Supervisors see the impact of early childhood education

Developing formative skills start children on the right track
Monday May 30, 2011 — Ryan Rogers and Kristian Partington

Child Care Month is a time to celebrate the benefits of early childhood education and the importance of high quality child care.

Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion (BACI ) executive director Tanya Sather says providing support for children of all abilities in an inclusive setting is a major focus of the association’s mandate.

Tanya says early intervention is also a major focus of the association, and “child care has time and time again proved to be a strong part of early intervention.”

She adds that the work of early childhood educators (ECEs) make a lifelong impact on the children they work with.

BACI has many ECEs providing children and youth services like infant development programs, child care and out-of-school care.

Fair Haven Childcare Centre is providing high-quality programs like the Seeds of Empathy, which is designed for children ages 3-5 years old. The program develops their capacity for emotions and how to deal with hard times, as well as emotional competence and early literacy skills and attitudes.

Fair Haven supervisor Chrisa Aiteur says one of the greatest benefits of the program is how it helps children understand the complexity of emotion that comes from a child with needs.

“We want children to be open to accepting other children with disabilities or being more open in general with all children,” she says.

Supervisor at the South Slope Out of School Care Carly Neville inclusive environments during early intervention programs create a solid foundation for every child involved.

She adds that she sees the beneficial difference ECEs have in the fragile early experiences of children in need of support.

Carly adds that working with children brightens her day.

“Kids are just awesome,” Carly says. “You learn so much from little kids, and the benefits of seeing them learn and grow and get over hurdles; that’s what keeps you around.”

If you have a story you would like to share with the BACI Blast, please contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 29, or e-mail ryan(at)axiomnews.ca.

If you have feedback on this story, please call the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 29, or e-mail ryan(at)axiomnews.ca.

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