March 2021

Dear Parents,

The Eastern Shore Family Resource Association (ESFRA) promotes early language, literacy and cognitive development in children through positive parent-child interactive programs and quality child development programs throughout our communities.

ESFRA has been partnering with Dalhousie University School of Communication Sciences and Disorders to have Speech – Language Pathology & Audiology students & faculty provide early childhood screenings. Children attending ESFRA programs will be given the opportunity to be screened for speech, language, hearing and school readiness skills, including numbers and letters. In addition, we will be opening up the screening opportunity to those Eastern Shore families and their children in the larger community who are of age (must be 3 years on or before screening date). If you are interested, please select a “ticket” from our Upcoming Events to make an appointment from https://www.esfamily.org.

Once you have a “ticket”, please complete the online “Screening Registration” within 3 days from https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pJI3LBBJJRr-V3buuG8_AQK9m4lT70TNPVI7Oze....
(Registration without a “ticket” does not secure your child’s participation.)

The screenings are being held on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday April 21, 22 & 23, 2021 by appointment at the Good Shepherd Church in Lawrencetown.

The screening process is designed to be fun! It will involve a series of play stations using speech-language and pre-literacy (PLS-5 Screening Test, K-SEALS) screening tools. In addition, Audiology students will perform a hearing screening for each child. Parents will receive notice from ESFRA Centre staff within a few weeks IF the screening indicates that a full speech-language and/or hearing assessment is warranted. Referral forms will be available to send a referral to Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Centres for those children requiring further assessment. ESFRA Family Centre staff can complete the referral form.

Each screening will take approximately 2 hours per child to complete, and will take place at the Good Shepherd Church in Lawrencetown (3621 Lawrencetown Rd. – Hwy. 207, Lawrencetown). Appointments will be set up throughout each day, beginning at 9am and ending at 11:30am (latest appointment time). We ask that parents bring their children no earlier than 5 minutes prior to their screening appointment.

Event protocols:
• Upon Arrival - We ask that you call either Tracy Cowan 902-476-0642 or Nancy Hollis 902-476-3840 before entering the building IF you have not completed the digital version of the Health Check In (https://www.esfamily.org/), to complete the Covid-19 “Health Check-in” questionnaire.

• Once admitted - you and your child will be directed to an area for parents to complete IF necessary, all consent documents prior to starting the screening process. These may include:
• PLS-5/K-SEALS Permission Form
• Audio/Video/Photograph Release Form (as the event will be documented for promotional purposes).
• Masks are required to be worn at all times when moving around the space but children can take theirs off once they reach each station. We will have social distanced areas set up for parents to wait while their child goes through the screening process.
• Families may bring water for themselves and their child(ren); however, snacks and hot beverages are not permitted.

For further information or to schedule a screening appointment, please contact either:
Tracy Cowan at 902-827-1462 (ESFRA office) / 902-476-0642 (cell)
or
Nancy Hollis at 902-827-1461 (ESFRA office) / 902-476-3840 (cell)

Regards,

Tracy Cowan, B.A., E.C.E
Parenting Journey Family Support Home Visitor
Eastern Shore Family Resource Association