FilmPossible, Grandparent Care, and Teen Brains

FILMPOSSIBLE

Holland Bloorview is putting a call out to budding film-makers to enter filmpossible, a unique online video contest which will showcase the possibilities for children living with disabilities.

Film-makers have until Aug. 31 to submit their videos.

"Filmpossible is a unique opportunity for film-makers to dispel myths, perhaps by showcasing achievements or showing changes we can make," says Christa Haanstra, Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs. "By entering this contest, you can help Holland Bloorview change the way the world views childhood disability."

I don't know about you, but I love the idea of this contest: putting the focus on the possible. After all, the world tends to do quite the opposite when your child is diagnosed with a disability: focusing on what may no longer be possible (at least according to some study or statistic). To find out how to enter, what you could win (yes, there are all kinds of fabulous prizes), and how the entries will be judged, visit the project's website, filmpossible.ca.

GRANDPARENT CARE

A recent article by BBC News education reporter Katharine Sellgren noted that the UK is lagging behind other European countries by failing to recognize the important role that grandparents play in providing childcare. (One in three mothers in the UK relies on her children's grandparents to provide childcare.)

According to Sellgren, steps taken by other EU countries to assist grandparents in providing care to their grandchildren included "allow [ing] parents to transfer parental leave to grandparents, letting working grandparents take time off if their grandchild is sick and, in some circumstances, paying them for the care they provided." (via Workplace Flexibility 2010.org). 

TEEN BRAINS

"One of the big discoveries [about adolescent health] has been about brain development. During adolescence there’s a massive pruning of the synapses [neural connections] of the brain, and this process doesn’t really stop until around age 24. And the last part of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex, which helps us in cognitive thought and making good decisions in our behavior. So that partially explains why teenagers are sort of known worldwide for their risk-taking behavior."
- Center for Adolescent Health director Freya Sonenstein, PhD, Director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, quoted in the current issue of John Hopkins Public Health Magazine.

Note: The Center for Adolescent Health has just published a guide to adolescent health entitled The Teen Years Explained. You can download a copy of the book (in .pdf format).

The Pill, The Big Sell, The Unexplainable: Worth Quoting

THE PILL

 "It was the feminist movement that opened [the] doors [to new career opportunities for women]. The Pill allowed women to walk through."
    - Elaine Tyler May, discussing her book America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril and Liberation at the University of Minnesota website. (Read excerpt from her book at PBS.org.)

THE BIG SELL

"Commercialism is a factor in many of the public health and social problems facing children today. Childhood obesity, discontent about body image, eating disorders, sexualization, youth violence, family stress, underage drinking, and underage tobacco use are all linked to advertising and marketing. So is the erosion of creative play - the foundation of learning, creativity, and the capacity to make meaning of life. The underlying message of commercial marketing - i.e. the things we buy will make us happy - is a major factor in the acquisition of materialistic values, which has been linked to depression and low self-esteem in children."
    - Susan Linn, EdD, "The Commercialization of Childhood and Children's Well-Being: What is the Role of Health Care Providers?" Paediatrics and Child Health, April 2010.

THE UNEXPLAINABLE

...."I went to your mother’s room to try to explain the unexplainable. I saw your mother on her bed, still groggy from the medications, and my professional demeanour disappeared. A tiny baby blanket was spread on the little bed where you should have been ... At that moment, I was no longer a doctor. I was a mother facing another mother in distress. We didn’t know if you would pull through, and I couldn’t make any promises. We would have to see how the next few hours would unfold. I felt helpless and sad."
    - Christine Motheron, MD, "A Letter for You," Canadian Family Physician, January 2010.

The War on Moms: An Interview with Sharon Lerner -- Part II of II

Sharon Lerner is an American journalist who specializes in writing about women and politics. The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation (Wiley, 2002) -- a meticulously researched book that should be considered required reading for every mother or mother-to-be on either side of the border -- is her first book. I had the opportunity to interview Lerner via Skype earlier today. What follows is the second part of our interview.

Sharon Lerner's book is filled with stories about the fallout of what she calls "life in a family-unfriendly nation." During our interview, I asked her which of those stories would be most likely to stay with her over the long run. She told me about her visit to a childcare center in Florida.

I asked Lerner whether moms need to become more political in order to make change and, if so, what that might mean, given our crazy/busy lives. (I told her that I had multi-year-long blank spots in my political memory, corresponding with the years when my children were very young.) She pointed out all the various ways in which people can be political.

