Aboriginal youngsters getting a headstart
Cariboo Press / Terrace Standard
June 14, 2006
EXCERPT

THE SOUND of children playing and laughing is pervasive at early childhood education programs, both on and off reserves in the Terrace area.

The communities of Terrace, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum are home to several different incarnations of what's called the Aboriginal Head Start Program, a federally funded program for aboriginal children throughout Canada.

The programs have six objectives in common: education and school readiness, aboriginal culture and language, parental involvement, health promotion, nutrition and social support.

But part of the program is a desire to promote local control over developing the program to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

The three programs in Terrace, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum all vary slightly....

The program's success both on and off reserve lies largely in its mandate to promote lifelong learning and integrate a number of objectives that promote a holistic approach to learning and recognizing the importance of the years before the age of six as being critical to a child's development.

"One of its core objectives is lifelong learning," Collins explains. "That means a family involvement worker works closely with the parents and we do workshops with parents like reading and dental workshops and we have feasts for family cultural involvement and we have a big Christmas dinner we work with Kermode Friendship Centre on."

The Aboriginal Head Start programs are not just a daycare - the program encourages working with parents, extended families and community elders to promote cross generational interaction and to teach children about the various First Nations cultures in the region...

"I enjoy seeing the children after they go on to Grade 1 - as years go on I see them prospering and turning into their own person," she says.

"I am very rewarded because I try to help the children have an environment that is as similar as possible to Kindergarten so they will be feeling comfortable when they get there."..

Just like the other programs, Kitsumkalum's Head Start centre focusses on lifelong learning, elder and community involvement and cultural and language building.

But the whole-day programming also gives parents the ability to pursue a career, skills training or schooling even though they have preschool aged children at home.

"I think it's really important that adults now have a choice about wanting to go back to school or going back to work - they can leave their children at their daycare, comfortable in the knowledge that their children will be well taken care of," says Samson, adding the daycare is free for parents.

"If you have a low-end job then basically all of your money would be going to child care and it just makes things a little bit easier for them and to make better choices for their living."