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By John McDonald
Don’t let the light-hearted name fool you. The Success by 6 initiative and the Sandbox Development Group are serious about their mandate to help local family resource programs in their bid to improve the early childhood development of local kids and their parents.
“There’s 50 years of research that shows for every one dollar invested in a child before age six pays off in future health and social service savings,” says Carol Ellison, Success by 6 coordinator. “Family resource programs offer families a place to feel connected. Often young families can feel isolated and this gives them a way to engage in the community.”
The Sandbox Development Group is made up of the Kelowna Child Care Society, Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs, The Bridge Youth and Family Services and Westbank First Nation Community Services. Success by 6 is a United Way initiative.
Between them, they operate seven family resource programs throughout the Central Okanagan including two in Kelowna.
Ellison was making her comments amidst the kid-generated cacophony at the Martin Education Centre where the group was celebrating the expansion of the Central Okanagan program with a special milk and cookie event.
Rolli Cacchioni, chairman of the Central Okanagan School District, was on hand for the event and lauded the goal of improved early childhood development, something the school board solidly supports.
“Any type of intervention or education that has a component of play, a component of physical activity or working with others is just great,” he said. “Our concern is that when children show up at Kindergarten or Grade one is that they are sufficiently developed to partake in the programs.”
The school district is moving to all-day Kindergarten next fall for 60 per cent of students, with the remainder switching over the year after.
The Ministry of Education is also looking at even earlier intervention with the future advent of pre-Kindergarten for four-year-olds.
“It is based on the Ontario model where they have four-year-olds in schools,” Cacchioni said. “They’ve been talking about it but we haven’t seen anything concrete on it yet.”
john@kelowna.com
250-575-0521
One Response to “Milk and cookies mark expansion of family resource programs”
Tags: carol ellison, central okanagan boys and girls clubs, John McDonald, kelowna child care society, Rolli Cacchioni, United Way, westbank first nation community services
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Doesn’t the provincial government already have the StrongStart Program in place in Kelowna and across the province for 0-6?
Please continue discussion on the forum: link