Nevada Nettagog, 3, really enjoys his surroundings at Shki
Biimaadizwin Kinoomaadwin, the new First Nations day-care
centre.
Nevada and his mother were present at the official launch of
the day care for native children under five years of age
Tuesday afternoon.
The day care, which has 10 children currently enrolled, is
open Tuesdays from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm, in the Jubilee Heritage
Family Resources Centre at 189 Applegrove St. "This program
benefits my son. He really enjoys coming here. He learns to
interact with other kids his age," said Darlene Nettagog.
"There is an emphasis on nature culture and teachers here.
It is very good for Nevada that he is part of this learning,"
she said.
The day care is a partnership with Jubilee Heritage Family
Resources and the Shkagami-kwe Health Centre in Sudbury, said
Eve Kremyr, executive director of the Jubilee organization.
"The executive director of the health centre said our
organization could provide child care, while they worked with
families in different kinds of programs. We started with one
evening every two weeks while the parents were in a support
group at the health centre.
That grew into community kitchens where parents can plan
menus, cook, have lunch together, socialize, then take food
home. That was followed by the children's program here where
parents could leave their children," said Kremyr.
Despite a lot of demand for their services, the native
day-care program could only have five children until it was
licensed in September.
"Now that we have the license, we can have 10 children while
parents are going to medical appointments, work or school or
other duties at home. All education is focused on what happens
in the children's lives.
We also promote the skills children need to develop that helps them when they do attend school," said Kremyr.
Although there are other First Nations day-care programs in
Sudbury, Shki Biimaadizwin Kinoomaadwin is the only program
where parents are integrated into the program.
The parents participate as a support circle for the program,
for its support workers and, of course, the kids.
"That helps the kids do a variety of activities, arts and
crafts, play time, visits to Science North or to a pumpkin farm
in the fall. Traditional people come in to visit with the
children, and we hope to include elders into the program. There
also is an older children's drum group that we expect the
younger ones will enjoy," said Carol Anne Cheechoo, program
co-ordinator of the day care.
Cheechoo said there is room for expansion of the program. "We do have a waiting list. There is definitely a need."
