Children's Development Centre
January 2024
CDC - Spirit Bear Adventures!
June 2023
CDC - Spirit Bear Adventures!
January 2022
CDC - Grand Opening and Blessing Ceremony
Saanich Moon Display
Thank you C. Wallace and S. York for sharing how you are displaying the moons in your classrooms.
January 2021
Welcome to fall at CDC. This year is a challenging year, and one that has us feeling very thankful for our connections to the community and our growing relationship with Lydia Jim.
In September we begin our learning and acknowledge that The Children’s Development Centre is located on the unceded territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ People. We also focus our learning on creating context to understand and engage with Orange Shirt Day as September draws to a close. Students at CDC are always engaged and learn about Canada’s Legacy of Residential Schools through children’s literacy. We read “Shi Shi Etko” by Nicola I. Campbell, and “When I Was Eight” by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. Each year we see the students of CDC listen intently to these stories, and always they have thoughtful questions as they try to process that important learning.
Woven through the year we follow the W̱SÁNEĆ moon cycle and use our skills of observation and prediction to make connections to the excellent learning that is found in the yearly cycle of the WSANEC moons. In WSELANEW our own Mr. Kenny was on an adventure, and he took a picture of a bull elk that was protecting the doe elk in his company. It was incredible for our students to be able to see for themselves the true connections to the natural cycles that the W̱SÁNEĆ people have known and understood since time immemorial.
This year the students also made connections to SJELCASEN with the low tides of fall, and the art of digging clams. While many students at CDC aren’t certain they are ready to try clams, they all expressed a desire to learn more. We hope to learn more about clam gardens in the new year. Each year the W̱SÁNEĆ moon journey serves as an impeccable opportunity to weave in place-based learning.
The most exciting part of our fall is undoubtedly the learning we do about SELEKTEL/Goldstream and the chum salmon that return each year. This year we were privileged that Dominic Paul gave us the gift of his time. While we were at SELEKTEL/Goldstream with Dominic, he showed us the great gift of harvesting salmon that is part of his family’s legacy. Dominic gave us a gift that the students will remember each time they learn about the salmon as they go forward. The students had the opportunity to try smoked and jarred salmon that was given as a gift from Dominic and his family. The students enjoyed the delectable salmon over rice, and would like to express their thanks once again!
If you haven’t yet seen the book “Métis Christmas Mittens” by Leah Marie Dorion the students recommend that you check it out. We loved this book for the opportunity to learn a little about Métis culture and art. The student’s curiosity about Métis culture was sparked, and they loved to learn about gifts that come straight from the heart-expressing love and caring for the precious people in our lives.
As this part of the year draws to a close, we wish to express our gratitude to Lydia Jim, Sheralyn McCrae, and Dominic Paul for working together to help support us in our learning and to help us to make meaningful connections to that learning.
January 2020
At the Children’s Development Centre is it all about relationships and experiences. In late October we were lucky enough to get out with Earl Claxton Jr. to SELEKTEL/Goldstream for a second year in a row. Each year the salmon return and lucky for us-so does Earl! Again Earl took time out of his busy schedule to share with us his personal connection to SELEKTEL, the salmon, and the importance of Indigenous harvesting rights. We feel really honoured and thankful each time Earl carves time out of his busy schedule for us.
Something amazing happens each morning with our journals at CDC. For the third year in a row we focus each morning on a writing prompt. The prompt can be a current event, or important happening, but most often it is connected to the amazing W̱SÁNEĆ moon resource available to us all here in SD63. We encourage students to make specific inferences and connections to what they are seeing and experiencing in their own yearly cycles. The W̱SÁNEĆ moon resource always serves to tune us in to natural cycles and parts of our everyday lives.
During CENQOLEW the students learned about the NIED/grouse and were encouraged to watch for other birds on the land on which they live. PEKELANEW had the students exploring the beauty of the changing leaves and performing a leaf chromatography experiment to help predict which colour the leaves would turn. As autumn brought moisture and changes in weather, fungi bloomed all over the local grounds. Curiosity bloomed in the minds of students as well! In our class we grew oyster mushrooms and learned about fungi. When we tune in to the W̱SÁNEĆ moon cycle and vast cultural and natural knowledge held there-we are always guided to learning that is just right at exactly the best time for this land.
