MCFD recognizes the valuable contribution early childhood educators (ECEs) and licensed family child care providers make in support of early learning and child care in British Columbia. To acknowledge the efforts of these child care professionals in delivering high quality child care programs and services in communities across British Columbia, MCFD will provide up to ten Awards of Excellence to individuals who deliver exceptional service to children in their care.

Five categories of awards will celebrate the exceptional contributions of early childhood education professionals and licensed famiy child care providers. The award categories are:

• General
• Aboriginal
• Family Child Care Provider
• Promising New Early Childhood Educator
• Lifetime Achievement

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI — Today, Premier Robert Ghiz joined cabinet colleagues Minister Gerard Greenan and Minister Doug Currie along with community and corporate partners to launch a social marketing program called “Take 30 for the Family,” designed to provide parents with information, activity ideas and tools to promote positive parenting and healthy brain development during a child’s critical early years.
“A child who has a good start in life, in a loving, caring setting, has the experience needed to prepare for successful school entry. A child who hasn’t had the  support necessary for the building blocks for physical well-being, learning and socialization will find school – and life – much harder,” said Premier Ghiz.  “Parents are our children’s first teachers and we want to help parents be successful in that role.”
The objectives of the “Take 30 for the Family” program are to have parents take more time for family interaction and free play for children and to increase the number of Prince Edward Island employers who develop and institute family-friendly work policies with an overall goal to improve outcomes for Prince Edward Island children from the prenatal period to early school years.
The “Take 30 for the Family” message informs parents, grandparents and other caregivers that quality time doesn’t have to be overly organized or expensive.  In fact, according to Laura Quinn-Graham, executive director of the Family Place in Summerside, it’s nurturing relationships and simple interactions that matter most to a child.  “It’s things like reading and telling stories, talking, playing games and eating meals together as a family that have significant impact on a child’s growth and life-long achievement,” she added.
Phase one of the campaign uses radio and newspaper advertising, a website, community events, a toll-free family information line, as well as community and retail partnerships, to promote simple family activities that cost little or nothing.  A contest will also run that asks parents and grandparents to share their own family stories about how they spend time growing and learning together.  Prizes are provided by retail partners Home Hardware and Co-op Stores of Prince Edward Island.
The “Take 30 for the Family” program is a collaborative effort of the PEI Children’s Secretariat, which is a network of community and government organizations working together to advance healthy child development in Prince Edward Island, with support from corporate partners.  For more information about the program, please call 1-888-I Take 30 (1-888-482-5330) or visit www.take30.pe.ca.

BACKGROUNDER

The “Take 30 for the Family” program was developed:
– to ensure that Prince Edward Island parents know that they are the most important influence in their child’s life and what they do will have significant impact on their child’s development, success in school and over the long term;
– to have parents take more time for family interaction and free play for children; and
– to increase the number of Prince Edward Island employers who develop and institute family-friendly work policies (to be further developed in fall 2008).

Rationale:
• The Understanding the Early Years PEI (UEY) (2001 & 2006) study identified some risk factors regarding the school readiness of children in our Prince Edward Island communities. Research found that (1) Island families, especially rural ones, may have difficulty accessing resources and (2) Island families could use resources more frequently.
• THE UEY PEI study (2001) identified that parental engagement in children’s learning activities could be improved.  Albeit, in 2004, the score did improve slightly.
• The Progress Report of the Student Achievement Action Plan (November 2006) recommended that parents be actively involved in a child’s readiness to learn in the  school environment.
• The 2007 Early Learning and Child Care Action Plan allocated funding to support a PEI campaign focused on the early years and how parents, care givers and communities can be actively involved in learning activities and programs.

Take 30 for the Family primary target audiences:
• Male and female parents of children in PEI from birth to eight years-old.

Secondary target audiences:
– Grandparents and care givers
– Opinion leaders, early childhood educators, healthcare providers, etc.
– Prince Edward Island employers
– Government officials and policy makers

Take 30 for the Family media and marketing:
• A bilingual website housing family activity ideas, feature articles, colouring sheets for children, links to local and national organizations and reviewed child development content, a calendar of family events and dates to help parents make local connections and get involved in their communities, a forum to ask questions about children’s development and parenting issues of PEI experts.

• Radio advertisements and promotions on Ocean 100 and KRock

• Newspaper advertisements

• Posters, retail and community signage and promotional items including bookmarks, shopping lists and family calendar (to be available by summer 2008)

• A toll-free information line:  the place for parents to call to share their own Take 30 family stories, to get “Take 30 “ activity ideas or for more about early brain and healthy child development.

• Community partner toolkit

Sponsors and Partners:
– Province of Prince Edward Island, with financial support through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (formerly Early Childhood Services of the Department of  Social Services and Seniors)
–  The PEI Children’s Secretariat and the Premier’s Council on Healthy Child Development
– Home Hardware stores
–  Co-op Stores
– Ocean 100 and K Rock

Community Organizations and networks of the PEI Children’s Secretariat
Association for Community Living
Cap Enfant
CHANCES Family Centre
Childhood Injury Network – Island Network for Injury Prevention
Children and the Environment Network
Children with Exceptional Needs Network
Children’s Mental Health Network
Department of Community, Cultural Affairs and Labour
Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry
Department of Health
Department of Social Services and Seniors
Early Childhood Development Association
Early Childhood Education and Care Network
Fédération des parents de l’Î.-P.-É.
Families First
Family Place
Healthy Lifestyles Network
Kids West Inc.
Office of the Attorney General
Main Street Family Resource Centre
Mi’kmaq Family Resource Centre
Parent Support Network
PEI Environmental Coalition
PEI Healthy Eating Alliance
Pregnancy, Birth and Infancy Network
Protecting our Children Network

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