Helping Our
Children Succeed
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Abbotsford Early
Childhood Committee Presents:
Stepping
Stones to Action: Knowledge as the Catalyst
February
7 - 9, 2007 Ramada Plaza and Conference Centre
Download
(must
have adobe acrobat to open pdf files):
Conference
Brochure
Conference
Registration
Detailed
Program and Speaker Bio's
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The United Way of the
Fraser Valley has been the host agency for the Understanding the Early
Years Research project since the fall of 2000.
Along with community partners, the Abbotsford School District and
the Abbotsford Early Childhood Committee, this community-based
initiative involves teachers, parents, guardians and community agencies
in:
·
Assessing the well-being of
Abbotsford’s children
·
Providing research
evidence that can be used to develop activities to support Families and
their children in our community
·
Generating a “Community
Action Plan” to facilitate community mobilization
Understanding
the Early Years, funded
by Human Resources Development Canada, operates from the United Way of
the Fraser Valley offices with guidance from the Early Childhood
Committee, which consists of interested citizens from a broad
cross-section of the community. The project is comprised of three
community research instruments: the teacher-completed Early Development
Instrument (EDI), the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth
(NLSCY-Community Study), and a Community Mapping
Study.
Together the
results of these surveys show how our community influences child
development in the early years. The data collected from all three
components helps identify the “what” and “why” of how our
children are doing, and identify the “where, ” in order to see how
the community and environments impact children and help our community
decide whether or not existing resources actually provide our children
and families with the best possible starts for a healthy and happy
future. 
The study further
identified the availability of community resources for families and
children, and provided stakeholders with a way of assessing how well the
needs of young children and families are being met. By participating in
the initiative, our community is better understanding how well our
children are doing before they reach school and how best to
respond to their earliest developmental needs.
With this
information, we can then put in place a community action plan to help
our children – both before and after they enter school
– reach their full potential. Research
and data collection has taken place in 2001 and 2003.
 The
complete Integrative Report is available on the Human Resources
Development website at : www.hrdc--drhc.gc.ca/arb-dgra/nlscy-elnej/uey-cpe/uey.shtml
.
Our community is
now entering the community action plan stages. This research project has
received over $300,000 of funding from Human Resources Development
Canada.
 In addition to the
UEY research project, Abbotsford also became a Make Children First
Initiative in the spring of 2004 receiving $50,000 towards increasing
the capacity and sustainability of efforts in early childhood. This
contract is also housed at the United Way of the Fraser Valley.
With this funding we have hired two community champions to assist
in the mobilization of our community around children 0 to 6 and their
families. We have also
assisted in the Fathering Initiative in BC, held Child Development Fairs
using the Nippissing District Screening System, and have created a 12
month activity calendar for parents and caregivers containing daily
developmental tips.
|
The United Way of the
Fraser Valley has been the host agency for the Understanding the Early
Years Research project since the fall of 2000.
Along with community partners, the Abbotsford School District and
the Abbotsford Early Childhood Committee, this community-based
initiative involves teachers, parents, guardians and community agencies
in:
·
Assessing the well-being of
Abbotsford’s children
·
Providing research
evidence that can be used to develop activities to support Families and
their children in our community
·
Generating a “Community
Action Plan” to facilitate community mobilization
Understanding
the Early Years, funded
by Human Resources Development Canada, operates from the United Way of
the Fraser Valley offices with guidance from the Early Childhood
Committee, which consists of interested citizens from a broad
cross-section of the community. The project is comprised of three
community research instruments: the teacher-completed Early Development
Instrument (EDI), the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth
(NLSCY-Community Study), and a Community Mapping
Study.
Together the
results of these surveys show how our community influences child
development in the early years. The data collected from all three
components helps identify the “what” and “why” of how our
children are doing, and identify the “where, ” in order to see how
the community and environments impact children and help our community
decide whether or not existing resources actually provide our children
and families with the best possible starts for a healthy and happy
future.
The study further
identified the availability of community resources for families and
children, and provided stakeholders with a way of assessing how well the
needs of young children and families are being met. By participating in
the initiative, our community is better understanding how well our
children are doing before they reach school and how best to
respond to their earliest developmental needs.
With this
information, we can then put in place a community action plan to help
our children – both before and after they enter school
– reach their full potential. Research
and data collection has taken place in 2001 and 2003.
The
complete Integrative Report is available on the Human Resources
Development website at : www.hrdc--drhc.gc.ca/arb-dgra/nlscy-elnej/uey-cpe/uey.shtml
.
Our community is
now entering the community action plan stages. This research project has
received over $300,000 of funding from Human Resources Development
Canada.
In addition to the
UEY research project, Abbotsford also became a Make Children First
Initiative in the spring of 2004 receiving $50,000 towards increasing
the capacity and sustainability of efforts in early childhood. This
contract is also housed at the United Way of the Fraser Valley.
With this funding we have hired two community champions to assist
in the mobilization of our community around children 0 to 6 and their
families. We have also
assisted in the Fathering Initiative in BC, held Child Development Fairs
using the Nippissing District Screening System, and have created a 12
month activity calendar for parents and caregivers containing daily
developmental tips.
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