While Lerner devotes a large chunk of her book to documenting the need for more family-friendly policies, she continues to believe that change is possible. "Sometimes people think my outlook is bleak," Lerner says. "But it's not. I think there are great possibilities for improvement." That's one of the reasons she wrote her book, after all: to hint at the possible in an effort to inspire mothers and lawmakers to action.

In the Epilogue of her book, she stresses that "this rare political moment" provides reason for optimism:

"While families across the country carry on with their own shifts and struggles, the most important change that's taken place nationwide is a political one. With a swing-set behind it and dozens of parents of young children working within, the White House is now more receptive to family issues than it's been in years."

At the same time, Lerner is all-too-aware that, in the wake of the global economic crash, families could be asked to put their needs on hold once again:

"Even as the floundering economy has made some of the problems facing families worse, some lawmakers have worried about spending our much-depleted public funds to "bail out" American families. As we wait to see whether this potential turning point will be squandered like previous ones, the gap between us and the rest of the developed world should remind us that, even if it's hard to scrape up the money to move forward, we can't afford not to do it."

* * *

It would be easy for those of us in Canada to act a little smug: to assume that, because we have universal health care coverage and that $100-a-month payment that has been sold to us as a "universal childcare plan," that Canadian families will never experience the same dire poverty as American families who lose their jobs or experience a health crisis.

To some extent, that may be true (we may not bottom out to the same degree or quite as often); but what about the Canadian families who end up selling their homes - or couch-surfing - because a particular drug or therapy that their child needs isn't covered (or isn't fully covered) by the provincial health plan? And what about those families who can't afford to work, because their childcare costs are so high; but who can't afford not to work, because their rent and living expenses necessitate that they hold down a job or two? 

The War on Moms isn't just a US phenomenon. It's happening here, too. It's simply much more under the radar right now. Consider this your wake-up call - unless, of course, you're already wide-awake and on mother-alert, like many moms and dads have been for quite some time. In that case, we're happy to have you join us. It's going to take some time to turn this situation around and create a Canada that works for all families.

Related Reading:

Elizabeth May. Losing Confidence: Power, Politics, and the Crisis in Canadian Democracy: See this  book review penned by Tom Graff of the Vancouver Observer for an overview of what the book is all about.

Marci McDonald: The Armageddon Factor: An expanded and up-to-date version of this October 2006 article that McDonald wrote for The Walrus. If you're wondering what this has to do with your life as a mother, read Antonia Zerbisias' no-holds-barred analysis from earlier this month.

The War on Moms: An Interview with Sharon Lerner -- Part I of II

Sharon Lerner has some reassuring words for you, if you're struggling to pay your bills, find time for your family, and do a good job at work, too: this problem is so much bigger than you.

 "Perhaps you yourself work so hard, you don't have enough time for your family, let alone for yourself," she writes in the introduction of her brand new book, The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation (Wiley, 2002). "On the other hand, you might have ample time with your children but feel edged out of professional life, unable to earn any money -- or enough of it to avoid sinking into a financial hole. Or maybe you work hard and still find yourself barely getting by. Any of these scenarios is common. What's far less likely is that you have both financial stability and all of the time you need to care for your family. That's because such balance has become a rare privilege in this country. And while it's easy to feel personally responsible for failing to achieve the elusive mix of work and family within your own life, the problem is far bigger than you....

"To say there is a sinister plot against American women is both overblown and exactly right. Technically speaking, there is no War on Moms, of course. There is no concerted effort to kill or main women who have children. But if some sinister think tank had spent the last thirty years cooking up the ideal way to make American women miserable, it likely couldn't have served up more unpleasantness than women now encounter on a daily basis."

Lerner is an American journalist who specializes in writing about women and politics. The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation (Wiley, 2002) -- a meticulously researched book that should be considered required reading for every mother or mother-to-be on either side of the border -- is her first book. I had the opportunity to interview Lerner via Skype earlier today. What follows is the first part of our interview.

The Worst Moms: What is it With Our Fascination With The Underbelly of Motherhood?

Oh how the Internet loves its lists. It particularly loves lists of the awful, the bizarre, and the outrageous. And if those lists of the worst of the worst happen to feature celebrities and/or people who could be your next door neighbor behaving badly, well, all the better, it would seem.

So it's hardly surprising that lists (or video clips) of parents doing incredibly stupid things have become an online phenomenon.

