JF's Journey with the Jumpstart Program

Meet JF, she is a mother of two -- a 5-year-old and a 5-month-old. Eager to learn more about how she could support her children's literacy development, JF decided to attend FESA's Jumpstart program hosted at the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre (CPCC).

The Jumpstart program covers four important literacy-based topics: attachment and development, supporting baby's speech and language skills, songs and rhymes, and reading with your baby. JF connected with the material instantly, and as the program continued, she found herself asking important questions that engaged the whole group.

JF was particularly interested in the topic of supporting baby's speech and language skills, and how talking to her baby frequently, even if the baby couldn't understand the words yet. She also learned about the benefits of using a sing-song voice and exaggerating facial expressions to help her baby learn to communicate.

What really surprised JF was how much she learned about supporting her older child's literacy development. Her 5-year-old had been struggling since the birth of the new baby, and JF wasn't sure how to help. But through the Jumpstart program, she learned about the power of reading aloud to her older child, and how it could help them bond and develop a love of books.

JF also discovered the importance of choosing books that her older child would be interested in, and how to engage them in conversation about the stories they were reading. She found that by doing this, she was not only helping her older child develop important literacy skills, but also fostering a stronger bond.

At the end of the program, JF felt much more confident in her ability to support both her children's literacy development. She was grateful for the opportunity to learn from the Jumpstart program and felt that it had made a real difference in her family's life.

If you would like to know more about the Further Education Society of Alberta's Jumpstart program, or any of our other programs, you can visit https://www.furthered.ca/learner-information, or contact blu@furthered.ca or 403-250-5034 to talk with someone about FESA's programs today!