In a new report published in the journal Pediatrics, authors Regina Milteer and Kenneth Ginsburg recognize that the complex interplay of social, economic and cultural factors underpinning the gradual disappearance of playtime from children’s lives defies easy solutions, but they warn that solutions need to be found fast, as children in low-income families are being left at risk of missing important learning and development that happens only through play.

Play, both the structured kind and the creative, unstructured unvariety, is critical to children’s healthy development of mind, body and social competence. During play within the family, understanding and bonding between parents and children is deepened; as well, play helps children learn to negotiate and resolve conflicts with their peers, leading to important lessons in empathy and cooperation.  Yet, as Milteer and Ginsburg point out in The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty, in our society’s drive to ensure and increase academic success across the socio-economic spectrum, playtime is too often sacrificed in favour of more formal educational encounters. Read More…

(source: www.bccf.ca)

Joys and Challenges of Parenting in Canada, March 5th, McBride Elementary School  Details: Parenting in Canada

Discipline is Different than Punishment, March 5th, Howay Elementary School   Details: Discipline is Different

To Register contact Helen Cuthbert at 604-290-8602  or  hcuthbert@sd40.bc.ca

Please join us to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the YMCA Child Care Resource and Referral Program and the work you do supporting children and families in our community. YMCA_CCRR_Invitations

Please choose the location and date that is best for you:

YMCA Child Care Resource and Referral (Tri-Cities)
1130 Austin Avenue, CoquitlamMarch 28th from 3:00-5:00 p.m. with remarks at 4:00 p.m.
RSVP by March 19th to 604.931.3400 (ext. 0)

YMCA Child Care Resource and Referral (Burnaby/New Westminster)
5172 Kingsway, Burnaby
April 17th from 3:00-5:00 p.m. with remarks at 4:00 p.m.
RSVP by April 10th to 604.294.1109 (ext. 0)

Refreshments will be served.We hope that you can share this special day with us—a day to celebrate what we’ve accomplished together, and look forward to the next 20 years of helping all children and families reach their full potential.

Registration: freemanm@douglascollege.ca

Being a parent can be both rewarding and challenging. During these three sessions you will learn parenting techniques and skills that will foster your child’s self-esteem and improve your relationship. These will include setting reasonable limits, giving clear messages, inspiring cooperation, and teaching children decision making and problem solving skills.  Details: Effective Parenting Series-SD40

Setting Limits (Positive Discipline) – Wednesday, March 28

Relationship Building – Wednesday, April 4

Managing Stress – Wednesday, April 11

Location: John Robson Elementary School

Date: Wednesday, March 28, April 4, April 11

Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Facilitator: Lyndsay Sieger

To register please contact: Drea Owen – Community School Coordinator  604-517-6006 or aowen@sd40.bc.ca 

Offered in partnership from SD #40, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, and New West Middle Childhood Development Committee

Kids: The ♥ of Co-Parenting 

Wrong. Today, parents under the age of 45 with young children are experiencing the squeeze all across Canada. In a recent podcast from our series Voices of Family, BC Council for Families’ Acting Executive Director Marilee Peters, sat down with Dr. Paul Kershaw to talk about policy and his thoughts on what needs to happen in order to once again create a Canada that works for young families.

“Either we accept that we have a generation of parents today that are just worse or we recognize that around us, things have changed so dramatically and we as a country haven’t adapted… [we] have to make those under 45 slightly angry, annoyed, frustrated, feeling slighted… and say it has become harder to raise a family in this country then it was a generation ago. It is not just you if you’re feeling time squeezed or income squeezed or service squeezed, that is not your personal failing! That it is because we have this environment around us which has changed so much but we have not adapted as a society. And while it has become harder to raise a family, it has become easier, not easy, but easier to retire.” Says Kershaw.
According to a national poll by McAllister Opinion Research about research led by University of British Columbia professor Paul Kershaw, Canadians want to make family a priority – 85 per cent want to spend more time with their families and 60 per cent want governments to support policy changes that make it easier to raise a family.  Read More…

(Source: www.bccf.ca)

The study, Adolescent Mothers II: An Investigation of the Experiences of Adolescent Mothers in Nanaimo BC, is an overview of the lives and experiences of adolescent mothers with the community and its perinatal services. Among the vital supports in the community, the young parent program Little Ferns Early Learning Center was noted as being pivotal for the adolescent mothers in achieving their educational goals.

For the 14 mothers that participated in the study, becoming a mother was a transforming experience: it gave a sense of purpose to their lives, motivated them to do well in school, and reduced their participation in high-risk activities such as  excessive substance use. Read More…

(source: www.bccf.ca)

Three other releases from the 2011 Census of Population are scheduled:
1.  Age and sex: May 29, 2012 
2.  Families, households and marital status / Structural type of dwelling and collectives: September 19, 2012 
3.  Language: October 24, 2012
If you have any questions, please contact us by e-mail at OutreachWest-LiaisonOuest@statcan.gc.ca

<mailto:OutreachWest-LiaisonOuest@statcan.gc.ca> .