The "worst moms" genre appears to be particularly popular, highlighting the dubious achievements of all kinds of moms: fictional, famous, and newly infamous. Time Magazine's list of the Best and Worst Moms Ever draws from the world of entertainment and features Mrs. Robinson and The Mother from Pink Floyd's The Wall. Meanwhile, Momlogic.com's list of the 10 Worst Moms in History includes the wolf spider (infamous for eating its young). And Bookfinder.com's list of the 10 Worst Mothers in Literature features scary fairy-tale moms and freaky horror-novel moms alike.

So what types of sins against motherhood have these moms, real and imaginary, committed in order to score a mention on one of these lists? Everything from maternal disinterest to being too sexy to not having the perfect family to behaving like a garden-variety sociopath (or worse).

And what is it that fuels the fascination with the worst of the worst? A little homegrown parenting anxiety, perhaps?

As MomLogic.com Teresa Strasser columnist noted in the introduction to her feature, The 10 Worst Moms in History, "At seven months pregnant, coming up with this kind of list makes me feel better about my own mom potential. Thank you for lowering the bar, worst moms in history."

When You and Your Partner Don't See Eye-to-Eye About Parenting

Being married can be challenging enough. Add kids to the mix and sometimes couples reach the breaking point. (For other couples, the parent piece is the only non-broken part of a couple relationship that was in trouble long before the kids come along.)

I have life after baby on my mind for a couple of reasons.

First, I spent my weekend speaking at the Winnipeg Baby and Kids Show, which gave me the opportunity to chat informally with a large number of parents about the biggest challenges they are facing in their lives as parents. Many mentioned feeling out of synch with their partners about the decisions they were making as parents.

Secondly, I just finished watching the documentary Married in America 2 (available for purchase via iTunes and elsewhere). The film catches up with nine couples who were the subjects of the original Married in America documentary to find out how they are faring individually and as couples as their relationships hit the five-year mark.

Some of the couples have had a baby; others are thinking about having kids. Some are grappling with deaths in the family or the complexities of blended family issues. Some couples are together; others are not. They all have different perspectives on life and relationships than they did five years earlier, some for better and some for worse.

The documentary is definitely worth watching. The film is fun and fast-moving and each of the couples is uniquely fascinating. My only quibble is that we never get a chance to see the couples arguing (something that does tend to happen in real life). No one swears on camera either. Ever. Perhaps the film was edited to make the film more palatable to faith groups (for marriage preparation courses) and educational organizations (for parenting classes). Or perhaps the folks at the Hallmark Channel (where the film initially aired) has rules about real life getting a little too real.

- - -

But back to the broader issue: coping with problems in your couple relationship after you have kids; or, more specifically, what to do if you and your partner don't see eye-to-eye about how to raise your kids.

Here are some points to consider.

Don't assume that the problem will take care of itself once the baby is no longer a baby, the toddler is no longer a toddler, etc. You've still got a lot of years of parenting ahead of you -- and you definitely want to be on the same page of the parenting playbook by the time your kids hit the preteen or teen stage.

Try to engage your partner in a heart-to-heart discussion about the hopes and dreams that led you to want to become parents in the first place: the types of parents you want to be and the types of kids you want to raise. If you've never had this type of conversation, there's no time like the present to have it. Try to have this conversation when you're both relaxed and in a positive and upbeat mood. If you can't have this type of conversation without the conversation dissolving into an argument, consider couples therapy (so that you can work on your communication skills and resolve the outstanding issues you have as parents and as a couple).

Consider taking a parenting course together. That way, the information you're trying to discuss with your partner will be reaching your partner via a neutral third-party rather than always being filtered through you.

Share parenting materials that you've found particularly helpful. And encourage your partner to share parenting materials that express his or her ideas about parenting, too. (You don't have to agree with all the viewpoints expressed. What you're trying to do is get an understanding of what your partner is thinking and feeling about a particular issue. That's the first step to talking the issue through and finding some common ground.)

Take stock of all the things you do agree about rather than just focusing on all the things you don't. Then find ways to build on that common foundation in your lives as parents.

New Year's Stress Resolutions: Resolving to Become a Less Stressed Out Family in 2010

Resolving to become a less stressed parent - or to have a less stressed out family - in 2010?

You're certainly in good company.

Stress levels in Canada have sky-rocketed since the start of the recession, with 36 percent of Canadians reporting an increase in stress and 28 percent reporting a drop in employment income, according to an annual survey conducted by Desjardin Financial Security. The top three sources of stress, according to survey respondents, were money (30 percent), work (25 percent), and family responsibilities (10 percent).

