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Success By 6 Ottawa Newsletter Summer 2009 In this Issue:
Success By 6 Ottawa In the News
Ottawa Early Years Community Feature
Physical Development and Fitness “It is our responsibility to ensure bright futures for today's children so that tomorrow's society will benefit.” - Dr. David (Dan) Offord, CM, MD, Founding Director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message from the Director
At the Making a Difference luncheon, our key message of working together, we can make a difference was clearly evident. The following were honoured with Making a Difference awards for their tireless efforts in improving the lives of children: Suzanne Dugas, Janet Robinson, Ron Ensom and the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre as the ‘family-friendly’ workplace in our community.
The Success By 6 Framework for Action, based on the findings of the 2008 Snapshot on Ottawa’s Young Children, was launched at the luncheon. Together with our community partners, we will move this Framework for Action forward with concrete steps to influence positive change for the children and families of Ottawa.
The Growing the Circle workshop, which took place in early June, was a great success! It was hosted by the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Standing Committee (FNIMSC). The purpose of the workshop was to raise awareness of the FNIMSC and to strengthen the working relationships among the staff of the various aboriginal organizations as well as ‘mainstream’ organizations. Discussions from the various sessions provided clear direction to the FNIMSC to enhance the working relationships of community partners and ultimately benefit the children and families of Ottawa’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
The Photovoice Project My Neighbourhood, My Voice was unveiled Tuesday, June 9, at Ottawa City Hall. More than 120 participants, ranging in age from three to 82, showcased their creative and thought-provoking images. Metro Ottawa attended the event and shared the story with its readers (Metro Ottawa - Photos provide new views).
Dr. Charles E. Pascal’s report With our Best Future in Mind on full day learning has been released and is available online here (With Our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario).
An update from the Research and Evaluation Group
The report Early Childhood Risks, Resources, and Outcomes in Ottawa has been released and will serve as a resource for Ottawa’s service providers, social planning groups, parents, neighbourhood groups, researchers, business community, and other organizations.
To highlight the characteristics of each neighbourhood, the report’s findings will be presented as neighbourhood portraits. These portraits will help tell the story about the city’s early learning environment and neighbourhood differences. Community stakeholders will be invited to interpret the findings based on their own local knowledge and expertise. The portraits can be visited by accessing www.successby6ottawa.ca/uey/.
I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and safe summer!
Kelly Paolozzi Director, Success By 6 Ottawa
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Success By 6 Ottawa In the News
Integrated learning can have major impact on our young children The Ottawa Citizen
Charles Pascal's report, "With Our Best Future in Mind," outlines "a child and family service system that closes the gaps and offers a continuum of services from birth to 12," including full-day learning that gives children the opportunity to learn in a play-based environment with their peers. Any frustrations they may encounter when starting school are minimized.
About 30 per cent of Ottawa's children are considered not ready to begin Grade one when they reach the age of six, and are behind in some aspects of their development such as language and cognitive development, communication skills or emotional maturity.
Success By 6 has also found that, in Ottawa, about 15 per cent of children displayed low positive social behaviour, which is higher than the national average. Dr. Pascal's recommendation of a new system based on high-quality, play-based programming will have a positive influence on their social and emotional well-being. Many parents in Ottawa point to a lack of space in existing programs for preschoolers. About 55 per cent of our preschool children are in some child-care arrangement, with 20 per cent in two or more different types of child-care environments. The flexibility and accessibility of full-day learning would help to remove unnecessary stress on families that are forced to get children from Kindergarten to one childcare arrangement or another. This is not a new concept -- There are already many examples of full-day learning at work in Ottawa. Le Petit Prince school ("Vanier school 'out in front of the parade,' " June 22) is a very successful example of the impact that integrated learning can have on young children. Many other seamless examples exist in our community where child-care centres are located within schools. We need this co-ordinated approach to learning. There must be continuity for children to get the most out of these critical formative years. Success By 6 has been working with our partners to build a co-ordinated, integrated system. We have called for collaborative action to place early childhood development at the forefront of the public agenda, and this report places the importance of early learning firmly on the public agenda for Ontario and the rest of Canada. This is a significant moment for children and families in our community and across Ontario.
