Program seeks to help kids in their ‘Early Years’

Ken Johnston
Editor

A new provincial program has set up shop in the region to help with the development of children in their early years.
Early Years is a program geared towards starting the learning process for kids much earlier than junior and senior kindergarten. While no Early Years Center has been designated or opened in the part of Northwestern Ontario west of Thunder Bay, two staff members are busy working the region; one in the Kenora area and Donna Davidson in the Rainy River area.
Davidson currently works part-time out of an office in the Rainy River Duty Free building as a Literacy Specialist. She was hired earlier this year and has been busy visiting many organizations to talk about the services Early Years provides. “It is a gateway for parents to get answers and supports kids in their early years.” While Davidson’s focus is on literacy development other areas like nutrition will be addressed by other Early Years specialists or from other agencies like the Northwestern Health Unit. Once the Early Years Center is opened in the region they will serve as the central hub for referrals to the right expertise. “We are not overlapping services but are complimenting existing services,” explained Davidson. They are also hoping to identify where there are gaps and plan accordingly.
As a literacy specialist Davidson’s job is to support and promote language development and literacy for children from birth to age 6. One would think that there is not much that can be done for kids that are infants, but Davidson said there are studies that show everything from reading to singing to them helps with their learning. Davidson has literacy kits for resource centres such as libraries. They contain 80% children’s books and about 20% parenting books.
“Our motto is ‘prepare and not repair’,” said Davidson. She did emphasize that Early Years recognizes that, “Parents–first and most important teacher (a child can have) and we are here to support them in that role.”
So far she said that she has received very positive feedback from everyone she has spoken to about Early Years.
Anyone interested in learning more or utilizing the program can call Davidson at 852-1834 or look the program up on the internet at www.northwesternearlyyears.org. It is a temporary site until the provincial site at www.ontarioearlyyears.ca is fully functional.
There is no cost to access or use the services of Early Years.