In 2008, 28% of Canadians between the ages of 35 and 54 reported that most days were extremely or quite a bit stressful. (This is the age range when family and career responsibilities peak, according to Statistics Canada.) Women were more likely than men to report that most days were quite a bit or extremely stressful.

Juggling work and family can be stressful. Families with children may face a particular set of challenges related to work–life balance when one or both parents are working long hours. Families with children are less likely to have both parents working consistently standard schedules (14%) than families without children (21%). Concern about how school-aged kids are faring during the hours after school has become so severe that it's earned its own acronym in recent years: parents' after school stress (PASS). A 2006 study concluded that parental after school stress affects the psychological health of a large number of employed parents of school-aged children.

Are we having fun yet?

Parenting is stressful for dads. A 2006 survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 43 percent of fathers feel overwhelmed by the demands they are shouldering at work and at home.

Parenting is also stressful for moms -- and not for the reasons media stereotypes would have you believe. (It's not about the carpools.) A 2006 American Psychological Association survey found that stress is higher for the parent who makes the health care decisions for other family members, including children, and women disproportionately serve that role for their families (73 percent versus 40 percent of men). This also explains why stress levels soar even higher for mothers (and fathers) of children who have special needs.

Being a kid is stressful, too. What stresses kids out may be different from what stresses us out, but they need to know that we care about what's going on in their lives and that we'll help them with their problems, large or small. Having that kind of caring connection to at least one adult means everything to a child; and determines to what extent that child thrives in the world.

Related Resources:

• Canadian Mental Health Association Stress Test: Just how stressed are you? Find out by completing this online quiz.
• Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia: Tips on coping with stress.
• MayoClinic.com: Relaxation techniques: Learn ways to reduce your stress
• Health is Cool: Back to School Stress brochure: Available for Download (pdf).

From Airbrushed Photos to Motherhood Realities to a Quiet Fish

NEWSWIRE

A roundup of essays, opinion pieces, and/or noteworthy news items about all things parenting.

PICTURE TOO PERFECT

"When writers take a news item or real event and considerably embellish it, they are required to alert readers by calling the work fiction, a novel or a story based on dramatized facts. Why should it be any different for photographs?"
- French Parliamentarian Valérie Boyer, quoted in France Considers Warning Labels for Airbrushed Photos, Time, October 5, 2009

"Cosmetic surgery rates are rising dramatically as are the numbers suffering from eating disorders. We need to bring some honesty into advertising."
- British MP Jo Swinson quoted in Lib Dems Call for Ban on Airbrushed Photos, guardian.co.uk, September 19, 2009

PARENTING GRAPEVINE

A roundup of parent wisdom via parent blogs and/or Twitter.

ANGER

"I haven’t been blogging lately because I’ve been angry," Tatiana writes in her blog Was It A Very Good Year. Then she goes on to explain why. The result is a powerful post about motherhood, womanhood, and wanting more from a world that too often disappoints.

BEDREST

"What started as a very cutting edge pregnancy -- all those high-tech fertility interventions! -- has ended up an anachronism," writes Deborah Siegel (formerly Girl w/ Pen, now Mama w/ Pen). "I now understand, in a very personal way, why pregnancy was once called 'confinement,' or 'lying in.' Hospitalized for early contractions at 30 weeks, I’ve spent the past 3.5 flat on my side.... "

RELATIONSHIPS

"I'm still coming down from the buzz I felt this past weekend," confesses Carly Cooper, Balance the Mother Load columnist at SweetMama.ca. "And it's not from the dessert wine I learned to love after my dinner. My husband Marc and I took a much needed mini-vacation. For the past six months, life got in our way. Work was demanding (spring and summer are Marc's busiest time), stress and overwhelm took over and as a result our relationship got off track. We knew things had to change."

WORK

Home-based business owner and mother Michele Dortch wonders, in her blog The Integrated Mother, if she should stick with the life she had created or go back to the traditional workforce. "I love my flexible, work-at-home lifestyle. But in the last year, there’s been a distant whisper that’s beckoning me to return to the “traditional” workforce. Whenever I hear it I think, “No way! I’ve been on my own since 2003. It’ll be impossible to go back to…that.”

ONE-QUESTION INTERVIEW

A one-question interview about something to do with parenting.

