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~ Valda ~ |
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Archived Newsletters
April 2002
In this edition
Every ONE does something A message from the EINS Chairperson Video / Home Study Courses Available Internet Resources If You Don't Understand Life, Just Ask The Kids Food For Thought In Leadership, Mom's The Word Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities Seven Steps for Recovering from Setbacks Notable Quotes Great TruthsI had this dream.
This dream of people all colors of the rainbow
And shapes and sizes too many to count.
All the people had eyes that smiled,
Sometime three and sometimes five!
And they smiled mostly at each other
With crinkly faces.
One did this and one did that,
And all the ones were important
And all the doings too.
All the doings together became wonderful ...
More wonderful than all the doings apart!
And every part big or small mattered
Because without each the all was not all;
It was less.
And every one also ... it took all the ones who
Did the doing to make the all more and wonderful!!
This dream.
A message from the EINS Chairperson
Thank you for this opportunity to provide you with an update through the newsletter.
As usual, this has been a very busy year so far for the EINS Board. To begin with, the publicity committee did a great job promoting Early Intervention Week in February. To kick off the celebration we met with Minister Peter Christie to sign the proclamation declaring Early Intervention Week in Nova Scotia, as well as to discuss issues of provincial concern. Unfortunately, the stormy weather that day prevented a parent and child from the Eastern Shore-Musquodoboit Valley Early Intervention program from attending the meeting.
In celebration of Early Intervention Week many events and open houses were held across the province. In addition to these activities, EINS was once again promoted on the milk cartons and Trish Morse, Program Coordinator for the Progress Centre and a family, were interviewed on TV, both of which provided always welcomed exposure to Early Intervention.
A highlight that many children will remember is the provincial party that was held in Truro on February 16th. Members from the SMILE program organized many of the activities that everyone enjoyed that day. The children enjoyed singing, games and especially the large cake! The event was video taped and sections will be used for the EINS video that is now in production. We will keep you posted on the release date of the video.
I'm very pleased to tell you that the EINS provincial research project is well under way. This project will review practices and current relationships between families, Early Intervention programs and the Department of Community Services to identify the challenges and successes that Early Intervention faces in Nova Scotia. As you may already know, EINS has hired two researchers, Antoinette Duplessis and Laura Septon, who have already begun conducting focus groups around the province to gather this information.
Once the information has been collected, we will share it with families, community boards, EINS partners and Early Intervention staff. We will use the information to make recommendations for future direction to EINS and will identify topics for further investigation. The project is slated to be completed by next winter.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Board for its tremendous work and support over the past months. This is an exciting time for Early Intervention and I am honoured to serve as your Board Chair.
Isabel den Heyer, EINS Chairperson
Video / Home Study Courses Available
The Institute for Early Childhood Education and Developmental Services is pleased to offer the following courses in video / home study format.
Human Development Courses:
ECE1013 - Human Growth and Development: Conception to Age Three
ECE2013 - Human Growth and Development: Preschool And School Age
ECE2093 - Human Growth and Development: Preschool
Curriculum Courses:
ECE1023 - Creative Experiences for Young Children
ECE1033 - Introduction to Early Childhood Program Development
ECE1053 - Creating Appropriate Learning Environments
ECE2033 - Play and Learning
ECE2043 - Language Development
Other Courses:
ECE1063 - Caring for the Care Giver
ECE1083 - Introduction to the Early Childhood Profession
ECE1093 - Nutrition for Young Children
ECE2063 - Health and Safety in Early Childhood Settings
Participants will be assigned an Institute faculty member who will evaluate student progress and support student learning. In some cases students will be required to present assignments, write tests or exams at the Truro Campus or at an existing Extension Site.
Tuition: Registered Diploma Students - $335.00, Professional Development Students - $335.00 plus text.
