While most young children in Innisfail are developing appropriately, a large percentage are experiencing difficulty or great difficulty in communication skills and general knowledge and language and thinking skills, according to information compiled by the provincial government.
The Early Childhood Development Mapping Project (ECMap) is a five-year project through which information was collected on kindergarten children throughout the province and categorized into five developmental areas that include physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and thinking skills and communication skills and general knowledge.
Information compiled as part of the project was presented to local parents during an event at the Library Learning Centre on April 27. According to the data, 33.72 per cent of young children in Innisfail experience difficulty or great difficulty with communication skills and general knowledge. That's greater than the provincial average of 29.13 per cent.
The report also shows that 30.23 per cent of kindergarten children in Innisfail experience great difficulty with language and thinking skills. That's greater than the provincial average of 22.23 per cent.
A greater percentage of Innisfail children experienced difficulty or great difficulty in social competence as well, when compared to the provincial average. In Innisfail, 26.16 per cent of kindergarten children experienced difficulty or great difficulty in this area, compared to 23.21 per cent of those across the province.
Children in Innisfail are ahead of the provincial average where the development of physical health and well-being and the development emotional maturity are concerned. But overall, 29.65 per cent of children in Innisfail experiencing difficulty or great difficulty in one or more areas of development, compared to 26.96 per cent of children in Alberta.
While the statistics show Innisfail is behind the province in some areas, the Envision Children First Innisfail Coalition said there is no reason to be discouraged because Innisfail has a number of supports and assets to support early childhood development including library and preschool programs, recreational facilities and plenty of parks and green spaces.
Although the information was compiled on kindergarten children, Enola Nygren, co-chair of Envision Children First Innisfail Coalition, said it's important to remember that the focus needs to be on the development of children aged five and under.
“You want to start thinking about it right from the time you have this beautiful baby in your arms,” Nygren said.
Children learn a great deal from just engaging and interacting with their parents, she said.
“Preparing for school is not just about learning ABCs and counting 123s,” added Cheryl Thomson, the Envision Children First Innisfail Coalition's other co-chair. “There's such a broader knowledge base that just by being engaged with your child you are going to improve.”
Thomson has two young children, a two-and-half-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son.
“I'm a working mom, so they are exposed to many different things in their day home that's fantastic and then outside of the day home we go for walks, we go for hikes, we ride bikes and we explore.”
She said a simple walk around the block with her children often turns into a great learning experience.
“Just going around the block the other day it took us 10 minutes to do a one-minute walk. You can explore all the different cracks in the sidewalks, we saw a spider so that evening we were able to look up the spider in the books. Just expand based on what they want to do,” Thomson said.
There are plenty of simple activities parents can do with their children to support their development before they go to school, such as singing songs, reading books or just playing games with them, Nygren said.
“I know time is a valuable commodity in our society, but five minutes here, 10 minutes there, taking a walk around the block – just make that intention,” she said.
There was an open house at the Family Centre following the event at the Library Learning Centre on Saturday. The Family Centre opened in Innisfail in 2012 out of an understanding for children's developmental needs. The facility is housed at the Dr. George/Kemp House. The Family Centre has a stay-and-play program on Tuesday mornings from 9:30-10:30 a.m. and from 10:45 – 11:45 a.m. Information about other programs can be found on the Innisfail Family Centre's Facebook page.