Today's interviewee: Andrea of A Peek Inside the Fishbowl -- a very popular Ottawa, Ontario, blogger (and blog).

ANN: I can't remember exactly when you launched your blog or how it got its name. All I know is that it was one of the first blogs I started reading -- and that I've never stopped reading it -- and you've never stopped writing it. Obviously, you're enjoying writing your blog as much as your readers enjoy reading it. I'm hoping you will answer this question for me: How has blogging made your life better as a parent and a writer?

ANDREA: My blog got its name from my business, quietfish, which comes from a line in a Dr.Seuss book called My Many Colored Days: “Green Days. Deep deep in the sea. Cool and quiet fish. That’s me.”

Blogging has had an immensely positive impact on my life. It’s opened up many new opportunities for me as a writer but it’s also my community. I’ve connected with other parents, challenged my creative brain, and gotten a boost when I needed one. I love to write.  I love being a parent. Combining the two has made me a happier person. Vive le blog!

PS -- Let me know what you think of the new/evolving blog format. As I noted in a recent post, I'll be rotating a variety of different departments in and out of the blog, to mix things up a bit and bring you more of what you want (according to the results of the recent reader survey). - Ann

What Early Childhood Educators Have to Say About the Move to Full-Day Kindergarten: A Three-Part Series

After reading Kristen Rushowy's article last week and discovering how close the Ontario government is to making its final decisions about full-day kindergarten, I felt that we needed to hear more from early childhood educators. (We've heard a lot from the teachers and the politicians and policy-makers, but I don't think we've head as much from the early childhood educators about the role they hope to play in the early learning classroom of the future, circa September 2010.)

The result is this three-part series of blog posts:

• Part I: An interview with Julia Lipman of the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario (AECEO) about what early childhood educators bring to the table - and why they deserve to be treated as full partners in our kids’ education.
• Part II: An interview with early childhood education professor Pat Dickinson about the traditional power imbalance between certified teachers and early childhood educators, and how the McGuinty government has the opportunity to right this wrong.
• Part III: The correspondence file: What others who are passionate about early learning are saying about the role that early childhood educators should play.

First up: Part I.

The Correspondence File: Letters About Early Childhood Educators, Teachers, and Early Learning in Ontario (Part III)

Part III in a three-part series about the move to full-time kindergarten in Ontario. Part I featured an interview with Julia Lipman of the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario. Part II featured my interview with Pat Dickinson, program director for the Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies, Charles Sturt University (Ontario).

The following letters highlight the strengths of early childhood educators and/or urge the government to proceed with full-day kindergarten programs with early childhood educators and teachers working as equal partners.

ECEs HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT IN COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS AND CHILDREN

My experience with ECE’s is through the Best Start Hubs. I have been able to recognize that ECEs have a special talent of communicating with parents and children. If an ECE has a concern about a child and they bring it up to a parent,  a parent is more apt to act. A parent feels less threatened by an ECE than a teacher.  ECE’s have more experience with children having behavioural or health issues. I believe that the ECE’s would be a definite asset in bridging the gap between parents and the health of children. ECE’s seem to be better trained in dealing with and understanding children. They also have more time to focus on the children and their difficulties than on the work that must be accomplished by the teachers’ mandate.
 
Sheri Johnson Purdon
Community Mental Health Worker - Postpartum Depression
Canadian Mental Health Association - Sudbury/Manitoulin Branch


WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT BENDING TO PRESSURE FROM TEACHERS?

As an early childhood educator and Professor of Early Childhood Education at our college, I feel that the qualifications and general opinion of ECE teachers are not taken seriously and are still considered "babysitters".

As a Professor of Early Childhood Education, I can tell you that the ECE teachers have a 2 year concentration in child development and are very capable of teaching in a Kindergarten setting. Do the primary teachers have the same education necessary for this age group? ECE teachers also belong to the College of ECEs.

Why is the government bending to pressure from the teachers when the study clearly states that the children/program would benefit from a blend of primary teachers and early childhood educators? Would you not want to put the best combination of teachers together for the benefits of the children/program? A good boss/team leader puts the best people in the positions for maximum benefit. Do you want teachers who are not educated in child development to plan a program for the children? ECE teachers know how to do this and are taught by very qualified professors.

It is time to listen to the ECE teachers and to give them the recognition they deserve.

