Get them while they’re young.
That’s the philosophy behind Gwich’in Language Nest, an immersive language program hosted by Children’s First Society in Inuvik.
“We offer immersion programming, so the staff speak to the children in Gwich’in as much as possible for two-to-five year-olds,” said CFS executive director Patricia Davis. “They spend their days learning through play, in Gwich’in.”
Open to children aged two to five, the program places up to eight youth with a Gwich’in Elder and two Early Childhood practitioners throughout the day. The daycare and pre-school activities are all delivered in Gwich’in, giving children plenty of practice speaking their mother tongue.
Learning through artwork, singing, science experiments and outdoor activities, the program is intended to give a boost to later development in children’s lives.
“We keep the groups small, because they can focus them on a lot of language, learning, small groups and one-on-one. It makes it more manageable,” said Davison. “We have children who are from two years of age to four years of age. They come in the morning, have lunch with us and stay until around 5 p.m.”
Kids learn in cohorts of eight over two year programs. Upon completion of the program, youth still under five years old have the option of continuing the program.
Since starting the program over two years ago with the partnership of the MakeWay Foundation and the Gwich’in Tribal Council, the Language Nest program has been a hit with families. It recently accepted a new cohort of eight children into its fold.
“We had just finished a very successful cohort in August,” said Davison. “Many children came in when they were two-turning-three and they stayed with us until they were four or five before going on to East Three Elementary. And we just started a new cohort that’s a mixture of returning students and quite a few new students. Sometimes the families choose to have the children in the program for a little bit longer.
“The program is open for those children to stay up until they’re five years old. It’s totally up to the family as to how long they would like the child to stay in the program.”
Of course with the Covid-19 pandemic ongoing, programming has had to adjust to remain safe.
Davison said the Children’s First Society solved this with take-home activities for the children to take home to complete with their families, helping children teach their parents what they’re learning.
“One of the other components that we’ve tried to add on, and Covid-19 has put a little bit of a challenge to that, is language sessions with family members,” said Davison. “With the Covid-19 scenario we have in Inuvik this fall and winter makes it trickier to have groups of people together.
“So we’ve been sending language activities home with the children to do with their families. We’ve had some success with that, and families are asking for more so they can speak with their children more and know what they’re learning.
Anyone interested in Gwich’in Language Nest should contact the CFS by email at execdir@childrenfirstsociety.org to learn more.