For additional information or to register:
IECEDS
Suite #1, 60 Lorne Street
Truro, NS B2N 1Y5
Tel: 902-893-3342
Fax: 902-895-4487
Email: admin@ieceds.ns.ca
Internet Resources
Realy good web site ... thanks to Brenda MacInnis for submitting it!
http://www.answers4families.org/ifspweb/ifsp-home.html
And ... here are a few of the better Fetal Alcohol Syndrome / Fetal Alcohol Effect sites as recommended by workshop presenter Gary Jonah:
http://www.fasstar.com
http://www.come-over.to/FASCRC
http://www.fetalalcohol.com (best Canadian site, BC)
http://www.ccsa.ca (Canadian Center on Substance Abuse... very good)
http://www.healthcanada.ca
http://www.motherisk.org
http://www.acbr.com/fas/faslink.html
http://www.nofas.org
http://www.fasworld.com
http://www.depts.washington.edu/fasdpn
If You Don't Understand Life, Just Ask The Kids
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's art work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute." A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." His son asked, "What happened to the flea?" A three-year-old boy went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, "There were 2 boy kittens and 2 girl kittens." "How did you know?" his mother asked. "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom." Another three-year-old put his shoes on by himself. His mother noticed that the left shoe was on the right foot. She said, "Son, your shoes are on the wrong feet." He looked up at her with a raised brow and said, "Don't kid me, Mom. They're the only feet I got!." On the first day of school, about mid-morning, the kindergarten teacher said, "If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up two fingers. "A little voice from the back of the room asked, "How will that help?"
Food For Thought
Here is a quote from Petronius Arbiter in 60 A.D. which unfortunately immediately reminds one of some current experiences ...
"We trained hard ... but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by re-organizing, and a wonderful method it can be, creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."
A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at them.
In Leadership, Mom's The Word
I have to follow them ... I am their leader
Mothers make great leaders - they offer advice, encouragement, nurturing, discipline and will even "lead" disobedient kids by the ear when the situation warrants. With these multiple roles in mind, author Chin-Ning Chu argues that leadership and motherhood have a great deal more in common than the casual observer might otherwise suspect. Chu describes five important qualities shared by good leaders and good mothers alike.
- Wisdom. In the workplace a leader's wisdom translates into a strong vision for the organization's direction and the technical proficiency and knowledge to help others make that vision a reality. Mothers must also demonstrate wisdom in guiding children, planning for their future and putting that plan into action.
- Trustworthiness. Leaders must earn the trust of their employees or the organization will never move forward. Workers will instead focus on unproductive activities or seek other employment. Similarly, without the trust of her children, a mother's wisdom and guidance will be useless. Neither leaders nor mothers can afford to take trust for granted.
- Benevolence. Benevolence does not mean letting others walk all over you. Benevolent leaders allow for differing opinions and appreciate honest feedback from employees. They also generate a sense of equality and appreciation in the workplace. Benevolent mothers understand that children are their own people - they will not be carbon copies of the parents. Benevolence in the family means working to understand behavior that you may not understand.
- Courage. Leaders must have the courage to make forward-thinking and forward-acting decisions that entail risk and uncertainty. The courage will then carry you through potentially tough times ahead when those decisions are questioned and results do not materialize immediately. Mothers without courage have trouble facing the consequences of children's mischief. Courage also helps mothers earn the grace of their children.
- Strictness. Effective leaders establish clear standards for conduct and performance, then strictly enforce those standards, whether among staff members, bosses, partners, customers or themselves. Strict leaders do not fall into the trap of rewarding those who fail to measure up, a move that can have disastrous consequences across an organization. Good mothers also set high standards for themselves and then expect the same from their children.
Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities
| May 11, 2002 Growing and Learning Together Conference Halifax, NS. |
St Joseph's College of Early Childhood Education Phone (902) 423-7114 or email ecestjoe@ns.sympatico.ca |
| May 15, 2002 Addressing Child Poverty - Building Partnerships and Community Capacity / AGM. Saint John, NB |
Maritime Network for Child and Youth Health Phone (902) 470-7044 or email kim.haughn@iwk.nshealth.ca |
| May 16 - 18, 2002 Canadian Down Syndrome Soc. Annual Conference Winnipeg, Mantitoba |
http://www.mts.net/~mdss/cdss2002.html |
| June 10 - 13, 2002 The Infant Toddler Institute / Dr. Louis Rossetti Fredericton, NB |
Contact Ruth Woodworth at (506) 452-7189 or email woodys@nbnet.nb.ca |
| July 8 - 12, 2002 Diploma Credit Courses: Working With Families, Human Development: Conception - Age Three, Non-Credit/Certification Programs in Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, Individual program Planning, Standard First Aid Truro, NS |
Institute for Early Childhood Education and Developmental Services (902) 893-3342 |
| July 8 - 12, 2002 Diploma Credit Course : Movement Experiences, Non-Credit/Certification Programs in Suicide Awareness, WHIMIS Truro, NS |
Institute for Early Childhood Education and Developmental Services (902) 893-3342 |
| August 19 - 20, 2002 Interventions for Children and Youth with Autism, and Interventions for Children and Youth with Asperge Syndrome Halifax, NS |
Geneva Centre for Autism Summer Training Institute Toll free 1-866-436-3829 or www.autism.net |
| September 30, 2002 The Early Years : Building Capacity to Support Families and Their Children Edmonton, AB |
Phone (780) 483-1744, ext. 320 or http://eeip.epsb.net/alberta_early_years.html |
| October 17 - 20, 2002 National Conference of Family Resource Programs - Emerging Trends in Family Support Mississauga, ON |
Phone (613) 237-7667 ext. 221 or email info@frp.ca |
| October 23 - 25, 2002 Geneva Centre International Symposium on Autism Toronto, ON |
Phone (416) 504-4500 or www.autism.net |
Seven Steps for Recovering from Setbacks
Step One: Tell someone about it. Your problem is not the problem itself but the pressure it creates. Release the pressure by telling someone what happened. By "getting it off your chest" the experience, which you probably took too personally, loses its negative power. Relieving yourself of the stress now allows you to return to the battle unencumbered by the residue of the problem.
Step Two: Don't be so serious. Realize that when you are in trouble 80 percent of the people around you do not care and a likely 20 percent are mildly amused. Those who care about you may become as upset as you are when you experience bad times. However, if other people are not taking us so seriously, then maybe we should not be taking negative situations too much to heart.
Step Three: Sharpen your objectivity. Think of how brilliant you are when seeing the problems of others and of the great solutions you have for them, but how quickly you lose that objectivity on your own behalf. Develop the same perspective for yourself as you have for others. Allow adversity to sharpen your objectivity.
Step Four: Use a war story. Think back to an experience that was so upsetting that you did not want anyone to know about it. Yet, as the years went by the experience became your favourite war story, to be told at social gatherings or on an airplane. The more quickly you view the experience as an Adventure, the sooner you will recover, and do better because of what occurred.
Step Five: Change your perspective. If ever you think you are having a bad day, read your daily newspaper. By page three, if not earlier, you surely will read of someone whose adversity is greater than yours. If you were given the opportunity to swap problems, you would quickly take yours back. By changing your perception of the gravity of your own situation, you speed up a recovery.
Step Six: Listen to a comedian. Buy a tape cassette of a comedian you enjoy. The next time you are depressed, listen to the tape. A comedian, to be successful, must uncover the humour in human frailty. In recovering from setbacks, this becomes your challenge as well. To be human is often funny. To get stuck in suffering is not.
Step Seven: Be amused. We need to be amused with our frustrations. If we realize that one person's success is someone else's failure, then one person's disappointment is another person's amusement. Rather than taking the setback as defeat, recognize that by being amused by the experience you can laugh at what happened and do better because of it.
Notable Quotes
"What you possess, possesses you. Whenever we value a thing more than happiness, we pay a dear price. Things can be replaced, but peace cannot."
~ Alan Cohen ~
"The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least."
"If you see that some aspect of your society is bad and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only one thing: you can become better yourself."
Great Truths
Great Truths about Life that Little Children have Learned:
- no matter how hard you try you can't baptize cats
- when your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair
- if your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person
- you can't trust dogs to watch your food
- don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair
- never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time
- you can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk
- don't wear polka dot underwear under white shorts
- the best place to be when you are sad is grandpa's lap
Great Truths about Life that Adults have Learned:
- raising teenagers is like nailing jell-o to a tree
- there is always a lot to be thankful for if you take the time to look ... for example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt
- families are like fudge ... mostly sweet, with a few nuts
- today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held it's ground
- laughing helps ... it's like jogging on the inside
- middle age is when you chose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy
Great Truths about Growing Old:
- growing old is mandatory ... growing up is optional
- forget the health food ... I need all the preservatives I can get
- you know you are getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you are down there
- you're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster
- it's frustrating when you know all the answers but no one bothers to ask you the questions
- time may be a great healer, but it is a lousy beautician
- the older you get the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends
- age doesn't always bring wisdom ... sometimes age comes alone ...
Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused.
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