Spots still available for Building Brains Together – At Home

In addition to our Early Education Program, Lethbridge School Division is kicking off an exciting new project this fall, where parents and caregivers of three and four-year-old children can build young brains together in their own homes.
Building Brains Together – At Home strives to empower parents and caregivers by building on adult capabilities to develop the executive functions of their child’s brain, a process best accomplished in the first five years of their lives.
Executive functions include important skills such as self-regulation (dealing with emotions, controlling impulses, tolerating change, being able to return to a calm state, etc.), working memory, paying attention, organization skills, problem solving, flexibility, and much more.
Build Brains Together - At Home will include three weekly live, small group, online sessions for the child and caregiver, with an Early Learning educator. Virtual sessions, approximately 30 minutes in length, will take place in the afternoons on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Parents can learn more by joining the weekly parent café, on Monday afternoons, which will include educational support and guest speakers on child/brain development.
The Division recognizes that a virtual format is not optimal for young children, but it is a way for adults to work alongside their child, providing essential real-life interaction that is so critical for young childrens’ learning and brain development.
Parents who register for the program will also have access to a website, complete with an extensive list of resources and extension activities. Each participant will also receive a Building Brains bag, comprising of materials to support activities in the program.
To register in the program, parents must also agree to participate in a University of Lethbridge Department of Neuroscience study with Dr. Robbin Gibb and Dr. Claudia Gonzalez. This involves completing parent surveys at the beginning and end of the program.  Children in the program will participate in some play-based activities both at the beginning and end of the program to look at their growth in executive function skills.
Studies have shown students who improve their executive brain function at an early age, are set up for improved learning in the future.
Learn more about Building Brains Together at www.buildingbrains.ca
Lethbridge School Division has embedded the Building Brains Together activities in their Early Education Program classrooms for 5 years, and now Building Brains is being offered in a virtual format.
Limited spaces are available for the program. In addition to a $40 registration fee, a $100-per-month fee will be charged for the program, which will run from until June 24, 2022.
Building Brains Together – At Home will follow the Division’s educational calendar, as sessions and parent café presentations will not be held on holidays or professional learning days.
Click this link to register: REGISTRATION.
Contact Rochelle Neville, the Division’s Early Learning Co-ordinator, at rochelle.neville@lethsd.ab.ca for more information.