Greetings from The Newfoundland and Labrador Parent-Child Mother Goose Program, Incorporated. We are hoping that everyone is staying well and enjoying life at home.  We are continuing to connect with families and encouraging them to stay connected with their children by using rhymes and songs and stories within their own households.  With the uncertain times we have all become creative.  And we are learning a lot about technology in the process.

In St. John’s, we are using Zoom and Facebook to host two regular weekly sessions with participation from families, whereby we are doing a new rhyme and a song and/or story for the families and allowing families to request favourites.

In addition, we are recording two sessions per week (without participants) that we are posting on our participant Facebook Page.  One of the childcare staff that works with our program has committed to doing some craft activities and she is going to post them on the Facebook Page.

Elsewhere in the province, three Family Resource Centres have connected with us to let us know that they are continuing to support families as we are through Facebook and Zoom meetings.

Carol Dwyer

by Crystal Murgatroyd, Parent-Child Mother Goose Program Coordinator

Our world got turned upside down in a matter of days, and we’re feeling isolated now more than ever. We can’t go and visit our friends and family, littles aren’t able to play in parks or playgrounds, and life looks so very different through the eyes of a child. 

The Kamloops Parent-Child Mother Goose team is trying to keep connected with each other, with our Mother Goose families, and with our community. We have approximately 2000 people following our ‘Kamloops Parent-Child Mother Goose’ Facebook page, and we see this as an opportunity to keep our community connected. Each day we post a video from one of our KELLI facilitators singing a well-loved, well-known Mother Goose song. 

We feel that this lets the little ones in our community feel connected to their Mother Goose world. Our talented facilitators showcase their enthusiasm and passion for the P-CMG program from the comfort of their home, with their own families. Our families communicate with us, and with facilitators through comments. Families tell us that their child lights up with a smile while watching these short clips. We show our community that we are all in this together, we are here for one another, and we can get through this with some help from singing, rhyming and telling stories together.

Adapting for a virtual world

We adapted our Mother Goose program for the virtual world, and will be able to offer the community a virtual alternative to group programming. We are offering ten groups this spring running throughout the week, and we are inviting families to join, engage and support each other through this challenging time. Groups will be offered through Zoom, with two facilitators. At the end of each session, facilitators remain on the meeting to connect with the children and families. We believe families can join one another at home and all share in the power and pleasure of songs, rhymes and oral stories.

Families, now more than ever, need to be reminded that we are not alone. We need extra smiles, extra happiness, and extra connection with each other. We will get through this, and we can have some fun together while doing it!

If you’ve got a story to share about how your Parent-Child Mother Goose program is adapting to the challenges of supporting families during COVID-19, let us know! We’ll post your report here, so that others around the country can learn about what you are doing.  Send to us at [email protected].

Here are two suggestions we’ve received since our post last week asking readers to let us know how they are continuing to share Parent Child Mother Goose with children and families during the COVID-19 crisis.

Lisa Hurrle from Calgary writes, “Connection is SO important – especially while social distancing. Carya is sharing some Mother Goose moments over our facebook groups for families!”

Susan Ryan, Executive Director of the Vermont Square program in Toronto offers, “Share the love in good health! For Zoom storytelling tips and 2 new stories for springtime, go to
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Xq0Iwt_5eTGqTIk-q1svBExuCWQh9ur6?usp=sharing”

Thank you both for sharing these suggestions!

If you have tips or advice to share with others about how you are continuing to provide Parent-Child Mother Goose while observing physical distancing and self-isolating, please let us know by sending them to [email protected]. We will include them in an upcoming post.

Stay safe and healthy!