Program Rules


General Rules

Children cannot take home any of their creations at Think Leaf, as they are reused for other classes.

Children are required to take care while using the Think Leaf products. Damage to any of them, may require repair or replacement charges.

Code Of Conduct

We will be doing projects, both large and small, throughout the year. Sometimes your attempt will be a success. Other times, it will be a miserable failure. Either result is okay—failure is an integral part of the design process.

What is not okay: laughing at someone else's project.

So, some rules for working in the class:

  1. You may not criticize or make fun of another student’s work. This includes laughing, teasing, or comparisons (“My car is so much better than your car….”).
  2. However, you may provide CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. To be constructive, the comment must be specific and offer a possible solution. For example, “Hey your car doesn’t go straight” is not acceptable, but “I noticed that your car veers to the left. It looks like the back wheel is rubbing against the frame” is welcomed.
  3. No designs are private property. Anyone may get ideas from any other design. If someone copies a piece of your design, the proper reaction is to be flattered—clearly, the other person has recognized your brilliance.
  4. If you get stuck, feel free to look at other people’s designs to see how they have solved similar problems.
  5. And finally, relax! Things will go wrong—but you will have plenty of time and assistance to fix the problems.

Encouraging Help

From the first day of class, encourage the students to collaborate and to help one another. You may want to have a rule that no designs are secret—the students are welcome to incorporate good ideas from other groups into their projects. Having another group adopt one’s idea can be seen as a real compliment.

If someone finds a clever solution to a problem, that person can be the “expert” on that issue and guide other students with similar problems. If students are having a good deal of difficulty with a project and seem stuck, suggest that they  “go shopping,” walking around the class and looking at everyone else’s projects to see how others have tackled the problem.

Giving positive feedback to students who help one another shifts the class culture towards a norm of helping. The students no longer look to the teacher as the only source of advice; instead, they consult one another. Aside from making the atmosphere of the class more pleasant, doing this means that the teacher can supervise a whole class without being run ragged or having the students spend long periods of time waiting for help.

Competition

Competition is a fun and natural part of robotics. However, if a competition has a clear winner, it also has a room full of losers—not a cheerful prospect. Instead, consider having the students compete against a set standard; for example, can your robot stay inside the black lines for thirty seconds. That way, the potential is there for the entire class to win. Also, with this kind of competition, there is no penalty for aiding others or sharing a good idea—helping another group succeed does not diminish your own group’s prospects.

Failure

In a project-based class, failure is inevitable. An idea that seems good at first turns out to be a dead-end—or an outright disaster. As the upset students sit amid the ruins of their project, praise them for taking a risk and point out the positive aspects of their plan. Help them see what they have learned about which designs do and don’t work. Remind them that everyone in the class will have a design fail at some point in the year. Enforce the project rules to make sure that they get no jeering or other negative response from the other students.

Joyful learning

Finally, do not forget to have fun.

Program Cancellation

We will do everything possible to avoid program cancellations; however, we reserve the right to do so if necessary. In this circumstance, we will accommodate your child in an alternate program or alternate week or we will provide you a full refund.

Refunds

Cancellations may be made online at www.thinkleaf.org or may be requested by sending written notice to our administrative office by email.

Cancellations made 7 full days prior to the program will be refunded less $25 processing fee.Cancellations made or requested less than 7 days prior to the start of the program or after the program is started are not eligible for a refund.

If your child cannot attend any program for a medical reasons, please contact our office. A credit note will be issued upon receipt of a doctor’s note. No other exceptions will be made.

Program registrations are non-transferable.

Waiting List

Our online registration system can accept waiting list registrations for programs that are currently full.

If a spot becomes available, the first registrant on the waiting list for that program will be notified by email. You are required to make a payment in 12 hours of your email notification or the registration will be cancelled and the spot will be given to the next registrant on the waiting list.

Declined Payments

A fee of $25 will apply to any declined cheque.

Late Fees

It is important to pick up your child on time each day. If you are late, you may be required to pay a late fee of $5.00 per child, for every 15 minutes. If you are stuck in traffic, your train is running late, etc, and are able, please call or message to our office (587)436-3894 to let us know.

Food

For the safety of kids and staff with life-threatening food allergies, foods containing any type of peanut/nut and peanut/nut by-products, are not permitted. kids are not allowed to share any food.

To reduce litter, we strongly encourage the use of litter-free packaging such as reusable plastic containers for your child’s lunch and snacks.

Lost & Found

Please ensure all your child’s belongings are properly labelled with his/her first & last name.

DO NOT SEND VALUABLE ITEMS TO CLASSES such as iPods, Cell Phones, Cameras, Jewellery, expensive clothing etc.

Weather

Some scheduled program activities may be cancelled due to the weather and facility conditions/ closures. Although we will do what we can to re-schedule the missed activities, this is not guaranteed. We will continue to work hard to ensure all kids have a great engineering experience, rain or shine, and appreciate your understanding regarding matters out of our control, such as weather and facility closures.

Program Cancellation

We will do everything possible to avoid program cancellations; however, we reserve the right to do so if necessary. In this circumstance, we will accommodate your child in an alternate program or alternate week or we will provide you a full refund.

Walking Home

Any parent or caregiver who intends on having their child arrive at, or leave from, without adult accompaniment, is required to sign the parent consent section.

Kids will not be permitted to leave their classes without a signed form, regardless of their age.

If you have any questions about our policies, please call our office (587)-436-3894