EarlyON Child and Family Centres will provide a revised focus for the Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington.
In a recent interview with the Advertiser, Ron MacKinnon, executive director of the Community Resource Centre, explained the Ontario Early Years program was one of three programs offered by the centre.
He said Ontario Early Years centres were located across the province through various agencies.
This year the name of the program changed to the EarlyON Child and Family Centre.
MacKinnon said for people who had used the Ontario Early Years program in Wellington County, the locations remain the same, the staff remains the same, but the focus will be a bit different.
It is not a simple name change. The focus is still on children aged 0 to 6.
“We were running programs which were to help children age 0 to 6 to grow and develop and reach their full potential. Parents are always at those programs so they can see the program and how it works in order to offer similar things in the home.”
The programs also offered great networking opportunities for parents.
“Now the EarlyON centres are going to go a bit further beyond that.”
MacKinnon said, “We’re going to be concerned with child development and hoping to encourage parents to ask even more questions.”
Some questions might be the right age for a child to start to speak or walk.
“The answer of course, is that it depends on the child. But there is a range, and if you get outside of that it might be worth looking at an assessment or chat with the family doctor.”
MacKinnon stressed, “It is not that we want to be nosey, it is that we’d like the family to be able to intervene if there is a problem, as early as possible.
“Early intervention can mean a much simpler road to correction … rather than waiting until the child has started school where they are meeting a new teacher, and so many other things are going on.”
If there is a development issue which can be corrected before school, it makes things so much easier, MacKinnon said.
“They will have greater outcomes and chances for success in the school year.”
