Laughter erupts in the pre-school classroom inside North Delta’s Hellings Elementary.
Not an unusual thing, except it’s getting dark outside and all the kids for whom this room was built have long ago left for home.
Their grandmothers are sitting in their one-foot high plastic chairs. This is a new experience - many never even attended their village grade-schools in their native Punjab.
Welcome to the Strong Start for Adults language program. This Ministry of Education program helps senior caregivers, i.e. the grandmas in the neighbourhood, learn English and thereby support the learning of their grandchildren.
The adult and senior women have created their own classroom environment and learning techniques, often playing games like ‘Snakes and Ladders’ and ‘Checkers’ as part of their efforts to work together and learn English.
According to Edna Pinto, the program manager, the idea of running a program to teach English to caregivers of students at Hellings Elementary School emerged when several of the mothers and grandmothers of kids in her Strong Start program expressed a desire to learn the language.
Strong Start is a family education program for adults and their children aged birth through five-years-old.
The goal is to provide high-quality early learning initiatives that will benefit the entire family. It prepares children for school and teaches parents and caregivers how to support their child’s learning.
As last year’s program at Hellings was winding down, many of the caregivers were saddened that they would not be returning as their children were moving on to kindergarten.
That is when their desire to learn became clear to Pinto.
She helped launch the Strong Start for Adults version of the program.
The Delta School District partnered with the Delta Community Literacy Committee to make the program a reality. The literacy committee is funding the program while the school district offers the space and resources. Just like the original Strong Start program, the adult program is also free.
Today, there are 18 women, all Indian immigrants, who come to Hellings twice every month and are beginning to speak English – all are incredibly excited about it.
“This grandma, every time she sees me, she hugs me and says, ‘Thank you for doing this,” explains Pinto, gesturing towards one of the older women in the room, “She said her wish was to write her name in English before she died.”
For more information contact Edna Pinto at epinto@deltasd.bc.ca.