Katimavik Early On Child and Family Centre
180 Katimavik Road K2L4A7 Ottawa, ON, Canada

We spoke to experts and asked for their advice on how you could make your child’s transition from home to school a little easier. Every month from now to Sep...tember, our early learning and child development educators will share ideas, tips and resources to make sure you and your child feel #ocsbReady for Kindergarten. Here are some ideas to try this month: https://www.ocsb.ca/20//19/ready-for-kindergarten-issue-2/ #ocsbKindergarten See more

This is a very poignant reflection on how different it was to raise a baby this past year. It is ok to be sad for those things that you missed doing.

Uncertain of how to prepare your child for their COVID-19 test? Take a tour of CHEO’s Assessment Centre at Brewer Park and learn what to expect when you come ...for your COVID-19 test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5-gEApJDfQ - Joanne Goddard, RN

April's theme is COLORS! Here are a few simple artistic activities to do with babies and toddlers: For your baby: Make color trays. Take a muffin tray and ...in each opening place an object that is red, for example. You could place a strawberry, a red teether, a piece of red watermelon, a red mitten or sock, and a red foam ball (make sure it is not a choking hazard). Let your baby touch and play with these objects, but supervise closely since babies this age are likely to mouth things they find interesting in order to learn more about them. As you baby plays, you can repeat the word reda red ball, a red strawberry, a red sock. Try making trays of different colored objects. For your toddler: Toddlers love to help out doing real jobs around the house. For colors, try a cooking project where make a rainbow snack together. Pick out a range of healthy foods of different colorsyellow bananas, red watermelon, green grapes, blueberries, etc. Let your child choose what to have as his snack and talk about all the different colors he can eat. What does he think is the best-tasting color? For babies and toddlers: Make a color book. Staple together 6 pages of construction paper (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) to make a book. Write the appropriate color’s name on each page. Let your child color pictures on each page. Cut photos from magazines and have your child glue these pictures on the right color page (e.g., a photo of a red apple goes on the red page). Read your book togetherwhat is her favorite page? An alternative is to take six photos of your child wearing a shirt of each color and gluing them to the appropriate pages. More ideas: https://bit.ly/2vYfE8i

There are a number of confusing and harmful messages that continue to persist when it comes to attachment and cultivating relationships with our kids (young kid...s to teens). Providing strong adult connections is one of the most significant factors that shapes brain development, emotional maturity, learning, and behaviour. To read more about attachment see the following articles, along with chapter 4 and 5 in Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one). http://macnamara.ca//why-kids-dont-need-attention-but-an-/ http://macnamara.ca//can-a-child-be-too-attached-to-their/ http://macnamara.ca//answering-a-childs-hunger-for-connec/ You can download the infographic - http://macnamara.ca/why-do-kids-do-that/

April Showers Activity Kits We have a limited number of kits available. They contain materials for art activities, suggestions for more rain activities, a song sheet and book suggestions. If you are interested in a kit, please get in touch with us by email at [email protected] by 4pm Wednesday April 7. Let us know how many children will be using the materials and we will reserve a kit for you. Kits can be picked up on Thursday April 8 between 10am and noon. You won't even need to get out of your car. Once you have reserved a kit we will be in touch with you by email with pickup details. All the activity ideas, songs and book suggestions will also be shared in our upcoming April Newsletter. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, you can let us know at [email protected]

Ontario is adding a new round and doubling its direct support to parents with $400/student under the new #COVID19 Child Benefit to help families with additional... learning costs during the pandemic. Payments will be automatic for those who received previous Support for Learners payments no need to reapply. New applicants, watch this space for information on how to apply in the upcoming days! Learn more: https://news.ontario.ca//province-doubles-support-for-pare

Try some of these ideas to strengthen pencil grasps, using what you've got in the home: https://www.theottoolbox.com/improving-pencil-grasp-with-f/ AND here: ... https://www.theottoolbox.com/tripod-grasp-fine-motor-skill/

Create animals, towers, or whatever you'd like with this fun and colourful winter activity.

Some of you may remember an activity like this at the centre. This can be done at home too. It can easily be adapted using whatever you have on hand.

