My
Name is Anthony and this is my message….
“When
I started preschool I needed help to hold my crayons and pencils correctly and
needed help drawing and printing.
Now
I love to paint, color pictures, draw and write my name. I also have
learned that a fiction book means "make believe" and a non-fiction
books means "real facts". I especially loved learning about zoo
animals at school this year. Did you know that a herd of rhino's is
called a crash?”- Anthony (age5)
Anthony
started preschool when he was just 2 years & 8 months old! He is ready
& excited to head off to Kindergarten in the Fall. Anthony is helping us
share the importance of early learning. Here we tell more of his story through
the eyes of his parents & teachers.
“We
have seen tremendous growth in Anthony's development since he started preschool
at the age of two “turning three in December" especially in his fine motor
skills. What was once a struggle for Anthony, now it is such a joy to see
the pride and love Anthony has for drawing pictures, coloring and painting and
printing his name and letters and numbers. We always look forward to Anthony's
enthusiastic stories after school about what he learned that morning.”- Thelma
(Anthony’s Mom)
The ECMap developmental domain for Physical
Health & Well-being is described as: “Child is well-rested, well-nourished
and can sustain energy levels during kindergarten activities; is physically
independent (can look after own basic needs); has gross motor skills (e.g. able
to catch and throw a ball) and fine motor skills (e.g. able to handle crayons
and pencils).
ECMap data indicates 75.2% of the children in Brooks and the County
of Newell are developing appropriately in this developmental domain, while 24.8% are experiencing difficulty, which is similar to
percentages throughout the province of Alberta. (www.ecmap.ca)
“We
know that the early learning years (birth to age 8) are of vital
importance. Anthony has one of those
very late birthdays (before the Dec31 cut-off) where parents have to make the
decision of when to send them to preschool as well as when to send them to
Kindergarten. Anthony could have attended Kindergarten last year, according to
his birthday but would have likely been one of the youngest students in his
class. This decision for parents is always a difficult one and has to made with
Children who attend Preschool are provided
with extensive experiences in relation to the 'unwritten curriculum' which helps to prepare them for greater independence as
learners in Kindergarten. As well, it is often in Preschool that developmental
concerns or difficulty with vision or hearing are identified, and assessment
recommended, which helps to ensure that these concerns have been addressed
prior to entry into Kindergarten.
Participation in early childhood programs,
with other children of similar age and developmental level, gives the child
more opportunity to be exposed to varied learning opportunities, staff of
different backgrounds, children & families with skills and interests
different from their own. Brooks has a wide variety of early learning program
opportunities and staff at SPEC Parent Link, the Brooks Preschool, the
Francophone school, BELA, the Brooks Library, Parents As Teachers, and others,
have a rich background and extensive resources to support families in our
community. We are fortunate to have choices, and to be able to make decisions,
as parents, as to what programs we feel will best support our children and our
families.
“We
decided to register Anthony in preschool to give him the opportunity to learn
through play and for the chance to play with other children his age. We
wanted to ensure that Anthony will have had a variety of play based learning
experiences and to have built a very solid foundation of skills built through
these experiences for when he starts kindergarten this fall. We would strongly
recommend preschool to other parents because it's fun, enriching and instills a
love of learning in children. Anthony absolutely loves his teachers and they
know everything!” - Thelma (Anthony’s Mom)
“Anthony
values his time in school and you can see that in his enthusiasm and even in
his non-verbal communication. His body language on the carpet has changed from
not wanting to sit there, to now wanting to sit in the front row so he can be
part of the discussion! Anthony can now listen to the story and information
given to him, and in return ask questions related to the topic we are focusing
on.
We
are continuing to focus on his journal work encouraging him to take his time
and do his best work!” – Tayler Stojke (Anthony’s Teacher)
“We
are so proud of Anthony's new found independence and confidence that he has in
himself when learning and exploring new concepts. It's an amazing joy to see
our son love to learn. We know that Anthony is now ready for Kindergarten
and he has a very solid foundation. “- Thelma (Anthony’s Mom)
Building
that foundation is one of the most important things a parent will do for their
child! From knowing the developmental milestones and working towards them from
birth (or working with organizations that can help, like Parents As Teachers)
to choosing fun, interesting activities for them at home & outside your
home, to being actively involved in their education from preschool or
Kindergarten on; each of these steps helps to build that foundation.
The
most important part of that foundation? A love of learning!! All things can be
achieved if your child is excited about learning and being a student of the
world! I had the Mom of a student at Les P'Tits Trésors (the Francophone
preschool program) describe this perfectly when asked about her daughter’s
preschool experience, “ V’s ability to share her life, ideas and feelings has
grown incredibly since beginning preschool. V often comes home with stories of
her friends, questions about the world and a keenness to learn more and share
her thoughts!” That sounds like a little learner who is excited and ready to
take on her career as a student!
The
data from the ECMap Project clearly tells us that a lot of our children are heading off
to Kindergarten without that solid foundation. Only 41.9% of Kindergarten
children in Brooks and the County of Newell are developing appropriately in all
five developmental domains. To me, that sounds like a very shaky foundation to
be building all of our classrooms on. The community we live in is rich in
resources and programs. It’s time for all of us who work in this field to be
more active in reaching out to families! We hope this message reaches those who
need it most.
- CP
Resources:
Brooks
& County Immigration Services
403.362.0404
Brooks
Early Learning Academy
403.501.0019
Brooks
Preschool
403.362.4828
Duchess
Preschool
403.378.4557
Les
P'Tits Trésors.
403.362.2010
Parents
As Teachers
Grasslands
Intervention Offices
403.362.8729
ext 116
SPEC
Parent Link Center
403.362.5056
No comments:
Post a Comment