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Wednesday May 2, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A5 Halton ready to invest in childhood's Early Years S e a m le s s system of s u p p o rts for p a re n ts and yo u n g sters is th e g o a l...b u t p ro g ra m n e e d s funding By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Who better than a parent to give their child the best possible charlce in life? Just in case a parent needs help doing this, the famed Early Years Study will soon be more than a study in Halton. It will be translated into action. Just how and when that will happen was the topic of a conference held recently in Oakville. The meeting was partly funded by pro ceeds from Halton regional chair Joyce Savoline's annual charity golf tournament. Co-sponsor was the Child Care Enrichment Committee, a group of Halton professionals, who aim to provide training for those working with children up to age 12, and their parents. The Early Years Study was commis sioned by the Province of Ontario in 1998 from child fare experts J. Fraser Mustard and Margaret McCain. "Kids need nurturing, there's no ques tion about that and some kids don't have the benefit of that, so it takes more of us in he community to help these kids," said Savoline, the honourary chair of Our Kids, Our Community, Our Concern Network in Halton. Lynn Roberts, an Oakville resident and businesswoman, and former Halton District School Board trustee, is Halton Region's new Early Years Coordinator. Also speaking was Helen Hughes, the project manager of the Early Years Pilot Project in Grey-Bruce Counties. Rounding out the speakers' list was Danielle Zanotti, York Region's Early Years manager. Grey-Bruce and York Region were two of five Early Years pilot projects that have been operating since the initial study. That initial study confirmed what most working with young children already know: that an investment in the early years of children's lives is an investment in their future as healthy adults. Children are bom ready to learn and their neurosystem is preprogrammed to develop various skills. All they need is the right experiences to start the process. Like the other pilot projects, Halton will use a measurement tool has been devel oped called the Early Development Photo by Peter C. McCusker Early Years Project Manager Helen Hughes, Halton Region Chair Joyce Savoline and Lynn Roberts, Community Coordinator Early Years Halton. Instrument (EDI). Study were: -- "there is powerful new evidence As of 1999, the EDI has been imple mented with 16,565 Kindergarten children. from neuroscience that the early years of It assesses a child's strengths and weak development, from conception to age 6, nesses and predicts how a child will do in particularly for the first three years, set the elementary school. base for competence and coping skills that EDI measures readiness to learn in the will affect learning, behavior and health school environment across five categories: throughout life." -- the study found that "facing the physical health; social competence; emo tional maturity; language and cognitive work, family and early child development skills; communication skills and general challenge is a shared responsibility among governments, employers, communities and knowledge. Two key findings of the Early Years families." To that end, the provincial government has allotted funds to regions across Ontario for the hiring of an Early Years coordinator, like Roberts. Work in each region, will be guided by a steering committee, which is currently being established in Halton. The Province has also set up funding in the form of the newly announced Challenge Fund, which will provide $30 million across 37 regions to support local initiatives to improve early years develop ment. Provincial guidelines stipulate that all children must benefit (not just those in spe cific groups like the underprivileged) and that communities should set up Early Childhood/Parenting centres. Proposal calls for funding are now being sought. If it's too early in the process, proposals will again be accepted in a sec ond call later this year. "We still need to develop the process. It's not undoable, but we're going to have to ran pretty quick and hard," said Roberts. What's proposed in the Early Years vision is a seamless system of supports for parents and young children in the commu nity. Speaking from her experience as a former school board trustee, Roberts said, "You see that when a child is ready for school, parents say `Okay here, now it's your job.' My personal message is: `To stay involved with kids.'" i w a n t to breathe Coming To Oakville July 2001 A M ONKEY b b e y w o o d M ONTESSORI SCHO O L m , c l e a n C .A .N .y > D O T h e m o v em en t fo r 8 dl 1 T. Childcare and Developm ent Centre O P E N IN G SEPT E M B E R 2001 ABBEYW O O D M O N TESSO R I The most important years for learning are from birth to six years of age Montessori shows how children acquire the skills to answer their own questions, learn to man age freedom with responsibility and maintain a high level of intellectual curiosity. · Casa Program ages 3-6 · Full-time and part-time enrollment morning or afternoon · Fully trained Montessori Instructors (AMI Certified) · Classroom atmosphere that encourages social interaction · Outdoor playground · Healthy snacks and lunches prepared on site · Wide variety of Montessori materials, activities and experiences · Bright, clean and pleasing environment For Information call We are a brand new facility offering a wide variety of programs for all ages Toddler Care, Preschool, JK/SK, Before & After School and Summer Camp A ? licensed through the M inistry of C om m unity w and Social Services Transportation to and from local schools H ealthy nutritious m eals and snacks prepared " on the prem ises Si? 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