EarlyOn marks one year anniversary

Jeff Green | Sep 12, 2019

At the beginning of the summer last year (2018) Rural Frontenac Community Services (RFCS), which is based in Sharbot Lake, began operating the EarlyOn program at locations throughout Frontenac County, but it wasn’t until September that the full breadth of the program took its final form.

“That’s one of the reasons why we are celebrating our one-year anniversary now,” said EarlyOn Frontenac program manager Melissa Elliott, “It has been quite a busy year.”

The EarlyOn program is a playgroup-based early childhood education program, delivered by registered early childhood educators at locations in South, Central and North Frontenac, for free. Under an earlier delivery model, funded directly by the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth, RFCS was an Ontario Early Years Centre and operated a similar program. The Ministry decided to download management of the new EarlyOn program to the City of Kingston, which put out a Request for Proposal in late 2017 for a provider. RFCS submitted the successful proposal, and as the EarlyOn provider, the agency has greatly expanded the scope of the program.

There are two EarlyOn centres in Frontenac County. One is at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake, which also operates a daycare. The other, a new location for RFCS, is in the heart of Sydenham at 4365 Mill Street just down the road from Sydenham High School and Loughborough Public School.

The Sydenham EarlyOn Centre offers playgroups six days a week, and the Sharbot Lake Centre offers playgroups four days a week. Satellite centres, which are open from one to two days a week, are located in Plevna (Clarendon Central PS), Arden (Kennebec Hall), Mountain Grove (Olden Hall), Verona (Trinity United Church), Harrowsmith (Free Methodist Church) and Sunbury, (Storrington Fire Hall).

“We have 18 different playgroups available now. That’s pretty exciting. It is also exciting that every month we have seen an increase in the number of children and parents coming out to them. We had over 1,000 in August of this year, and last August we saw 600,” said Elliott.

One of the playgroups is held at the Depot Lakes campground within the Depot Lakes Conservation Area northwest of Verona.

“It is our only outdoor playgroup, and it runs all year long. Of course, we have special programming at that location,” she said.

Playgroups are supported by public dollars because they have proven to be an effective way to provide information and support to parents in an informal setting, provide a free and fun outing for parents and children, build connections between families. And for RFCS, the are a way to introduce other services offered directly by the agency or by other agencies in the region to families who may have a need for them

“Some of our playgroups, like the one that we hold in the Storrington Fire Hall on Mondays (9:30am to 3pm) are very well attended, and some are quieter. It’s all a function of how many young families live in a community. But as long as we have two families out at the same time, we can deliver an effective and entertaining program for both children and parents. And people seem to appreciate having somewhere local to go with their children instead of having to run to Kingston or Perth all the time,” she said.

Another change from the former structure is the direct relationship between the Frontenac EarlyOn program which is operated by RFCS, the Kingston provider which is the Boys and Girls Club, and the EarlyOn co-ordinators from the City of Kingston.

“We all meet together and talk about what is working and what is not working and how something that works in Kingston may or may not work out here,” she said.

One of the challenges facing EarlyOn is making sure that parents of young children know about the program and particularly parents of children who are under a year old.

“We need to keep working to make sure that people know we are there, and that they can bring their children, at a time that is convenient for them.”

When it was time to celebrate the one-year anniversary of EarlyOn, it was clear that holding a party in one location would not work in Frontenac County. So, a breakfast was held in Sharbot Lake, a lunch in Storrington, and a dinner in Sydenham.

The events were all well attended, and EarlyOn year 2 is now underway.