Program gives children a head start

To the 80 or so children about to attend a new Aboriginal pre-school program, the singing, drumming, story-telling and language learning in Blackfoot or Cree will be lots of fun.

But the program goes beyond play. The Calgary Aboriginal Head Start Program is also designed to help three-to-six-year-old children see themselves, life and learning in a positive way.

"We try to get (the children) ready for school," said Magdalena Hellebrand, program director for the Head Start program at the Plains Indian Cultural Survival School in southwest Calgary.

"We will try to work on (the children's) potential and hopefully they will develop their self-confidence and go on to Grade 1," she added.

The Calgary program, located at two sites in the city, is part of the nation-wide $68 m-million Aboriginal Head Start Initiative, a program of Health Canada. About 3,000 children at 90 sites across the country will participate in the program this year.

"If we are able to make a significant difference in the lives of 3,000 Aboriginal children per year, that make a considerable impact in Canada," said Ottawa-based Richard Budgel, Health Canada's national program manager for the initiative.

"There is more and more evidence that points to early intervention programs preventing some of the more negative outcomes in the future," added Brenda Cantin, the initiative's program manager in Alberta.

A total of 12 Aboriginal organizations helped develop programming at 20 sites in urban and northern Alberta. The two sites in Edmonton are sponsored by the Ben Calf Robe Society. The initiative's Alberta budget for the next four years is $10.5 million.

The Four Direction Foster Parent Association sponsors Calgary's $968,500, 33-month program. Children of single parents, from low-income families or referred through child welfare will be given priority placement in the five-day-a-week program.

"It's something that is needed in the community for the children," said Arlene Fraser, the association's senior staff consultant and program manager for the northeast Calgary site.

According to Hellebrand, the Aboriginal Head Start Initiative is unique for three reasons: the program's cultural component, the high parent involvement and a focus on nutrition.

A parent coordinator encourages parents to participate in the classes and, if interested, to take workshops on various topics, such as parenting skills. Two Elders ? on Blackfoot and one Cree ? will be assigned to each site, along with a teacher and a teacher's aide.