Moose Jaw mother Kathryn Blondeau is grateful that an early learning program in which her son is enrolled is receiving a financial boost from the federal government.
Blondeau’s son Ewan attends pre-kindergarten at Palliser Heights Elementary School and has been part of the Early Learning Intensive Support program since September. She has noticed major improvements in Ewan’s language skills, an area that concerned her and her husband since the little boy was just starting school.
“He definitely had some delays in his understanding of language as a whole in relation to answering questions and understanding what was being said to him,” Blondeau said.
The Moose Jaw mom believes the extra funding the federal government is contributing to the program means a great deal. She originally had fears about Ewan’s readiness for school and worried he might struggle from kindergarten to Grade 12. Now, though, she has hope he’ll be ready for kindergarten and can reach the same milestones as his peers.
“It is so reassuring to know that his needs are being met,” she added.
Blondeau was on hand at Palliser Heights on Oct. 31 for the announcement of the expansion of the Early Learning Intensive Support program (ELIS), which MLA Gordon Wyant, minister of education, made after spending time with students in a pre-kindergarten class.
Palliser Heights and Sunningdale are two of 20 schools across Saskatchewan offering ELIS; two students at each Moose Jaw school are in the program. ELIS gives school divisions additional support so preschool-aged children who experience major, enduring disabilities can attend pre-kindergarten classes alongside other children.
The program has been available in Saskatoon and Regina since 2018, while it was expanded to Prince Albert, Swift Current, North Battleford, Yorkton and Moose Jaw this year. More than $2 million in funding for the pilot program has been provided through the Canada-Saskatchewan Early Learning and Child-Care Agreement. There are 166 pre-kindergarten spaces available across the province for children with special needs.
The federal government has provided an additional $500,000 to help expand the program so more children in Moose Jaw and other Saskatchewan communities can participate in ELIS.
“The province of Saskatchewan believes in ensuring we’re providing the best possible educational opportunities, especially to children who have special needs,” said Wyant during the announcement, “and especially getting them into a pre-k program is pretty important to us.
“The earlier we can provide support to children who have intensive needs, especially in pre-k, the better they’re going to be when they get into their … educational careers. We’re pleased (and excited) to be here to be able to announce the expansion of the program here in the City of Moose Jaw.”
Tony Baldwin, director of education for Prairie South School Division, was excited to hear about the expansion of the ELIS program.
“If not for this program, we would have children who would not be able to attend school,” he said. “Not only does the ELIS program benefit those children with unique needs, but the entire class is discovering how to play and learn together.”
Research indicates children with disabilities benefit from participating in high-quality early learning programs with children of the same age, according to a government news release. Feedback from parents and school divisions indicates parents want a range of choices to support the early learning needs of their children.
The Ministry of Education has chosen to use several approaches to develop is intensive needs programming, including ELIS, Enhanced Accessibility Grants, the Early Childhood Intervention Program and KidsFirst.
