho Educational Assessment administered by a Psychologist. We do not offer parents a diagnosis but we can often point them in the right direction if that’s what they’re looking for. Our assessment takes approximately an hour and a half to two hours and can typically be scheduled within a week with a written report available the next day.