In the coming months we look forward to working with Chazz Elliot to officially install and honour the exquisite and thoughtful spindle whorl that he carved just for our learning community.
June 2019
Spring has sprung at CDC. The students and staff are making sure that we connect to all the changes and growth that we are seeing in nature at this time. At CDC we are also growing our relationships with generous members of the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation who have taken the time to graciously share their stories and knowledge with us. We are very lucky to have been able to connect with May Sam for a second year in a row. May and the students the students enjoyed making her famous pom-poms. The CDC students connect to the book, “Yetsa’s Sweater” by Sylvia Olsen as we explore fibre arts, and it is special to have the chance to talk to May who is featured in the book. We thank her for her time.
Chazz Elliott visited CDC, and we began our journey into W̱SÁNEĆ art and formline. Students were treated to some beautiful examples of Salish and W̱SÁNEĆ art as we transformed our classroom into an art gallery with the stunning district resource ‘The Salish Weave Kit’. We have plans to visit Chazz at his studio in early June when he has started our commission. CDC is so excited to be on the journey of having a W̱SÁNEĆ spindle whorl created just for us, and we are grateful to Chazz and his family for working with us to create a touchstone to remind us of where we are, and the importance of who we work in partnership with.
Earl Claxton Jr. met the CDC community at T̸IX̱EṈ and graciously gifted our learning community with the responsibility of some stories about the plants and animals that make T̸IX̱EṈ so special. Earl also impressed upon us some of the stories that make up the history between TSAWOUT and the surrounding community. It is imperative for students and staff to hear and be begin to understand the stories that make up the history and present of our communities. We thank Earl again for his time with us and for the learning about the land that supports us all.
As we begin to bring this year to a close, and start the yearly process of helping our students transition to the next part of their learning journey-we had the opportunity to release coho fry near Beaver lake. It was a special moment to see this gift of the salmon cycle and to realize that we are part of our own cycles of learning, growth and connection to each other. The students cared for the salmon and as they were released they wished the salmon a safe passage in the next part of the their journey-we wish the same for the students we are blessed to work with and and for our learning community.
February 2019
At the Children’s Development Centre is it all about relationships. We have shared a few opportunities to strengthen and explore our connections to each other and to the land.
This fall we had the opportunity to sit down with the most important people in our school community and share a tea made from family recipes. The students had their first opportunity to try salal jelly spread on fresh scones. The salal was a hit with the students who hadn’t previously stopped to consider this hardy Indigenous shrub.
The highlight of our fall saw the students make a direct connection to their learning about salmon and the deep relationship between the W̱SÁNEĆ people, the salmon, and the land. Earl Claxton Jr. met CDC students and staff at Goldstream where he gifted our learning community with the opportunity to see a salmon harvested, deftly filleted, thanked, and lovingly returned to the river. It is shockingly clear that a google slide deck or a video will never eclipse the meaningful teachings that Earl shared with all of us that day, and we are truly thankful for that gift.
Sometimes just being together as a community is a gift in itself. We had an opportunity to visit Butchart Gardens just before Winter Break to celebrate our community and to try new activities. Students tested their grit in the rain as many strapped on skates for the first time and took to the ice. Each student that took to the ice was supported by people tightening skates or outstretching hands of support for those first timid ventures from the railing. Laughter and waves of excitement to each other from the carousel and hot chocolate sent our students off to winter break in good cheer.
We are so excited to see what the new year brings. Chazz Elliott has graciously agreed to work with us to create a spindle whorl that communicates the spirit of the work that we do here in our learning community. We are excited to connect to Chazz and honoured to have the opportunity for the students to spend time with a gifted artist and community member.
We are truly grateful for all of the new connections, learning and friendships that we are making, and look forward to the next adventures.
