LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Two and a half years of work is about to pay off for two staff members at Kids Corner Daycare in Fort Simpson.
Tanya Klassen, left, manager of Kids Corner Daycare in Fort Simpson, and Melinda Brown, the daycare's assistant manager and language co-ordinator, will graduate on April 26 from Aurora College's Early Childhood Development Certification program. Both women are encouraging high school students to consider a career in early childhood education. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo
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On April 26, Melinda Brown and Tanya Klassen will be graduating from the Early Childhood Development Certification program offered by Aurora College. Both women are attending the graduation ceremony that is taking place in Fort Smith.
"I can't even believe we are finally there," said Klassen.
The program, which includes 13 courses, is offered through distance education. Klassen started the program after she became the manager of the daycare.
She joined Brown, the daycare's assistant manager and language co-ordinator, who had already completed one course.
It was challenging at times to balance having a full-time job, taking care of a family and completing the course work, Brown said.
As part of the course, the two women participated in teleconference calls every Thursday evening for three hours, in addition to doing assignments and e-mailing them to their instructors.
"I'm happy I stuck through it and got this far," she said.
Both Brown and Klassen said taking the program has helped them a lot in their work.
"There was a lot of good information," Brown said.
She said she learned more about how children want to be interacted with and how to deal with them in certain situations. She also learned how to encourage other staff members to try different techniques with the 17 children between ages 18 months to five years who are registered at the daycare.
The childhood development courses were Klassen's favourites.
"They allowed me to see what children are all about," she said.
With knowledge of neurological behaviour and development, you can see past what children are doing to why they are doing it, Klassen said.
In every course, there was something that could be used in everyday practice at the daycare, she said.
The whole program gives you the confidence to work with children and to know that you are doing the right things to help them with their development, Klassen said.
The two women said they encouraged each other through the course work whenever they were struggling or felt graduation was a long ways away.
"I don't know if I would have been able to do it without Melinda supporting me," Klassen said.
Now that they have reached graduation, Brown and Klassen are encouraging high school students to consider entering the field of early childhood education.
"It's a rewarding career," Klassen said.
High school graduates can come and work at Kids Corner Daycare and start taking the Early Childhood Development Certification program without having to leave the community, she said.
Fresh from the success of completing the program, both Brown and Klassen plan to take the next step, the diploma level Early Childhood Development program.
