From Parent Resources

BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit

BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit

In 2015, the BC government is introducing the new BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit to improve the affordability of child care and assist families with the cost of raising young children. The BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit, which is part of the Province’s Early Years Strategy, is a tax-free monthly payment of up to a maximum of $55 per month – or $660 dollars per year – for each child under the age of six. Benefits are based on the number of children in the family and the family’s net income. The maximum benefit will be available to eligible families with family net incomes under $100,000. The benefit will start to phase out at $100,000 and will be fully phased out at $150,000. About 140,000 families will be eligible to receive the full benefit, while an additional 40,000 families with family net incomes over $100,000 will receive a partial benefit.

This benefit will be administered on a monthly basis through the Canada Child Tax Benefit system, with payments starting in April 2015. To be eligible to receive the benefit, families must file their 2013 personal income tax returns even if they have no income to report. For more information on the BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit, please visit the Ministry’s website.

Please help spread the word about this benefit by sharing the information sheet with parents and families with young children.

Harvest Box Program

Thanks to a partnership between the  New Westminster Community Food Action Committee, New Westminster Parks, Culture and Recreation, School District No. 40 (New Westminster) and Help on Wheels our community will soon be benefiting from a Harvest Box program. The program was developed to encourage healthy eating, educate people on the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables daily, and support local BC farms. It is a program for anyone who wants to purchase fresh fruit and produce at affordable prices!

 

Starting today you can call or walk in to Century House (620 8th Street / 604.519.1066), Centennial Community Centre (65 E 6th Street/ 604.777.5100) or Queensborough Community Centre (920 Ewen Ave / 604.525.7388) and place your Harvest Box order.

 

Three varieties are avalable:

 

1. Harvest Value Box for $8 – features a variety of fruits and vegetables and has been designed to make eating fruits and vegetables more affordable.

 

2. Harvest Local Box for $15 – features local BC fruit and veggies – supporting local growers and sustainable agricultural methods.

 

3. Harvest BOGO Box for $15 – Buy One, Give One! You get a Harvest Value Box and another one is donated to an individual or family in need in the community.

 

Harvest Box Depot Days will be the 2nd and last Thursday of the month starting November 14th.

 

Orders for Harvest Boxes will need to be received by 4:30 pm the previous Thursday – so our first order deadline is November 7th at 4:30.

 

Harvest Box Depots (where you can pick your Harvest Box up) will be located at: Century House (620 8th Street), Centennial Community Centre (65 E 6th Street), Queensborough Community Centre  (920 Ewen Ave) and Lord Kelvin School (Community HUB portable at the back of the school on 7th Ave).

 

All donated BOGO boxes will be distributed through the Lord Kelvin Harvest Box Depot. The NW Community Food Action Committee will be working with local community service providers and school staff to distribute the donated BOGO boxes to individuals and families in need.

More information: 

About the Harvest Box Program and the BOGO Box HARVEST BOX Brochure. FINAL October 2013 Harvest Box Important Dates NW HBP BOGO electronic Request Form

 

 

 

Questions? Email: nwcommunityfoodactioncommittee@gmail.com

How are New West Five -Year-Olds Growing?

 

Growing Up Great in New West!
Growing Up Great in New West!

The Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC has released the new EDI results for Wave 5. These maps and community summaries include data from over 42,000 EDI surveys completed by Kindergarten teachers across British Columbia in 2011-2013. EDI maps and community summaries are valuable tools that provide insights into children’s physical health and well-being, communication skills, language and cognitive skills, emotional maturity, and social competence.

The New Westminster School District (40) has participated in all 5 waves of EDI data collection. Wave 5 results were collected in 2011/12-2012/13 from 9 schools in 6 neighbourhood(s). A total of 452 kindergarten children participated in New Westminster in Wave 5. EDI results are mapped based on children’s neighbourhood of residence, not where they go to school.

Overall, New Westminster had a vulnerability rate of 33% compared to the provincial vulnerability rate of 32.5%.

District wide, vulnerability was highest on the Social Competence scale at: 16%. Child vulnerability was lowest on the Language & Cognitive Development scale at: 10%.

To read more, and to see mapped data…

New Westminster Community Summary:
http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/media/comsum/w5/sd40.pdf

New Westminster Wave 5 Map sets: http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/media/mapsets/w5/sd40_w5_edimaps.pdf

Interactive Map, showing EDI results over ten years:
http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/maps/edi/nh/sd40/

 

 

Emotional Regulation and the Marshmallow Test

Learning to stay calmly focussed and alert while working toward a genuinely worthwhile but distant goal is a life skill that we all need.Would your son take the marshmallow? Read the Oct 2013 Boysmarts Newsletter from Barry MacDonald HERE.

Boy Smarts Action Talk: A powerful parenting workshop
Strengthen your parenting skills! Vancouver Sept 28th 

Whether you are mystified or awed by the front row seat you have watching your son’s emerging development, Barry MacDonald will show you how to strengthen your loving responses to your boy’s changing needs.

For agenda and workshop flyer click HERE

 

Register NOW