u/canadamoose86

I have signed my two sons up for hockey this year. They are 6 and nearly 4, so I am aware that they are young and my expectations are not high. They have also not been exposed to much skating or hockey because we moved to Canada from the UK where hockey not really a thing.

They both love it, which is great. I can see them improving really quickly and the league they are in is known to be excellent and produce phenomenal players.

The thing that I have noticed is how good some of these kids are. I expected it in my older son's division. The youngest division is for kids who are 4+ (with the exception of children like mine whose birthdays are late in the year and will turn 4 by December 31st). So some of the kids playing with my 6-year-old have been playing for 3 years...makes sense that they're flying around the ice and lifting the puck with a solid wrist shot. My 6-year-old has noticed the difference in skill level and has told me that he's not as good as the other kids (I explained that he is still new to the sport and skating, and that it's houseleague and just for fun, so no pressure and he is doing amazing).

It's my younger son's division that has me baffled. My son is almost 4. There is no younger division, so surely this is the first season these kids could have played. But some of them (and when I say "some," I mean a solid half of the kids) are phenomenal. They know the rules of the game, are excellent skaters, and actually have technique with a stick. And most of the ones who are newer to the rules have very obviously had skating lessons already.

What I am wondering as a parent is how early are these kids starting?! I thought I was pushing it by putting in my 6 and nearly 4-year-old (who are very clearly at the lower end of their divisions, especially my youngest).

For reference, I am a dance teacher and have been for nearly 20 years. I teach children. I have the occasional child at this age who is naturally talented (and there is certainly improvement over the course of the year for everyone), but have never seen anything like this before.

My mind is blown.

Do parents still provide school supplies for their kids? Things like a pencils, erasers, markers, etc... We definitely did when I was in primary school, but that was 30 years ago, and now that I've got a kid starting grade 1, I assumed this was still the case. But I heard from another mom that she assumed the schools provide all supplies.

Anybody know the expectations? TVDSB primary school in question.

My husband (33M) and I (34F) have recently moved here from the UK. I am Canadian and have family here, but my husband is British and missing a lot of the culture from across the pond. Even little things like understanding media references or slang has been tricky for him to wrap his head around. Is there any kind of British community or even just some immigrants/expats who would be up for making friends?