The University of British Columbia is presenting The Early Years Conference – Shaping Childhood: Factors that Matter January 31, 2014 – February 2, 2014. The conference explores “the complex nature of the social, physical and biological environments that shape children’s development. Multiple elements interact to create dynamic contexts that contribute significantly to early and lifelong wellbeing. Similarly, children influence their environments to shape their developmental paths. All of these factors matter.”
KidCareCanada Society’s Executive Director Estelle Paget and Dr. Andrew Macnab, paediatrician and one of KCC’s board members, will be co-presenting “Visual Media, a Tool to Teach Social and Emotional Development," which will explore the benefits of educational videos. The purpose of the videos are to enable parents to hear from experts in “every day” language and real families discuss their challenges and solutions, and interact with their infants. By watching these videos, parents can learn why nurturing is key and what these behaviours look like. Parents report feeling more confident as a parent and finding joy in everyday acts (bathing their infants, singing to them and telling them stories).
Babies who have been well-nurtured tend to be prepared in life to:
- build and maintain healthy relationships
- learn well, process and retain information
- enjoy physical and mental well-being
- be economically self-sufficient
In contrast, babies who lack a good start in life tend to be vulnerable in adult life to:
- family violence and aggressive, anti-social behaviour
- poor learning skills and challenges with literacy
- mental and physical health problems
- becoming perpetrators and/or victims of crime
- economic dependency
- substance abuse
The KidCareCanada website provides parents with a trustworthy portal for seeking out individual topics or specific guidance. It also provides caregivers and other organizations with an additional tool to support new parents in the community. Video topics include: social and emotional development, epigenetics, language development, postpartum depression, and toxic stress.
It’s critically important for society that new parents be supported, informed and encouraged to develop parenting skills, so that as many children as possible can have the best start in life.
Learn more about The Early Years Conference at their website, and download the Early Years Conference brochure here (we're on page 12).