Don't break the bond of caring, says Headstart instructor

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The Onion Lake Headstart Program is helping to create a new generation of healthy parents and children.

Started up in early October, the program was designed to keep young mothers and babies together, recognizing the crucial bonding period between birth and three years old.

"That's the time when parents really get to know their children. The crucial ages between zero and three when parents and babies form healthy bonds that last a lifetime," explained Headstart co-ordinator Sarah Waskewitch.

"There's also more to bonding than good health and emotional well being. Good bonding is also cultural, with language and traditional teaching passing between the generations. That was the vision for our new Aboriginal Headstart," she added.

With a three-year funding commitment from the Medical Services Branch of Health Canada allotted to Onion Lake for an on-reserve Headstart Program, Waskewitch was able to make this vision a reality.

"We wanted to have these teenage mothers right in the classroom, an integral part of their children's lives. We wanted them to always be there for the babies, to learn to interact, educate and care for their babies properly - a program that doesn't break that bonding during the day, that doesn't take the babies away from their mothers," she said.

Parenting skills were traditionally handed down by parents and grandparents but some of today's teens have not been guided by their parents. Some have lost their language, culture and respect for teachers and school. Headstart is here to put them back on track, help them realize the important of good parenting, discipline and education, said Waskewitch.

The program, which runs four days a week in the Onion Lake Learning Centre, is located in a bright, cheerfully decorated set of rooms close to the Cree Immersion resource area.

Waskewitch picks up the moms and toddlers in the morning and delivers them home at three. The children often become so involved in their playing and learning that they don't want to leave.

"The children are very happy as a group and their mothers really enjoy the socialization. They are not isolated at home. Our program is geared towards learning through fun. Educational and motor-skill activities mixed in with playtime and Cree immersion for the toddlers. Daily life lessons in child care, nutrition, health, cooking and housekeeping for the mothers. Our young moms really appreciate the socialization with their own peer group - something which helps to break the cycle of isolation and boredom," said Waskewitch.

Headstart is the first building block of the Cree Immersion Program at Onion Lake, designed to dovetail with the Cree immersion nursery school and ongoing Cree immersion elementary school program, explained Education Director Brian MacDonald.

"Cree immersion from birth to graduation, a new generation of fluent Cree speakers, from toddlers who can count and sing nursery rhymes in Cree to fully bilingual teenagers - that is the goal," MacDonald said.

Lindsay MacDonald, age 17, mother of Shandyn, explained the benefits of the new program for herself and her daughter.

"I bring her because I want her to know the language, respect our people, our culture and our Elders. I get to do stuff too and it's fun for both of us. At home there's nothing to do. Here I can socialize with the other moms. It feels better here. I am learning to cook, clean and do new things everyday. Today we learned to cook bannock. We are also working on tiny moccasins to keep our babies' feet warm and clean. When the kids are all having their nap, we work on beading and learn how to sew leather and fur. We tried to have a beading lesson when the kids were awake but they keep spilling the beads. My daughter is happier and more socialized. She used to want to fight and pull hair but now she listens, has a second thought and stops doing it. Sarah teaches us to not be defensive when the kids have to be disciplined. It is important to discipline them at an earlyage so that they will understand," she said.

"The new Headstart Program is now a very important part of our lives," said young mother Melanie Hilt. "We have become very close."