HELP is on the way for families raising children 0-5 years when Lake Macquarie City Council presents its You’re Kidding Me program.
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The program, now in its fifth year, offers parents a range of workshops to help their little ones develop into thriving kids.
Lake Macquarie City Council’s community planner Jess Salvador said information from the Australian Early Development Census showed about one in five - but in some locations as many as one in three - Lake Macquarie children were “developmentally vulnerable” or “at risk” of becoming developmentally vulnerable in a particular area of development.
Ms Salvador said that included psychical development, emotional, social or communication development.
The Lake Macquarie community was on par in child development with NSW state averages.
“But there are those pockets around the lake that trend higher,” she said.
The program offers six workshops. The first, Music and Brain Development, has already sold out.
The March 21 workshop, Temper Tantrums, will be presented by Community Activities Lake Macquarie (CALM), a family support service.
“It’s looking at the age group of 2- to 3-year-old children,” Ms Salvador said. “ Emotions are pretty big and strong at that age.
“CALM will be looking at how we emotionally support our children, emotional intelligence, and the connection between parents and children.
“It’s really become a big topic in the early childhood sector in recent years.
“We are really trying to get that information out there to parents, because children learn from their parents and they model that behaviour.
“We have to work out how we can be responsive to 2-year-olds.”
The workshops target the first five years of life.
“That’s when when the greatest amount of development happens in a person’s life,” Ms Salvador said.
All workshops are free and presenters are locals, so families can follow up with them after the workshops.
Spots are still available in the Understanding Toddlers workshop, on March 7; Temper tantrums, on March 21; Tummy Time, on April 2; Speech and language screenings, on June 19; and Developing Emotionally Strong Children, on June 26.
To register or find out more, visit: lakemac.com.au/community/childrens-programs/youre-kidding-me
