What's Happenng
2023 CNC Virtual Conference
March 2-3, 2023
2023 Virtual CNC Conference: Growing Strong Communities
The strength of every community is rooted in meaningful childhood experiences.
We are working on some really exciting plans… and we can’t wait to share them with you!
The conference will be an immersive two days of inspirational speakers, interactive sessions, virtual program tours, small group discussions, and networking opportunities.
So be sure to mark your calendars to save the date, and watch your inbox for details. We look forward to celebrating, connecting, sharing, and learning with youl!
NOTE: The conference is only open to CNC staff working in IRCC-funded CNC programs.
New activity ideas are being added all the time!
A new way to find and share CNC activity ideas…
Do you have a child who’s really interested in textures? Or maybe you have a group of children who really love to dump and pour? Do you ever feel like you’ve run out of activity ideas to extend their play and learning? We gathered a team of experienced CNC staff to put their heads together and our collection of inspiring play extension activity ideas for CNC is growing every month! You can find them here, in LET’S PLAY: CNC Activity Ideas
NEW! CMAS Tutorial: Invitations to Play
An invitation to play can be a simple way to spark children’s curiosity and imagination! They offer children opportunities to explore and direct their own play, follow their interests, learn more about the world around them, express themselves creatively and use their imagination.
In this tutorial, you’ll find 10 tips for creating your own Invitations to Play for the children in your CNC program.
Did you know that all our tutorials include a facilitator guide?
At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources and a facilitator guide that includes an extensive list of questions to spark group discussion and personal reflection. Many of the themes that you’ll find in the Invitations to Play tutorial and facilitator guide are really important for us to understand and keep in mind when working in CNC. We encourage all programs to keep the important conversations going – and try facilitating your own team training!
Team training based on the Invitations to Play tutorial, Facilitator Guide, and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion will create an opportunity for your team to:
- collaborate and learn together
- discuss issues that are specific to your site
- share ideas, expertise and challenges
- build supportive team relationships, and
- Improve your programming for newcomer children.
CMAS Webinar: Supporting Newcomer Children through Active Play: Teaming up with Active for Life!
Incorporating physical literacy into your daily programming can be easy and inexpensive – and it can bring such a range of benefits for children, ECEs, and families!
When young children engage in physical literacy and active play, they can better cope with stress, build resilience, and start on their path toward a healthy and active life.
In this exciting new webinar, participants will join special guest, Dawne Clark, PhD, Early Years Physical Literacy, to learn about and discuss:
- What physical literacy (PL) and active play look like in the early years
- The benefits of PL and active play for children, educators, and families
- “Infusing” PL into everyday activities
- How to get children moving again and active for life after the pandemic
- The Active for Life website, tools and resources
We’ll also be announcing some exciting new opportunities for you to participate in!
NOTE: This webinar is for IRCC-funded CNC programs. The webinar recording will be available to the public early next month.
CMAS Tutorial: Play Across Cultures
Children from different cultures engage in play differently. And this makes sense because there are differences in language, context, and social norms in different cultures – and these are all reflected in children’s play!
In the Play Across Cultures tutorial, participants will have the chance to reflect on how play is different across cultures, and how we can encourage and foster all kinds of play variations in our CNC programs.
Did you know that all our tutorials include a facilitator guide?
At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources and a facilitator guide that includes an extensive list of questions to spark group discussion and personal reflection. Many of the themes that you’ll find in the Play Across Culture tutorial and facilitator guide are really important for us to understand and keep in mind when working in CNC. We encourage all programs to keep the important conversations going – and try facilitating your own team training!
Just in time to use for team training during TESOL conference for Ontario programs!
Team training based on the Play Across Cultures tutorial, Facilitator Guide, and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion will create an opportunity for your team to:
- collaborate and learn together
- discuss issues that are specific to your site
- share ideas, expertise and challenges
- build supportive team relationships, and
- Improve your programming for newcomer children.
CMAS Webinar: School Readiness with Newcomer Centre of Peel
School readiness means that children are ready for school, and families are ready to support their children's learning - and CNC programs play an important role in preparing newcomer children and families for this transition. In this webinar, participants joined Jacqueline MoonSammy, Aisha Ilyas, and their team from Newcomer Centre of Peel (NCP), to talk about how they noticed a need in their CNC community, and developed a program to support school readiness for the children in their program. They talked about some of the challenges they faced, as well as some helpful tips and strategies you can use in your program to help prepare children for kindergarten in the fall!
CMAS Tutorial: Creativity and the Educator
When you think about the word “creativity” what comes to mind for you? In this tutorial, we’ll talk about why creativity is so important in the early years. We’ll also try to get everyone thinking outside the box a little bit, by talking about creativity… and how it isn’t just about art! Then we’ll share some ideas and inspiration for encouraging and fostering creativity in our programs! Click here for more infoCMAS Tutorial: Responding to Children’s Fear
For many of us, when a child expresses fear, it can be hard to know how to respond in a way that makes them feel heard and supported. In this tutorial, we’ll talk about how to respond to children’s fear, common mistakes, and why they’re important to avoid, and some practical tips with examples to help us understand and remember. At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a facilitator guide, and added group discussion questions so that you can easily facilitate your own team training. At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a facilitator guide and added group discussion questions so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.
CMAS Webinar: Virtual Programming for Young Children
Over the last two years, many SPOs have responded to the needs of newcomer families during the pandemic by delivering online services - and the SDR from one such organization has developed a webinar to share what they’ve learned! In this webinar, join Zakia Labonee, the SDR from Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services to talk about three important things to consider in developing virtual programming for young children: child development, building relationships, and family support.
A new way to find and share CNC activity ideas…
Do you have a child who’s really interested in building with blocks? Or maybe you have a group of children who really love to dump and pour? Do you ever feel like you’ve run out of activity ideas to extend their play and learning? We gathered a team of experienced CNC staff to put their heads together and develop a collection of inspiring play extension activity ideas for CNC. Now, these programming ideas can be found at LET'S PLAY: CNC Activity Ideas