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Thank You For Joining Us On Family Day

February 22, 2018 by Melanie

Remembering our Beginnings

Incorporated in 1976 as a non-profit charitable organization, Creating Together actually began well before that. Parkdale parents and agency workers were concerned about the lack of resources for children and families, so organized a series of short-term projects.

We’ve Come a Long Way!

Now, over 40 years later, Creating Together is honoured to continue being such an active and involved part of the South-Parkdale community. In 2015 alone, 13,211 visits were made!

Celebrating Family Day Together

We remember our beginnings, which came from real need within our community. We also celebrate our successes, each year, our annual Family Day potluck is a priority. This year, our annual potluck was a great success. We had a huge variety of dishes, making for a wonderful feast.

Thank you so much to all the children, family members and caregivers who came out with dishes and such festive energy. Remember – we are here because of you!

Creating Together Honours Black History Month

February 16, 2018 by Melanie

Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present.

With a different theme selected each year, this year’s theme is “Black Canadian Women: Stories of Strength, Courage and Vision.”

Source: 2011 Census / National Household Survey Copyright 2014 City of Toronto.

For the City of Toronto and our Parkdale community, this theme is highly relevant, and certainly worth celebrating.

Did you know that Toronto is where many Black Canadian Women call home, with 62% of women who identify as visible minorities being located in either Toronto or Vancouver (YMCA Canada, 2001)? If we narrow that scope to look at our own community, black-identified individuals represent our 2nd highest visible minority group in South Parkdale (City of Toronto, 2011), according to the 2011 Census.

Rita Cox Collection, Parkdale Public Library

Perhaps that’s why the Parkdale branch of the Toronto Public Library holds the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection, recognized as one of the most significant Black and Caribbean heritage collections in Canada. The collection features over 16,000 print and audiovisual materials for adults, children, and teens about the Black and Caribbean historical and cultural experience.

At Creating Together, we celebrated the month with a Black History Snack. Children came together with their parents and caregivers to prepare, cook and enjoy the snack, and a wonderful time was had by all!

Child Behaviour Tips and Strategies

January 16, 2018 by Melanie

Every child is unique in terms of their activity level, distractability, and sensitivity. In addition to this uniqueness, each child is at a different stage of development and their behaviour is a reflection of this stage. Still, even when we accept these facts, it can be difficult for parents and caregivers to know how to respond to challenging child behaviour in a way that stops it from continuing, while also guiding them to gain confidence, competence, and social problem-solving skills.

At Creating Together, there are a couple of strategies staff and students use, and we wanted to share couple of tips and strategies for dealing with challenging child behaviour. Below is a brief summary of a few tips, but staff would have also made themselves available this month on the 22nd and 25th (see times below) to discuss these and other topics parents and caregivers would find helpful.

Set Realistic Limits and Expectations

Limits and expectations are kept simple and clear by keeping them few in number, and by relating to the safety and protection of self, others, and the space. When enforced consistently and in a way that the child can understand, they create a healthy container for play. For example:

“The sand stays in the sandbox.”
“It’s time to wash our hands for snack.”

Positive Framing

You’ll notice in the above phrase examples, the limits are framed in a positive way – rather than focus on what NOT to do, they focus on what TO do. This reinforces the behaviour you want to see more of while also decreasing the likelihood for the child to get defensive or resistant. In fact, research tells us that when we focus on what NOT to do, that is exactly what the child ends up doing more of. Here are some more examples of positive framing:

“Walk.” (Rather than: “Don’t run.”)
“Speak softly.” (Rather than: “Don’t shout.”)

Redirecting

When a child is upset, before the behaviour you are trying to avoid escalates, offer an alternative toy, activity, or location.

Also, as much as possible, redirect the child towards activities that are in line with their needs.

For example: “I can see you have a lot of energy. Let’s go try out the slide.”

Focusing on the Behaviour, Rather than the Child

When speaking with children, messages can easily be framed in a way that can seem to the child as attacking and critical, creating guilt, shame, and a lower self-esteem. You can preserve the child’s integrity with positive guidance by framing messages in a way that separates the child from the behaviour. For example:

“When you grab the train from his hands, it makes Allan angry.” (Rather than: “You are mean when you grab the train like that from Allan.”)
“Playdough stays in the playdough area.” (Rather than: “You naughty girl.”)

