ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Ontario

ON

  • My New Home, TVO documentary about immigrant children

    From the press release:

    TVO examines the immigrant experience through a child’s eyes in a special interactive event beginning with part one of the two part documentary, My New Home. The film is followed by a live, interactive webcast discussion on Your Voice at tvoparents.com on the immigrant experience in Ontario. This event airs during Belong or Bust: Where Do I Fit In?, a week of premier documentaries, dramas and current affairs programs that explore a variety of viewpoints on the themes of culture and identity and our place in society.

    My New Home premieres Sunday March 22 at 8pm and again on Sunday March 29 at 8pm on TVO. Directed by Daisy Asquith and produced by Ricochet Productions.

  • Baby wants to learn your language

    The Best Start Resource Centre, a program of Health Nexus Santé, has release a new informational brochure in PDF entitled “Baby Wants…” with colourful pictures and short descriptions addressing babies basic developmental needs. One of these is “Baby wants to learn your language”.

    “Baby wants … to learn your language.
    “Babies may begin to learn two languages right from birth. Learning two or more languages is not only a skill for later life, but can also help your baby to be connected to his family, his culture and other cultures. Toddlers who are starting to talk may mix up the two languages a little. This is normal. Over time, the children will learn to speak well in the languages they are exposed to. It is important to provide lots of opportunities in both languages.
    “Here are some suggestions that may help your child use two languages in daily life:

    • “Visit your local library and ask for books or tapes in the languages you speak in your home. Read these books to your child.
    • “Participate in community events and programs that celebrate your language and cultural heritage. Many Ontario Early Years Centres offer resources in many languages and opportunities to meet with others from your community that share your language.
    • “Join parent groups where your language is spoken or start your own group.

    “Remember, the best thing you can do to help your child learn two languages is to talk, sing and play in the language that comes most naturally to you. You will help your baby feel proud of your language and culture”.

  • Policy research report: Immigrant women's proficiency in English

    Policy Matters, an initiative of the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies (CERIS) has published a summary of recent research on immigrant women learning English.
    Reclaiming Voice: Challenges and Opportunities for Immigrant Women Learning English identified barriers and supports to immigrant women learning English. Principal investigator was Kenise Murphy Kilbride. The findings and recommendations resulting from the research have been made available on http://www.immigrantwomen.ca.

  • FRP Canada news

    The Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs has released a new research report entitled “What Works For Who”. The report is based on a recent literature review on promising practices in parenting education, particularly in working with parents from ‘vulnerable populations’, including parents living in poverty and newcomer parents.
    Also, FRP Canada has announced their biennial national conference will take place May 12-15, 2009 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The theme this year is Welcoming Communities. 
    Questions to Jill Heckman at 613.237.7667 ext 231 or conference@frp.ca.

  • Best Start Resource Centre annual conference (Toronto)

    Best Start: Ontario’s Maternal, Newborn and Child Development Resource Centre (BSRC) is holding their annual conference Feb 23-25/09 in Toronto. Of interest to immigrantchildren.ca readers, these two workshops (descriptions taken from the conference website):

    Giving Birth in a New Land, with Saleha Bismilla, Toronto Public Health

    The changing demographics of Ontario have an impact for service providers such as nurses, physicians, midwives, and community workers who work in reproductive health. Women from diverse cultural backgrounds may have different needs and expectations when accessing health services. Service providers should be sensitive to these needs and can help women and their partners to prepare for having a baby in Ontario. 

    Child Language Development in Bilingual or Multilingual Environments, with Laurie-Ann Staniforth, First Words

    This concurrent session will provide an overview of normal child language development in bilingual or multilingual environments. Bilingualism in the context of language delay or disorder will also be discussed. This session will include practical considerations for service providers such as issues to consider and how to work with and support bi- and multilingual children and families.


  • CMAS / LINC conference

    The Childminding, Monitoring and Advisory Support (CMAS) is holding their annual conference from Nov 13-14/08 in downtown Toronto. The theme this year is Tools for Growth: Supporting the Newcomer Family. The conference will address the resources, practices, activities and connections that build programs and the profession, while facilitating the healthy development of the children cared for in LINC programs.
    The conference is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and jointly sponsored by the Learning Enrichment Foundation and the Toronto District School Board.

    Information: Contact Rosalie Caranci or Adele Peden: APeden@lefca.org / 416-760-2570.

  • Brave new schools: Identity and power in Canadian education

    From the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development
    The 2008 R.W.B. Jackson Lecture ~ Brave New Schools: Identity and Power in Canadian Education

    We are pleased to present Professor James (Jim) Cummins, a renowned second language education scholar in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, and Canada Research Chair, Language Learning and Literacy Development in Multilingual Contexts.

    As the 2008 Jackson Lecturer, Cummins will draw on data from a 5-year research program entitled From Literacy to Multiliteracies to stimulate re-examination of the foundational principles of Canadian education in an era of increasing diversity and urgent global challenges. Influenced by international agencies such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), educational policy-makers in many countries have adopted an increasingly technocratic approach to the promotion of literacy and numeracy.  The focus has been on the identification and implementation of evidence-based “best practices.” However, the frame of reference within which these “best practices” have been generated typically consigns issues related to societal power relations and teacher-student identity negotiation to the margins of consideration.

    This lecture will call for a radically different approach to educational policy-making. The constructs of teacher-student identity negotiation and societal power relations will be proposed as empirically validated influences on academic achievement and as fundamental to the development of effective educational policy and practice. Recent OECD research and policy recommendations on the education of immigrant students will be analyzed to show that the marginalization of issues related to power and identity in educational policy-making is an ideological process that is far from “evidence-based.” A very different set of policy options and pedagogical opportunities for Canadian education emerges when the empirical and theoretical frame of reference is broadened to acknowledge the centrality of the multiple forms of diversity that increasingly characterize schools both in Canada and internationally.

    The lecture will be held Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at the George Ignatieff Theatre, Toronto. Reception at 6pm, opening remarks and lecture at 7pm. 

    To RSVP and/or for more information, call 416.978.1125.

  • Right to Play at the OPHEA conference

    Right to Play will be presenting their curriculum Learning to Play, Playing to Learn at the Oct 17-18/08 Ontario Physical Health and Education Association (OPHEA) conference
    It is heartening to see the description of the session highlighting the rights of the child:

    “Activities feature an exploration of children around the world, the countries they live in and a study of our rights and responsibilities in the world community”.

  • Racism hurts

    The Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Elementary Teachers’ Foundation of Ontario have developed resource materials for a campaign for elementary school-aged children (including Kindergarten-age children) on fighting racism. Materials will be distributed to Ontario ETFO member-schools this fall.

  • 3rd On new shores: Understanding immigrant children conference, Guelph ON

    The 3rd annual On New Shores conference has released a tentative program for the Nov 6-7/08 event, to be held at the University of Guelph. From organizer Dr. Susan Chuang:

    The goals of this conference are to bring together leading scholars from various disciplines (psychology, sociology, education, social work, nursing etc.), professionals (from settlement agencies, family programs), and governmental agenices to: 1) present work on various issues (e.g., socio-emotional development, parent-child relationships, language brokering, literacy, educational isses) and effective programs (for children, youth, parents); 2) have in-depth discussions about current issues and challenges faced by families, organizations, and research); and 3) create opportunities to foster future colloabrations.

    Registration is also open. For information, see Dr. Susan Chuang’s webpage at the University of Guelph.