Meet the Founder
Meet The Founder
Hi, I’m Peter Last, founder of Common Sense Factor® and creator of the Common Sense Factor Kids™ series.
Childhood memories and the practical life lessons that came from spending time with family, helping with projects around the home, exploring outdoors, and learning through everyday experiences inspired Common Sense Factor Kids™.
Some of my favourite memories weren’t found in a classroom. They came from working alongside others, asking questions, solving problems, and discovering how things worked. Looking back, those experiences helped shape much of who I became.
Learning Through Experience
Over the years, my career took me through a variety of trades, maintenance, construction, and home-related industries.
I also had the opportunity to speak with thousands of people throughout the Sarnia–Lambton community. Through conversations with homeowners, parents, grandparents, tradespeople, educators, and community organizations, a common theme continued to emerge.
Many people were capable and willing to learn, but often lacked access to practical information, hands-on experiences, or opportunities to develop everyday life skills. It wasn’t a lack of intelligence or interest. In many cases, it was simply a lack of exposure.
Why I created Common Sense Factor Kids™
Those conversations became the foundation for Common Sense Factor®—an educational initiative built around the idea that practical knowledge can be shared, learned, and passed forward in ways that are accessible, encouraging, and easy to understand.
Along the way, I noticed two growing challenges.
The first is the increasing shortage of skilled tradespeople and practical, hands-on knowledge.
The second is that many adults never had the opportunity to develop some of the practical life skills that previous generations often learned through everyday experiences at home, within their communities, and alongside family members.
That observation led to a simple question:
What if we could introduce practical life skills earlier in a way that was fun, engaging, and age-appropriate?
The Common Sense Factor Kids™ series was created to help answer that question.
Through engaging colouring books, activities, puzzles, and educational resources, children discover practical life skills while building curiosity, awareness, and confidence.
Many of the activities are designed to be explored independently by children or shared with parents, caregivers, grandparents, educators, and mentors. By encouraging conversations, questions, and shared experiences, the books create opportunities for learning while helping strengthen connections across generations.
Our goal is not to turn children into experts or replace professional instruction.
Our goal is to help them ask questions, build confidence, develop practical awareness, and discover that learning can be part of everyday life.
We believe curiosity is one of the most powerful tools a child can develop. When children are encouraged to explore, ask questions, and better understand the world around them, they build skills that can serve them throughout their lives.
Common Sense Factor Kids™ is published by CS Factor Book Publishing Inc. as part of an ongoing commitment to practical education, community awareness, and lifelong learning.
Because today’s small lessons can become tomorrow’s confidence.
My hope is that these books encourage children to stay curious, ask questions, learn practical skills, and discover that some of life’s most valuable lessons can be found in the world around them.
— Peter Last
Ready to Start?
Explore the Home Awareness book and discover how practical learning can begin one conversation at a time.
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Common Sense Factor® is a registered trademark of CS Factor Holdings LLC and is used under license by CS Factor Book Publishing Inc.