Sheila Mielke's long been engaging children in playful activities at Discoveries Playschool, singing songs and telling stories.
But when results of a study gauging the development of kindergarten-aged children found almost 30 per cent of Innisfail respondents experienced great difficulty in one or more areas, a higher number than provincially or nationally, the owner realized she needed to take a different approach.
“We were appalled,” she said. “When we saw those specifics we realized we needed to up the ante with what we're doing.”
Now, to build science knowledge they talk about different fruits alongside habits of bats and penguins, for example. To help with fine motor skills children will take part in activities involving cutting, pencil grasping and forming letters correctly. And to boost gross motor skills the children will practise jumping with two feet, or one, and do different things to move their bodies through space.
“We've added science, fine motor skills and gross motor skills, just to develop the whole child to try to improve those specific areas,” she said. “They need to have lots of interaction.”
A questionnaire assessing the development of kindergarten children in areas of social competence, physical heath and well-being, language and thinking skills, emotional maturity and communication and general knowledge development was completed between 2009 and 2012. More than a third of Innisfail kindergarten children surveyed as part of Alberta's Early Child Development Mapping Initiative were found to have difficulty or great difficulty with communication skill and general knowledge.
Enola Nygren, coordinator of the Innisfail Family Day Home Society says the study has been a useful tool to decide how to build the abilities of youth in the community.
“When you know something, that empowers you,” she said. “You know that's an area you need to put energy into.”
It is not rare for children to have one or more categories where they are below the average development level, she said.
“Typically children are lagging behind in one or more areas,” she said. “Every child develops at their own pace.”
Nygren says opening the family centre has been a step in the right direction to help get struggling kids up to speed.
“It's really brought the community together,” she said. “That's become a hub for children and families.”
It may seem like it's all fun and games, but there's something more significant happening under the surface, she says.
“Children learn through play,” she said. “That's their ‘job.'”
