BC school districts have sustained the JOY, passion and promise of CR4YR in many ways. Students and teachers continue to benefit from locally developed extensions and adaptation including more CR4YR (readers) groups, CR4AR (adolescent readers), CR4OR (other readers), CR4YW (writers), CR4YM (mathematicians) — and there are probably ore variations we haven’t heard about!

And now, a new initiative for YOUNG CHILDREN – CR4YC — bringing the joy and power of the CR4YR format and commitment to Early Childhood education: CR4YC!

CR4YC – Changing Results for Young Children is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and the United Way of the Lower Mainland.  Through CR4YC, Early Childhood Educators and Primary Teachers will work collaboratively to inquire into practices that support the social and emotional well-being of young children. 

The goals: 

• Identify, explore, and apply a strengthened understanding of quality practices associated with increasing the social and emotional well-being of young children.
• Establish and/or strengthen a culture of inquiry through the use of documentation, collaborative critical reflection, and a supportive ‘community of practice’ amongst community and school-based practitioners.

 Key practices 

• The Image of the child
• Pedagogical narration
• Documentation of learning
• Language-rich environments
• Play-based approaches
• Development of strong identity, including cultural knowledge and competency
  • “We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission #12, call to action.)

*BC Ministry of Education.  Understanding the Early Learning Framework: from theory to practice.  

What’s happening this year?

• Three demonstration sites
• Each site will include 8 community-based ECEs, 8 Strong Start Facilitators, and 8 primary teachers
• Six half-day meetings, following the CR4YR model, facilitated by Early Years experts
• Participants will develop case-studies of individual children
• Meeting will focus on reflection and documentation, including exploration of learning for groups of children
• Within a shared framework, sessions tailored to local context

Who’s involved?

• Project leads: Maureen Dockendorf (MOE) and Jeff Calbick (UWLM)
• Resource team: Sharon Jeroski (Horizon Research); Kim Schonert-Reichl (UBC-HELP)
• Facilitators: Alison Bledsoe, Judith King and Noralea Pilgrim
• Each site has a team of Early Learning specialists from the districts involved

What information will be available in 2017-18? 

• Research instruments and processes will be posted on the CR4YR research website
• There will be project updates and links to key information and resources,  approximately monthly. They will be on the CR4YC research website
• Brief synopses from the demonstration sites will be on the research site as they become available

What information will be available after Year 1 (June 2018)? 

• Synthesis of the case studies
• Summary of actions and reflections from the group discussions
• “Advice to colleagues” from participants
• Graphic presentations of the results
• Research materials including surveys

Formal research reports will be available through the Ministry of Education and the United Way of the Lower Mainland in Summer/Fall 2018