Good things in store for Grandir avec mon enfant

For the past two years, Colleen Ouellette has been volunteering with Éduk, a francophone organization in Alberta. A former schoolteacher, Ouellette always enjoyed her interaction with parents and was searching for a meaningful way to become directly involved with them again. The opportunity revealed itself when a colleague at Éduk, Louise Joly, mentioned the Grandir avec mon enfant program to her.

Grandir avec mon enfant is the highly successful French adaptation of the Literacy and Parenting Skills (LAPS) program originally developed by Laureen MacKenzie and Elaine Cairns of the Further Education Society of Alberta. In conjunction with MacKenzie and Cairns, Joly played a key role in not only translating the materials, but also in adapting the content to address francophone specific needs. With the translation complete, new activities developed and appropriate materials in place, Joly turned her efforts to recruiting trainers and facilitators. As someone who possesses francophone knowledge and a sensitivity regarding literacy and parenting issues, Ouellette made for an ideal candidate.

"I was intrigued with the program from the start and its potential in the broader francophone community outside of Alberta," comments Ouellette. "Grandir is a wonderful tool that offers tremendous flexibility and with guidance and mentorship from Louise, I'm excited about expanding what Éduk is doing with it."

In preparation for what lies ahead, Ouellette recently attended a Train-the-Trainer session in Calgary that covered the specifics of the Grandir program, as well as focused in part on facilitation for francophone audiences. While Ouellette felt a little overwhelmed with the amount of information to absorb, she really enjoyed the training format.

"The sessions flowed very naturally and I appreciated the fact we were involved in small group work from the get go," says Ouellette. "The training was very hands-on, practical, and provides a solid base to work from. I plan on eventually becoming a certified trainer and sharing my knowledge with new facilitators we bring on board through Éduk."

Ouellette, Joly and other committed francophone colleagues such as Suzanne Dionne-Coster, who also attended the Train-the-Trainer session in Calgary, have ambitious plans for expanding Grandir in franco- phone communities across Canada. Within the Edmonton region, there is opportunity to work with lead- ers of local francophone children?s resource centres and to make a presentation at the annual confer- ence of the Fédération des parents francophones de l?Alberta. Outside of Alberta, there are potential opportunities in the Yukon territory and province of Manitoba. Ouellette is hopeful that momentum will build and a spirit of co-operation will develop among francophone organizations in support of bringing Grandir to communities that need it.

The next few months will be a true test of determination and will for Ouellette, but she is the first to offer that she is ready for the challenge.

?I?ve found a new purpose and feel renewed,? sums up Ouellette. ?As parents, we?re all trying to do the best we can for our kids, so to have the opportunity to walk the path with others, share issues and solve problems together is a very positive thing. I?m very much looking forward to my future involvement with Grandir avec mon enfant.?

Need a new ice breaker?

Try the Picnic Game created by Maxine Moses from Peace River, Alberta.

This game assists the facilitator and participants in becoming more comfortable / at ease with each other, as well as helping to learn names and perhaps other useful information by the food selected to bring to the picnic.

To begin: Sit in a circle and invite participants to bring an imaginary food to a picnic, which begins with the letter of their first name (e.g. "I'm going on a picnic. My name is Maxine. I'm going to bring moose meat.").

The next participant repeats what the past participant(s) said and then adds her own (e.g. "I'm going on a picnic. Maxine is bringing moose meat. Lisa s bringing lemonade. Kevin is bringing kabobs. Pat is bringing potato salad, etc. My name is _____ and I'm going to bring _____.").

The game continues until the circle is complete (or everyone is too hungry to continue!). Enjoy.