Current ELC Newsletter - Early Learning Centre

Website
www.earlylearning.ca
Main Office
2115 Athol Street
Regina, SK
S4T 3E8
Phone: 757-3744
Fax: 522-0040
e-mail:
regina_elc@accesscomm.ca
KidsFirst Office
3528 13th Avenue
Regina, SK
S4P 1P9
Phone: 522-7044
Fax: 757-0147
e-mail:
elckfirst@sasktel.net
Inside this issue:
� Executive Director’s News
� Board of Directors’ News
� Preschool News
� Family Outreach News
� KidsFirst News
� Brighter Futures
Spring 2012 Newsletter
Regina Early Learning Centre
Preschool Art Show
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Regina Early Learning Centre
2115 Athol Street
Come and view the amazing artwork of three, four and five
year old children from the Regina Early Learning Centre.
Through art, children are encouraged to express, explore, and
imagine a world of endless possibility.

P a g e 2 2 0 1 2 S p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
Thank you to the
I Love Regina Run.
Proceeds from the
last two years
totalled $15,000.
Executive Director’s News
Spring is always an exciting time for all of us. No matter our age or
circumstances, I believe most us of feel a sense of renewed energy and
hope on those bright spring days when the sun is shining, the grass is
beginning to green, the buds on the trees start to swell and the first spring
flowers begin to poke through the ground. While we may feel a little
discouraged when a bright sunny day is followed by a cool rainy, windy
day, in the natural order, these days also contribute to the blossoming of
spring.
Here at the Centre, the enthusiasm of the children is fascinating to watch.
The other day as I was entering the building, children from one of the
classrooms were busy exploring in our yard. The front hedge, not yet
leafed out, was a major attraction. About seven of the children were busy
climbing through the hedge, exploring and sharing their discoveries with
each other. They were completely absorbed and fascinated by the many
discoveries to be made exploring what for most of us looks like a
somewhat unappealing caragana hedge, not yet leafed out.
There is a great deal of richness to be discovered in what appears to be
ordinary. At this time, as the year draws to a close, the staff begins to
reflect on the impact of each of our programs. I am always struck when
reading parent evaluations of programs how profoundly powerful
experiences, which many of us consider ordinary, can be. First, parents
often make comments which reflect the quality of relationships with our
staff. They talk about feeling respected and able to trust their home visitor.
Seemingly ordinary but, unfortunately, for many parents this is a new
experience. As they gain child development information and related skills,
through home visitors and group programs, they talk about their
amazement at how much they enjoy reading to their child, how they are
more able to enter into their child’s play or how simple behavior
management techniques have worked. We believe these are the types of
outcomes which lead to brighter futures for children, families and our
community.
I believe that parenting is both the most difficult task most of us ever take
on and the most rewarding. This is true for most of us regardless of
income level or educational background. Research suggests that the task
of parenting is becoming even more difficult. Research on early childhood
development certainly suggests that children’s development during the
early years is being compromised. Results from the Understanding the
Early Years Project, suggest that 1 in 3 children in Regina enter
kindergarten with delays in one or more developmental area.

2 0 1 2 S p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
Participate in the
I Love Regina Run 2012
Sunday June 10th, 9 a.m.
At City Square Plaza
Please register for the event
by calling the
PLAY line at
306-777-PLAY (7529) or
through e-registration
Raising funds for
accessible playground
equipment in the city.
P a g e 3
Recently, Dr. Paul Kershaw of the Human Early Learning Partnership
at the University of British Columbia asked the question – “Does
Canada Work for All Generations?”. His answer is a resounding “No”.
Kershaw argues that:
Canada is not currently working for all generations. There is a
silent generational crisis occurring in homes across the country,
one we neglect because Canadians are stuck in stale debates.
My colleagues and I hope the 2011 Family Policy Reports for
all provinces will refocus public dialogue on one of the most
pressing social and economic issues of our time: Canada has
become a far more difficult place to raise a family.
(www.earlylearning.ubc.ca/documents/153/)
Basically, Kershaw argues that families with young children face
greater economic challenges today than they did thirty years ago. In
relative terms household income in this demographic has stagnated
while, housing prices have sky rocketed across the country. At the
same time, as more and more women enter the workforce, families are
facing greater time constraints and stress. Finally, significant policy
changes to support working parents have not been developed. Kershaw
argues for some major policy changes to support families with young
children.
Whether or not one agrees with all Kershaw’s recommendations, it
seems clear that it is time for us to seriously think about the type of
policy change that is necessary to create a Canada where all children
have the opportunity to grow up in healthy families and reach their full
potential.
Mary Ann McGrath
Executive Director

P a g e 4 2 0 1 2 S p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
Thank you to
Farm Credit
Canada
for donating
$20,000 towards
the purchase of
a new van
Board of Directors’ News
Spring has finally sprung here at the Early Learning Centre and with it
has come fresh news. The Centre’s Board of Directors is much like a
bouquet of flowers: we are a colourful group of parents with a variety
of skills but we are united in our desire to see the Early Learning
Centre continue to offer excellent programs for our children. I hope
you have time to look through the newsletter and enjoy some of the
stories of our wonderful facility.
Transportation has been and continues to be a critical element of the
Centre’s programming. Quite simply, without transportation most of
our children would be unable to attend the preschool program
regularly and many of our families would be unable to participate in
our wonderful parenting and literacy programs.
I’m thrilled to tell you that what seemed like an insurmountable
challenge a few months ago has been largely resolved thanks to the
support of some very generous donors. Since Christmas, we have
been able to replace three of our four vans with new or next to new
vans. We’ve ordered a fourth van and are hoping for a few more
donations.
As a parent and on behalf of the Board of Directors, I am incredibly
grateful for the very generous support the Centre has received in this
initiative. But it’s not just this initiative; there are many other ways
that you, our community of supporters, continue to partner with us to
provide programming for our children. Together we are creating a
wonderful future for our children, our families and our communities!
Aaron Clarke
President, Board of Directors
Photographed by
Bryan Schlosser
Leader Post