Judy Rose, R.E.C.E.
Director
A Child's Secret Garden Daycare Inc.and
Professor of Early Childhood Education
St. Lawrence College
Cornwall, Ontario


ABOUT TURF PROTECTION

To me this issue is about protectionism/turf protection, and the union exerting pressure to protect what they believe is an opportunity for new jobs. Meanwhile, I believe that relationships could be damaged and there needs to be a big push on the ECE side. (College/university ECE teachers need to advocate for the way the system can work.)

Beth Anne Currie
works with many early childhood educators and has provided workshops, training, and support to early childhood educators over the past 5 years

RESENT INCREASED COST TO TAXPAYERS WHEN ECES HAVE EXPERTISE

Hello Ann,
I am the Nipissing Best Start coordinator.
Here is a copy of the letter I sent to [my] MPP when I saw this article.
Karen Cobb
 

Monique Smith,
Member of Provincial Parliament

Dear Monique:
Today’s article in the Toronto Star regarding the favouring of implementation of full-day learning for four year olds by certified elementary teachers deeply concerns me and I wanted to take a minute to express my views from the perspective of a parent, a teacher and now the Nipissing Best Start Coordinator.
 
It has been my very great pleasure to work with many community partners including teachers and early educators in the child care system during my time as Nipissing Best Start Coordinator. From that perspective and from the perspective of a working parent whose children did not have the advantage of an early learning system and who entered school at the SK level for half days, I am disheartened that the expertise of early educators who have been entrusted with the early learning and care of our children for many many years is now being diminished under pressure from teachers who feel that their expertise should supersede that of early educators. Each educator brings to the child very specialized skills that together enrich the early learning environment for the child who may be as young as three years eight months.
 
There are many examples of early learning environments in schools now where the responsibility for the child and his or her early learning is shared extremely effectively by JK teachers and Early Childhood Educators including one in our own area at EW Norman Public School which I invite you to visit at your earliest convenience. During the past year responsibilities for curriculum, care, parent contact, referrals and many other classroom teaching strategies are planned and handled cooperatively and effectively. Together with the parent, the children’s optimal development is supported holistically and together with our specialized community partners extra help is provided as required.
 
As a taxpayer I resent the anticipated increased cost to taxpayers. These dollars would be better used to support children with identified needs where early educators and teachers are being highly challenged to provide the extra contact, intervention and reporting that may be required. Yes, many schools have been providing full day early learning for some time but this was a decision made by school boards at a time when other more cost effective options were not available.
 
Dr. Pascal’s report is well researched and suggests a model that will meet the needs of all families and children effectively and this should be implemented using the cost effective strategies described in the plan and that certainly do not compromise the education of our children.
 
I would welcome the opportunity to arrange a visit for you to EW Norman Public School where you can witness for yourself how well the model proposed by Dr. Pascal can work and at which time we can discuss this in more depth with the educators at that school location. You will then be able to provide extensive and accurate feedback to Premier McGuinty about a very successful shared teaching arrangement right here in North Bay.
 
I look forward to sharing a few moments with you about this topic at this year’s Let the Learning Begin Family Conference.
 
Sincerely,
Karen E. Cobb
 
P.S. The content of this email is the opinion of the writer only.
 


SUCCESS REPORT FROM ONTARIO'S LARGEST FRANCOPHONE DAYCARE PROVIDER

Hello,

The Centre de ressources familiales de l'Estrie is proud to inform you that
we are the largest francophone daycare provider in Ontario.

We would like to share with the public the we have established and
maintained successful partnerships with the two school boards in our region.
We are proud to collaborate with them in offering the full day learning
program.

Our qualified early childhood educators and the teaching staff have worked
in collaboration since 2000, to offer the best possible program for the
children and their families. We continue to build ont that success. Parents
are elated with this approach.

On day one the child attends class with the teacher and on day two he
attends class with the educator. Both staff complement each other in the
common goal to help the child attain his or hers developmental milestones.

Each professional has their own defined role: the teacher works with the
ministry's curriculum and the educator teaches through play-based activities.

The model that we have implemented in the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry
region is proof that a partnership between the two professionals can be
successful and rewarding for all involved.

Thank you,

Manon Tailleur
Directrice générale- Executive director
Centre de ressources familiales de l'Estrie
1500 boulevard Holy Cross
Cornwall, Ontario
K6H 2X1

Le CRFE est fier d'être le plus gros pourvoyeur des services de garde
francophones en Ontario.

Finally, this blog post contains another correspondent's views:

Ontario's McGuinty Urged to 'Do The Right Thing' for Ontario's Children