Reinforce The Behaviour You Want to See

To build confidence and encourage children to repeat behaviour you would like to see, use positive reinforcement to focus on the specific behaviour, rather than on the child. For example:

“Thank you for helping Sam when she fell down. That’s called being caring.” (Rather than: “You good girl.”)
“When we tidy up, it makes the area safe for everybody.” (Rather than: “You’re the best helper.”)

Be Alert

When adults observe children in their activities, they are in a better position to anticipate potential difficulties and step in

to prevent problems. Keep phone / tablet use to a minimum, and sit in proximity to your child, so they can use you as a resource as needed.

If you found this article helpful, and you have any other questions about how to work through a challenging situation as a parent or caregiver, please speak with the staff – we are always here to help. Also, bring your questions and learning needs to one of our upcoming information sessions this month (Jan 22 / 25th – see below). The feedback gathered from parents and caregivers at these information sessions will tell us what kinds of resources we should bring in over the course of the year. If you can’t make either of these dates, be sure to let a staff know!

Important Changes to Parent Relief Program

January 2, 2018 by Melanie

Beginning in January 2018, Ontario’s four child and family programs will be integrated into one common system, under the EarlyON umbrella. This transformation will offer a consistent set of core services across the province. The programs to be consolidated under the EarlyON umbrella are:

Ontario Early Years Centres
Parenting and Family Literacy Centres
Child Care Resource Centres
Better Beginnings, Better Futures

As a result, child respite programs are no longer being funded and as a result, the Parent Relief Program previously offered by Creating Together on Wednesdays and Thursdays, will no longer be provided.

While this may be unfortunate for those parents and caregivers who have accessed this service in the past, there is also a bright side for the province of Ontario: $140 million will be invested into Ontario’s early years system, bringing 100 more EarlyON centres across the province over the next three years. These new centres will be created across the province over the next three years.

For more information on these changes, please visit the following:

Creating Together will continue to offer a wide range of Programs for Families, as well as Programs for Parents and Caregivers.

Moving forward, if there is a particular need or issue that you are working through as a parent or caregiver, we invite you to attend our Information Session on January 22nd at 1:30pm, or January 25th at 10am. Creating Together Staff will be hearing concerns from the community, to inform programming for the coming year. If you’re unable to make these dates, please contact staff and let them know the areas you need some help with.

The Tradition of Tree Decorating

December 18, 2017 by Melanie

Children came together with their families and caregivers to decorate our tree, an annual celebration we always look forward to at Creating Together.

Have you ever wondered what the tree decorating tradition has come from?

It so happens that in many traditions, filling one’s home with the greenery of life has been a symbol to bring strength and health at a time when the sun was returning.

“The idea of bringing the evergreen into the house represents fertility and new life in the darkness of winter, which was much more of the pagan themes.” (Dr. Wilson, University of Sydney).

For example, in the Northern hemisphere, the winter solstice (shortest day and longest night of the year) falls on December 21 or December 22. Many ancient people brought evergreen boughs into their homes, as a reminder of the return of all the green plants and the return of the strength of the sun god in summer after his wintry illness. In Northern Europe, the Celts decorated their druid temples with evergreen boughs which signified everlasting life. Further up north, the Vikings thought evergreens were the plants of Balder, the god of light and peace. The ancient Egyptians had a similar tradition, but with the god Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death. Early Romans also marked the solstice with Saturnalia, a feast in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. With the coming sun came the growth of food, so to mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.

However, bringing branches and boughs is quite different that bringing in a full tree and decorating it – a tradition that we can thank 16th century Germany for, when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. German settlers migrated to Canada from the United States in the 1700s, and brought with them which we celebrate today, such as gingerbread houses and advent calendars. However, it became an official tradition throughout England, the US, and Canada, when Queen Victoria’s German husband Prince Albert erected a Christmas tree at the Windsor Castle in 1848.

Whatever your tradition at this time of year, most of us can certainly agree that the return of brighter days is certainly worth celebrating – so enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones, however you choose to celebrate!

For more information on tree decorating history:

https://www.zmescience.com/science/history-science/origin-christmas-tree-pagan/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-19/the-history-of-the-christmas-tree/8106078

Thank You For Joining Us On Family Day

Remembering our Beginnings

We’ve Come a Long Way!

Celebrating Family Day Together

Creating Together Honours Black History Month

Child Behaviour Tips and Strategies

Important Changes to Parent Relief Program

The Tradition of Tree Decorating

Creating Together Parkdale Family Resource Centre

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