Online children's programs will be back starting January 12! You’ll find online storytimes, parent-baby connection sessions, fun interactive coding workshops, a...nd a mini D&D campaign! Learn more at http://ow.ly/qSac50CZSz9 *** Les programmes en direct pour enfants seront de retour à partir du 12 janvier! Au programme : Heure du conte, connexion parents-bébés, ateliers de programmation interactifs et une mini campagne de D&D! Plus d’info à http://ow.ly/U8Zn50CZSz8

Reminder: We are closed between December 21 and January 1. We look forward to connecting with you in the New Year, either in person or virtually. Confirmations for Playgroup Registration will be sent out the last week of December. Register at https://www.ocsb.ca/earlyon-centres/

Parenting and our feelings about it are complex! And especially as we go through another Lockdown, ambivalence and mixed feelings are very much to be expected.

UPDATE: THE DATE WE EXPECT TO RESUME OFFERING PLAYGROUPS IS JANUARY 25th As a result of the Provincial Government's announcement of a Provincial wide lockdown effective December 26, and the closing of schools until at least January 11, we will not be reopening on January 4th as planned. Once we have more information about when we will be able to offer in-person programs the dates will be posted on the website https://www.ocsb.ca/earlyon-centres We will continue to reach out to you on Facebook, through newsletters, and with email updates. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to be added to our email list, please feel free to be in touch with us at [email protected]

Wishing joy and cheer to all #ocsbStudents who will begin their #Hanukkah celebrations tonight! #HappyHanukkah #ocsbBeCommunity

The Counselling Group is offering a FREE virtual workshop series for adults, starting January 13th at 5:30 PM. This series will provide you with skills and tool...s for managing stress with a focus on cognitive-behavioural strategies for adults. - To register please contact Dmitri Shkliar by email [email protected] or by phone at 613-722-2225 x 392. #Counselling #VirtualWorkshop #StressManagement

Co-regulation is the first step to teaching our children how to self-regulate #selfregulation #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #support #family #coregulation #hereforyou #children #youth

Is your 6-month-old, or older, babe fighting naps hard? Have you considered if your baby is ready to drop a nap and you are hanging onto a daily rhythm that is... no longer working for them? I have had a few messages this week about babies who are not sleeping at times when they would have previously. Parents are spending so much time rocking and convincing the baby to nap, only to wake up in 20 minutes. If this describes your situation, ask yourself if it's time to think about increasing those morning outings, fresh air & play time? Is it time to adapt to your growing baby?

Learning to share with grace is a long process. Rather than dreading moments of struggle between children, consider them to be rich opportunities to help childr...en learn critical skillsin this case, self-regulation, empathy, and conflict resolutionall of which will help them become better at sharing. Learn more: go.zerotothree.org/sharing

In Conscious Discipline, we provide two positive choices instead of one positive choice and one negative choice. Research shows that when children make a choic...e based on their own intrinsic desires, it motivates them and integrates the brain. Choices also provide children with an empowering sense of agency and responsibility. #iHeartCD See more

The magic of stories and books can be found everywhere! No matter where you are, you can cozy up and read together. What is your family's favourite story?

Listen to Rocking and Rolling with Susan Wheat! Let this wonderful tale enlighten your day! / Écoutez Rocking and Rolling de Susan Wheat ! Laissez ce merveilleux conte éclairer votre journée !

Sharpen your blades and lace up your skates #OttCity, as we kick off a new skating season! Our refrigerated outdoor rinks are opening soon - weather permitting...! Visit https://bit.ly/3q31VoD for dates and more info! To ensure all skaters can maintain #PhysicalDistancing, each rink will have a capacity limit and access is on a first-come, first-served basis. When using the rinks, think about other skaters. Be #COVIDWise!

