Andrew School Exploring Kindercare Program

Andrew School Exploring Kindercare Program

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

Elk Island Public Schools, (EIPS), is putting out feelers to see if there are enough parents who would like to enroll their children in a Kindercare Program this fall.

The proposed program would offer a childcare option as well as an opportunity to enhance early learning. According to EIPS, “Kindercare will be offered to kindergarten-aged children on non-kindergarten days throughout the school year and will be operated alongside Andrew School’s licensed pre-school program.

Instructors will enhance the instruction offered during kindergarten through a focus on learning through play. Programming will include letter and number recognition, language and literacy, math facts and numeracy, arts and crafts, and physical literacy.”

Andrew School Principal Greg Cruickshank said, “We haven’t had a preschool in Andrew for a few years, which meant our early learners were missing opportunities to have that early education with some socialization, learning to play, learning some basic communication, literacy, and numeracy skills, and missing the opportunity to be identified for early intervention if need be.

In Vegreville, they have a licensed Before and After School Care Program and the Kindercare Program which is something that is needed for some families, and it’s an attractive thing for parents so they can have that childcare piece for their school.

“Last year we started our own licensed pre-school program to be able to access any pre-school or child care subsidies that were available to licensed programs. So we wanted to add to that next year by adding a Kindercare Program like they have at A L Horton.”

Cruickshank said they wanted to be able to provide the program for parents in the area. “It seems to be popular in Vegreville, and it would be a good way for us to use our building for the community because we have a lot of space here.”

The only thing that parents would have to pay for are the hourly wages of the child care worker. He pointed out, “There is a subsidy for parents to access for child care. Our pre-school has been very successful. We’ve had up to 10 students there. We’re excited about that.”

Cruickshank said what he’s discovered is that “If you can intervene at a young age with speech difficulties that it can be rectified to a point where it doesn’t impact learning by the time they are in Grade 1. If you don’t access those services until you hit kindergarten you might struggle in kindergarten and then you might be impacted academically in Grade 1 because you don’t have the letter-sound correspondence yet for initial reading.

Matt Spronk, A L Horton School Principal, said they have been operating the Kindercare Program for the last four years and that it has been very successful. “It’s a great program for our families in the fact it helps out childcare, but in addition to that, it’s also great for our school in that we can provide more educational programming support. And there’s more of a focus on education in this avenue where they can get more support in regards to things they are learning in kindergarten and get it on every day of the week, not just on their designated days.

Spronk said the parents are very happy with the program because it helps supports them as parents, especially if they are working, and it also has a real positive impact on their child’s learning just because they are able to get more support for their child’s education at a young age and with more consistency.”