2 0 1 2 S p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
P a g e 5
Preschool News
Spring is an exciting time in the Preschool classrooms. While our
weather has been a little fickle, it hasn’t dampened the children’s
enthusiasm! From planting seeds, nurturing seedlings, looking for
lady bugs, painting crocuses and tulips, learning about caterpillars
and butterflies, the children have been engaged in a wide variety of
exciting activities. Much more is planned from now until the end of
June.
The children, teachers and Max, our Atelierista (artist partner) would
like to invite you to come to the Preschool Art Show on Wednesday,
May 23 rd (7 – 8:30 p.m.) Children’s creations, particularly their art,
provides us adults with a glimpse in the child’s world and the wealth
of talent, creativity, insight and promise for the future which resides
within them.

P a g e 6 2 0 1 2 S p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
If you prefer not
to receive this
newsletter, please
call or email us.
Thank you
Family Outreach News
Greetings! We have been busy in Family Outreach working directly with
families and offering a range of group programs for families. Recently,
our staff attended a training session about creating resiliency in young
children called Reaching In: Reaching Out. This training program is
offered through the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute
(www.preventioninstitute.sk.ca) which offers a wide range of training and
information services for professionals, families and communities.
Stress is a given in our contemporary society. Resiliency refers to the
individual’s ability to effectively cope with stressful situations. When
children are young, the ways that their families and caregivers interact
with them, help them develop positive skills in dealing with stress. In
Family Outreach, we believe we can strengthen our programs through a
deeper understanding of resiliency.
The families we work with are facing a lot of stress in their lives.
Domestic violence is a common experience for many of the women who
are attending our programs, particularly in our women’s group. While we
work with these women to help them identify strategies to end the
violence in their lives, we also try to help them understand the impact of
violence upon their children.
Parents often think because their children were sleeping or in the other
room that they are unaware of the violence but this is not the case.
Unfortunately, in some cases violence and abusive behavior becomes
normal for the child and they become much more likely to live in violent
relationships throughout their lives. When children are immersed in
stressful situations without positive supports and the opportunity to
develop resiliency, there can be all kinds of negative impacts upon their
development. In one case, a child in a shelter would sleep with his shoes
on. When asked why, he responded that, “if something happening during
the night, he would be able to flee to a safe place and call for help for his
Mom”. This was his way of coping. It took a lot of patience and skill
building with both the mom and the child before he found more positive
and healthy ways of dealing with stress and was able to sleep without his
shoes.
In Family Outreach we know it is important to help families find practical
ways of addressing the negative aspects in their lives and, at the same
time, help them grow in their ability to parent their children in healthy
ways. Ongoing training for staff is an important way for us to continue to
improve our programming.

2 0 1 2 S p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
Positive tips for all parents:
P a g e 7
Love your children no matter what they say or how they behave;
� Tell your child that they are loved often with words, a hug, cuddle
and spending one on one time with child;
� Provide a safe consistent home life;
� Show your child that you as an adult are confident, flexible,
courageous and optimistic;
� Praise your child but be specific in your praise;
� Acknowledge your child’s feelings;
� Encourage safe exploration and independence;
� Reinforce rules in a calm way not in anger;
� Be a support for your child and give comfort and encouragement in
stressful situations.
In Family Outreach, we are continually inspired and impressed by the parents
with whom we work. Despite facing many very challenging situations, many
of them are working hard to build strong supportive families. We see positive
changes every day.
Teresa Seel
Family Outreach Coordinator

Page 8
KidsFirst News
2 0 1 2 s p r i n g N e w s l e t t e r
The KidsFirst program provides home visiting services to vulnerable
families (prenatal to age five) in the inner city. Home visits are generally
half an hour to a full hour once a week for typically the first two years.
As families become more independent of program services, visits occur
bi-weekly or monthly on program. Of the 81 families currently receiving
services roughly half are being seen bi-weekly.
Home visitors provide parenting education and support regarding child
development by offering the Growing Great Kids curriculum. Staff
provides support around goal setting, advocacy and referrals to other
community resources. They assist parents with accessing basic needs such
as housing, childcare, transportation and food.
The following are parent comments about what being in the KidsFirst
program at the Early Learning Centre means to them:
� “they have helped me with dealing with some of the issues I have
with my son and helped me with teaching him new things”
� “got the Child First Aid, milk voucher program, helping me finding
a home and learning lots with baby”
� “understanding, patience and realizing that I’m not doing
everything wrong and that I will struggle because my kids are
young and close in age. Also the different development each child
should be at, the working towards my goals”
� “my goal was accomplished with the help of my KidsFirst worker”
� “respite, speech therapy, counseling, milk, and she is always there
to talk to, food bank”
� “to know I have the support there when needed and KidsFirst
helped get my daughter into school”
� “helps me understand the behaviors of my children are normal”
Lorna Wesaquate
KidsFirst Supervisor