The Yorkton Family Resource Centre lives up to its name, giving families in the region resources as they raise their children. Two initiatives at the centre have been designed to help new parents as their child grows and develops.
One of the projects was a way to track progress, which wound up being represented by the Watch Me Grow tree that parents can use to see milestones, keep track of events in kids’ lives, and create a fun way to update the old fashioned growth chart on a door frame. Twyla McPhee with the Family Resource Centre says that the goal was to see be able to see how kids are growing, rather than set goals to hit.
“As baby grows, the tree grows, with everything they did for the baby. It’s like a baby book for the family, they record everything and date everything.”
Beyond tracking the progress of the kids, McPhee says it’s meant to be something which the kids are interested in and want to interact with. The design is built to be kid friendly and durable and choices like building many achievements around animals were made to make the tree a learning tool as well as a way to track achievements. She notes that they made an effort to put every colour they could on the tree as well, for example.
“It’s meant to be a communication tool for the child too. When kids start growing up and pointing, there are animal sounds, because that’s the first form of communication when they start to talk... It’s supposed to be their first communicator.”
Part of the project is to give a physical representation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, or ASQ. Parents can take part in the ASQ each Thursday, as a way to see how the kid is developing and learn what the kid is ready to work on. Parents get a tree when they start doing ASQs. McPhee says the ASQs are a tool, especially for new parents, to see what their kids are ready for and what they can be doing as parents.
“We are not all child development experts... This is how we can see what their brain is ready for, and what they can be working on.”
New parents also had the chance to see what resources were available as well as meet other new parents as part of the annual baby shower hosted at the centre. The event is a way to connect, McPhee explains, with KidsFirst and Public Health coming on board to give information to parents.
“A big part of it is they can find answers to questions about early learning. They can find someone, everyone they ask here, even if they don’t know, will know someone who knows.”
Finding information about programs is one part of the baby shower, but another part is connecting parents together. McPhee notes that the Family Resource Centre is connecting parents of kids in the same age range together through many different programs, and that part of the goal is to get parents whose babies in the same stages are able to meet each other and provide support.
