A picture shows the Regina Early Years Family Resource Centre. P.A. will be getting a similar centre in February. (Facebook/Regina Early Years Family Resource Centre)

By Alison Sandstrom

Setting kids up for success

New space for young families coming to P.A.

Sep 19, 2019 | 5:42 PM

A new hub for families with young children is coming to Prince Albert.

The P.A. Family Resource Centre, set to open in the Gateway Mall in February, is one of several such centres being rolled out across Saskatchewan with federal funding. The idea was first piloted in the province in Regina, Sandy Bay and Yorkton in 2013.

The spaces serve as drop-in meeting points for families with young children from infant aged to five years old. There are toys, an area for climbing and running, as well as information for parents on early childhood development. Staff can also refer families to additional resources and programs they might be interested in.

“Research has shown us time and time again that the experiences that a child has in the first years of life really do lay the foundation for success as children grow,” Kathleen Schwartzenberger, an inclusive learning consultant with the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division explained to paNOW.

The first five years of a child’s life are crucial for their development, as the important neural pathways that will later allow them to learn to read, write and reason effectively are being formed.

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“The more opportunities that we can provide for children to have experiences with nature, experiences with play and investigation, the more the brain strengthens these connections,” Schwartzenberger said.

Toys and furniture inside the Regina Early Years Family Resource Centre (Facebook/Regina Early Years Family Resource Centre)

Children in P.A. kindergartens scored below the provincial average on tasks measuring their readiness for school. While 56 per cent of Saskatchewan kids in the study were able to complete developmental tasks without difficulty, only 35 per cent of Prince Albert children could.

Delphine Melchert, project implementation coordinator for the centre, said she’s been impressed by the response she’s heard from parents who want to learn more about their young children’s development. It was the number two request, after more activities to do with their families, that parents surveyed in the community expressed.

“We’re working together to have as healthy a community as we can possibly have, where our children can succeed and prepare themselves for the future,” she told paNOW.

Both Schwartzenberger and Melchert, emphasized the centre will also reduce family isolation by bringing community members together. The space is sure to be especially useful during the cold winter months.

“Won’t it be fun for parents to meet each other and be able to compare stories, and have their children meet each other in a safe and friendly environment,” Melchert said.

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This story has been amended to make clear that the statistics on school readiness come from existing provincial data.

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom