About Me

My photo
Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

StrongStart

At not quite 4 years of age, my grandson's photo has landed in a local newspaper. Noah attends StrongStart, an early learning program for preschool-aged children. He goes with his daycare provider and her young son who's about the same age as Noah. It's not an alternative to daycare because parents or caregivers must accompany the children and are expected to participate in the various activities. The goal of the program is to prepare children for success in kindergarten. Early childhood educators lead the activities which include arts and crafts, music, and story time.
Some of the other parents who now attend with their children had previously been isolated because of their lack of English, but by coming to Strong Start they can develop relationships with other parents and their children are exposed to Canadian culture along with learning the English language. This particular program quickly caught on and at the present time, there are 55 StrongStart programs in British Columbia with new ones starting up all the time. Noah is a very active little boy and particularly loves the music and dance and playing with the other children. He's learning to take turns and to share, manners are reinforced along with healthy eating choices for snack times, and he's actually learning other languages, too. Anyway, that's him in the photo (not very clear because I scanned it from the newspaper) with his arms stretched up and looking at the photographer. I bet he asked to see the picture right away - he loves to have his picture taken! :D If you click on the picture you can see it better.

10 comments:

Donnetta said...

Hi, Leslie! This sounds a little like our Head Start programs and Sooner Start programs. I am a big fan of early childhood programs. Your little guy is such a doll. And must be quite the character, too.
Donnetta

Leslie: said...

He's SO funny, donnetta, and we've had to start to make him learn the difference between when certain phrases are appropriate and not. For quite a while he loved to say, "Suck it up, Princess!" sometimes to our horror. But he has such a fabulous sense of humour and loves to laugh.

heiresschild said...

hi leslie, it does sound like a great program. i'm glad noah is enjoying his school. will he go to kindergarten next year?

i've never heard of carol kent, but i will check her out. thanx.

Ruth L.~ said...

What a cutie! My grand daughter just turned four, Energetic age, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Mom, the StrongStart link you have in the message is wrong. It's for an Ontario charity. This is the StrongStart BC link. It's a BC government program and you have to contact the individual school to learn more.

...just in case anyone out there in BC wants to learn more for their preschooler...

Please note that this is a FREE program...parents/caregivers cannot leave the kids there like regular paid preschool. This is very helpful for parents like me. I already pay hundreds of dollars each month for daycare, and couldn't afford to pay for preschool as well. With StrongStart, my daycare provider takes the kids there and participates with them!

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/literacy/early_learning/strongstart_bc.htm

Jamie

Jo said...

Well, who's the cutest little boy in the picture? My gosh, he's adorable! These early programs are great for these little kids. I know another little four-year-old boy, the grandson of one of my co-workers, who is in that program, and heloves it.

Leslie: said...

I tried to correct the link but it doesn't seem to be working at the moment. I'll try again later. Unless Jamie can figure it out.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Sounds like a great programme, involving the parents too and also helping those who are not mother-tongue English.

Liz Hinds said...

He was obviously posing for the photographer as he's doing it better than any of the others! Good for him to be confident and secure.

Sounds like a great program especialy as it includes the carer.

Sienna said...

Noah is beautiful, adorable!! it's like our playgroup...what a wonderful idea.

LOL suck it up princess, can we teach him *fair suck of the sav*....(give me a break) or *fair dinkum*! (seriously/really)

how about g'day mate!

Pam