WINNIPEG – The First Nations Early Learning Conference, hosted by the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC) is now in its third year.
The conference, which runs from February 8 to 9, at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre, brings together Seeds of Empathy and Roots of Empathy teachers, program administrators, teacher educators and students to explore the latest research and learn from one another.
“Knowing Our Gifts: Guiding Our Paths to Mino-pimatisiwin (Cree/Ojibwe/Ojibwe-Cree); honso aynai (Dene); tokatakiya wichoni washte (Dakota)” is the theme for this year.
“We want children to be able to achieve the good life, whatever that is for them,” explains Education Partnership Project Lead in the Early Learning unit, Susy Komishin. “As adults we are responsible for nurturing those gifts in young children. This year we really wanted to focus on how adults can best support children.”
The conference is free of cost for educators of facilities that MFNERC serves. For the first time, the general public is being invited to participate in the conference.
“We wanted to provide opportunities for networking with First Nations, but also with other provincial early learning programs,” says Komishin.
She encourages people interested in attending the conference to visit MFNERC for more information.
First Nations have always known that raising a child holistically helps them develop healthy relationships and make positive choices. MFNERC is working hard to ensure that early learning is holistic and includes developing the intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a person.