I asked you yesterday to tell me how often your littles wake in the night. Hundreds of you generously shared (crunching the numbers made my brain ache ). Here ...you are.... your babies waking patterns are variable, but clearly show a pattern of waking most between 3-12 months and then slowly declining. That first year is tough. Really tough. I get it. But I hope if nothing else you feel a sense of solidarity. Those of you who told me your little one wakes hourly - I know it might feel demoralising to look at those averages, but please believe me - in this sample of several hundred, there were many of you whose babies wake ten times a night. I see you. Hang in there. Get help. Outsource stuff. Look for more resources on this page. Support each other. Talk to someone. I’m not trying to glamourise or glorify sleep deprivation like it’s some kind of badge of honour. But I’m also not trying to raise expectations or make out that babies sleeping long stretches is the norm either. If you’re struggling, read up about the red flags, look at my post on very frequent night waking, and check the habit stacking tips. And rest assured, it will get better. #nightwaking #sleep #babysleep #gentleparenting #holisticsleepcoaching #lyndseyhookway #responsiveparenting #supportingparents #normalinfantsleep #breastsleeping #bedsharing #nosleeptraining #ibclc #sleepcoach

How to eat ice cream properly

At 12 months, a child should use 3-5 words. At 18 months, a child should use at least 20 words. But what do you think counts as a word? ~ Roxane Bélanger, First Words

ZIP ZIP! // This DIY zipper board was a huge hit with my young toddler! I love making simple things to add to our playroom that the kids can come back to ti...me and time again. This was as simple as hot gluing colorful zippers onto a piece of cardboard from an old box. Just make sure you put the hot glue on the edges of the zipper fabric, not the zippers themselves! - Link to colorful zippers: https://geni.us/6ATknO (referral) See more

I think we can all relate to this some days, no matter what age we are.

Even though Playgroup will look a bit different we are looking forward to seeing you! As we have limited spaces available each day please use this link to register https://www.ocsb.ca/earlyon-centres/

We are excited to announce that Playgroup will be reopening on November 2nd! In order to offer Playgroup again, we have to follow some very strict guidelines from Ottawa Public Health. Some of what you can expect:... Sarah and Judy wearing masks and face shields. We hope you can tell by our eyes that we are smiling and happy to see you behind those masks. Individual art, creative and sensory activities for your children. Requirements to pre-screen and pre-register and wear a mask indoors. Enhanced cleaning procedures. Fewer people in the centre at a time. Restrictions on food, singing and sitting together at circle time. Reminders to be covid safe with handwashing and physical distancing. More room for individual play. A warm welcome! As we are restricted in the number of people that can be in the room at a time we are asking you to go to OCSB EarlyON Centres to request a spot for the date and time you would like to come. You can click on the box for Holy Trinity High School to fill out a pre-registration form. Please limit your requests to 2 mornings per week. We will reply to you by email to let you know if there is space on that day. Please do not attend if you have not received a confirmation email. We will also provide you with the information that you will need to know before attending. This includes the link to the Ottawa Public Health site in order to screen yourself and your children. While things will look and feel different, we want you to know that we are looking forward to seeing you again. And although we have to keep 6 feet apart and wear masks, we will still be offering resources, support and activities for you and your family. If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch with us by phone or email. We also realize that coming to a Playgroup is not an option for some people, but we will work to continue to send you information and activities through our newsletter, Facebook and activity kits.

Be kind to yourself, there is alot going on

We’ve been hearing from parents who still want to send their child to #ocsbKindergarten this year. The good news is you still can! Register for in-person or ...virtual Kindergarten by October 28, and we will work with you to meet your family’s Kindergarten needs. REGISTER NOW: https://bit.ly/3ke1ogj

Sorting Leaves ages 3-5 Leaves are a great way to practice sorting by size, color and number! Full details: https://www.raisingdragons.com/learning-with-leaves-ages-3/

Here is a fun Halloween Story read by the author's daughter

This year Thanksgiving may not be what we had hoped for, but we do hope you and your family are healthy, safe and well. Happy Thanksgiving

Halloween Craft Kits Reserve Yours Now! We have created some kits full of Halloween craft materials for your children to create with! If you are interested in one of these kits, please get in touch with us by email at [email protected] by Tuesday October 13th. Let us know how many children will be using the materials and we will reserve a kit for you. Kits can be picked up on Thursday October 15 between 10am and Noon. You won't even have to get out of your car. Once you have reserved a kit we will be in touch with you with the pickup details.

Some days it can be harder to find the good, but hopefully each day you can find a little something.

To wrap up all of this week's content for Every Child Matters, here's a quick tip sheet on how to navigate through difficult conversations with your children! Have a great weekend kina awiiya!

