School District event to highlight educational opportunities for pre-schoolers

There's an old saying that "it takes a village to raise a child."

That old adage comes to life as School District 57 provides an opportunity for early learning educators to meet with families for the first time in the Prince George community during It Takes a Village, Celebrate Our Children held Friday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the John McInnis Centre for Learning Alternatives, 3400 Westwood Dr.

This free event will offer a variety of information about what educational opportunities there are in the community for pre-schoolers and how to access them, while providing fun and educational activities for children to explore.

"There's so much learning and so much that happens before children enter school and there's so many opportunities for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers in our community," said Andrea Maurice, early learning coordinator for SD 57.

Strongstart is a free early learning parent-participation program that's funded by the ministry of education for ages birth up to Kindergarten entry. There are 14 programs that are held throughout the school district and each program has between 15 and 20 children attend each day with almost 1,000 children registered. While some programs operate five days a week three hours a day, there are others in the outlying areas considered as outreach programs that go one to three days a week. The early learning educators that run the StrongStart programs will lead the activities and provide information at the It Takes A Village event on Friday.

"During the community event, a family would walk in and get a bling bag - a welcome gift - filled with a book, Play Doh, scissors and pencils and then they can tour the room where they can visit the community groups and join in all the activities," said Maurice, who is anticipating attendance of up to 400 people.

There will be information booths including representatives from the Northern B.C. YMCA, Childcare Resource and Referral, Aboriginal Infant and Family Development program and Hadih House Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre Society, where people can discover what kind of development happens at specific ages and there will be games and activities suited for children at different stages of development, Maurice added.

An example of the activities includes Cheerio threading where wee ones can place Cheerios on a thread to make a great snacking necklace. Picking up a Cheerio is good practice for children who will soon need to grip a pencil while putting the thread through the Cheerio develops hand-eye coordination.

"It's a very simple thing and something everyone can do at home, too," said Maurice. "There will be other stations where children can run, jump and throw and there will also be a building block station. It's going to be a lot of fun."

For more information call Maurice at 250-561-6800 or ask the local StrongStart educator.