James McCracken, Ottawa Chair, Success By 6 Ottawa
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ottawa Early Years Community Feature
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One month: |
Support his head as you hold him against your shoulder and talk to him.
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Four months:
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While she is on her tummy, move brightly coloured toys in front of her. This encourages her to lift her head and push up on her forearms to get her chest off the floor. Get down on the floor with her so that she can see your face.
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Six months:
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Encourage him to roll from his tummy to his back. He is learning how his body works and wants to explore his environment.
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Nine months:
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Put pillows and cushions on the floor. Put one of her favourite toys on top of the pillows so she can try to get it. Join her on the floor and let her climb over you as well.
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12 months:
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While he is standing, holding onto your leg or a piece of furniture, drop a noise-making toy on the floor beside him. It helps his balance to squat or bend over to pick it up.
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15 months:
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Put an empty laundry basket or box in the middle of the floor with some balls or beanbags in it. Show her how to drop the ball or toss the beanbag into the basket or box. When it is full, encourage her to empty it. Talk to her about what she is doing.
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18 months:
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Play his favourite music. Encourage him to move to the music with you— swaying, moving slowly, marching, hopping, clapping his hands and tapping his feet.
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Two years:
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Have fun together. Practise jumping and climbing. Let her get in and out of a box or jump from the bottom stair.
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30 months:
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He likes to knock things down. Set up large plastic bottles, empty cans or milk cartons. Let him have a ball to roll to knock them over. Give him the words that describe what is happening. Let him set them up again.
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Three years:
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Play with her by making a line on the floor with a rope or masking tape. Lie, stand, walk, run or gallop on the line or jump over it.
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Four years:
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Let them play group games with simple rules: Duck Duck Goose, Ring Around the Rosie, London Bridge is Falling Down and the Farmer in the Dell.
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Five years:
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He likes to play games such as hide and seek and dodge ball. It helps him understand the rules of different games and how to take turns when playing them.
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For resources on how we can make Ottawa a more active city, check out Active Ottawa Actif.
Who is involved with Active Ottawa Actif? Active Ottawa Actif is a group of community partners that provides low-cost ways for people in Ottawa to be physically active. A significant number of Canadian children and adults do not get enough physical activity to have good health. We want to change that trend. Active Ottawa Actif believes that active living is the key to preventing chronic disease and to staying healthy.
The Council of Champions provides the direction for Active Ottawa Actif. It is made up of volunteers, people from community groups and City of Ottawa staff. There are also eight action teams that work with specific populations such as preschool children and operate a number of projects during the year within their communities.
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Did You Know?!
A great change is coming over childhood in the world’s richest countries.
Today’s rising generation is the first in which a majority is spending a large part of early childhood in some form of out-of-home childcare arrangement. At the same time, neuroscientific research is demonstrating that loving, stable, secure, and stimulating relationships with caregivers in the earliest months and years of life are critical for every aspect of a child’s development.
See how Canada measures up! Read online Unicef's Innocenti Report Card: The child care transition.
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Mark on your calendars:
August 1-7 – World Breastfeeding Week
September – Breakfast for Learning Month
September 9 – Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Awareness Day
September 25 – also Ottawa’s 5th Annual Amazing Book Race
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For more useful sites, check out the Success By 6 website at http://www.successby6ottawa.ca/.
If you would like your site included in our Useful Sites section, send an e-mail to kheadley@unitedwayottawa.ca.
Questions, comments or concerns about this bulletin? We love feedback! Please e-mail to kheadley@unitedwayottawa.ca. Editorial content from our partners is always welcome!
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Making A Difference Request For Nominations
Early Childhood Development — Did You Know?!
Safe, secure and child-centred neighbourhoods and communities are also important in a child’s development. On the national and international stage, it is important for nations to continuously improve living conditions for families. This involves addressing matters of economic security, flexible work schedules, information and support systems, health programs and quality child care.
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