Learning to read starts here www.bookoola.com.au/downloads.html

How can we help kids with transitions? Here are 4 strategies to try...

DON'T FORGET TO ORDER YOUR FALL ACTIVITY KIT!

Fall Bucket List https://rhythmsofplay.com/fall-bucket-list-family-guide-fo/

Fall Activity Kits! While we are waiting for the guidelines that will allow us to open safely, we thought we would create a little something to remind you of Playgroup. We have made kits that contain the materials for your children to make a Fall wreath and the words to some Fall songs. If you are interested in one of these kits, please get in touch with us by email at [email protected] by Wednesday, September 30th. Let us know how many children will be using the materials and we will reserve a kit for you. Kits can be picked up on Friday, October 2 between 10am and Noon. You won't even have to get out of your car. Once you have reserved a kit we will be in touch with you with the pickup details.

Anyone else struggling at the 6 month point? This thread has some good information, what we are feeling is normal and we will get through it.

This should work with any sort of small balls that you have around. Or ones that you can pick up at the Dollar Store. They just have to stand up to being whacked!

We all have rough days

We have just opened a 2-day drive-thru COVID-19 testing pop-up at the Canadian Tire Center. We put out the call to our paramedic friends -- and they sure answe...red. The pop-up will have four lanes and be open today from 12:30 to 6 pm for patients with OHIP who are 2 years of age or older. Tomorrow's it will be open from 9 am to 6 pm. Do you or your child have symptoms of COVID-19 or have come in close contact with someone who has been confirmed to have the virus? These amazing folks are ready to test as many people as they possibly can. A giant thank you to our paramedic partners from Renfrew Cornwall, Durham, Haliburton, Hastings Prince Edward, Kawartha, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville and Prescott-Russell for jumping in quickly as part of the regional surge plan. And thank you to the Ottawa Senators for loaning us the Canadian Tire Center. Thank you residents of West Ottawa and surrounding area who have been so patient with the long lines at the COVID Care Clinics this week. Hopefully this will take a bite out of that line for Monday!

Here is an idea for "clean" painting.

This could be fun way to use up some energy. For younger children you could reduce the number of times they do the activity for each letter.

We hear you! Yesterday, CHEO, The Ottawa Hospital - L'Hôpital d'Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health issued a joint statement about increasing testing capacity at Br...ewer. And today, we have more info about what health-care providers in the region are doing to improve testing for our community: http://ow.ly/by5f50BrQrU We've seen your photos and we see the lines firsthand. It’s heartbreaking to watch families wait anxiously with their little ones, some too young to express their own frustration. We want this situation to be better too and have been planning ahead for months. What we didn’t predict is Ottawa becoming a #COVID19 hotspot so soon! We had scaled up, even tripled our staff onsite, but hotspot status means we need to do more! And we are. We’re hiring more staff and sending current hospital staff to help. This means some CHEO services may have to slow down again. We’re training people and we’re exploring more options for help. Our top priority is your safety and well-being as this unfolds. We're proud of our regional partnerships. Mobile testing and more locations are coming soon and we’re glad to support these efforts. We’re all in this together: so mask up, physical distance and stay home if you’re sick. Stay #COVIDWise. Thanks Ottawa!

For those of you who have children going to school.

Do what is right for your family. If that changes as you are figuring it out, go with the flow. Support others as they do their best too. Touch the picture to see the whole message...

Asking for your help may also be a way to ask for your attention and connection.

A virtual workshop for Parents to be

Good morning! My name is Roxane Belanger, and I am a Speech and Language Pathologist with the First Words program. Today, we are talking about the importance of... learning two languages, and how parents can help children learn one, two, or even three languages. Strong speech and language skills give a child the best start in life, so let’s talk about it. Looking forward to our discussion on this topic! ~ Roxane Bélanger, First Words See more

While this article talks about the challenges around school, the messages about resilience and taking care of yourself apply to parents with children of all ages!

Is your child with complex health-care needs heading back to school? Join virtual town halls hosted by the Kids Come First Health Team to ask your questions and hear from experts. Register: http://ow.ly/WxdR50B9s6s

These are some quick phrases to help support an anxious child