A group of kids are sprawling comfortably on cushions when Santa appears on the smartboard’s screen, addressing one child by name and showing him pictures of him playing and making puzzles.
The kids’ eyes light up and they smile with amazement watching the Portable North Pole video, before going on to practice singing Little Drummer Boy in Cree. They then run off for a play in a room full of wonders for a child, with sand boxes, trucks, paint and colouring supplies, and a tipi that stretches the height of the room.
This is the local Headstart program, run out of the Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre Society, a program free for all First Nations, Metis or Inuit children between the ages of three and five. Bus transportation is included for free for children living in town.
“What makes us different from other programs in town is our cultural component,” explains Sarah Weimer, program coordinator for Headstart. She explains that the morning class, which runs 9 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. and the afternoon class, which runs from 1 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., both start with smudging, with the teacher helping kids do things like count in Cree, and offering tipi teachings, with each week focusing on a different tipi teaching on values such as love, faith and kinship.
“How many children are here?” asks teacher Muriel Benson. The kids count, and then she says, “Can we count in Cree?” and they oblige again.
While Headstart works as a preschool program, its focus is on the children’s social and emotional development, Weimer said, adding, “Our goal is to create wonderful little people.”
And to that end, she says she really can see the change that comes about in children from the start of the year to the end.
“When they first come in, it’s all ‘Me,’” she says. “In December, we already see them saying, ‘Let me help you with that.’ They are independent, but respectful of others.”
A social worker also works with children and families involved in the program, helping families with whatever they need, be it anything from budgeting to addressing more serious issues like abuse or addictions, and connecting families to resources in the community.
While the program has space for 24 kids each for the morning and afternoon program, only a handful of children attend, and Weimer is hopeful more families with First Nations, Metis and Inuit backgrounds will take advantage of the program in the new year.
“We can accept up to 23 more,” says Weimer, who encouraged interested parents to stop by the program at Mannawanis any time to learn more or to register their children for the January to June program.
