If you haven’t checked out the Parent Link Centre in Cochrane lately you’re missing out. The centre is a great resource for parents and families to connect.
The centre contains an indoor playground, a resource library of books for children and parents, developmental screening resources, space for the many classes and group sessions it offers, and much more.
On Feb. 20, Seat Savvy is partnering with the centre to teach families about car-seat safety.
Parents can register through Seat Savvy’s website to get an appointment time to visit the Cochrane Protective Services Centre to meet one-on-one with a certified car-seat technician. The technician will inspect your car seat to ensure it meets industry standards and is safe.
Parents are also asked to bring their children along as the technicians will show them how to properly install the car seat in their vehicle and buckle their child in safely.
“They spend about a half hour to 45 minutes with each family. It’s more than just getting your car seat OK’d, it teaches families how to take their seats in and out of their vehicle so they can do it safely,” said Kim Krawec, coordinator of the Parent Link Centre.
“Our stats are coming back that about 92 per cent of car seats are being installed incorrectly – that’s Cochrane’s statistics in the past five years,” Krawec explained.
Registration is free of charge for these appointments. This clinic will run monthly for anyone who can not attend on Feb. 20. To register, please call Seat Savvy at 403-980-SEAT.
The Parent Link Centre is also partnering with the Town of Cochrane’s Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) to offer a Focus For Attention class on Feb. 23.
The monthly class is for families with children who have attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
“Lorraine Spector is the facilitator of this program and it’s been going on, I believe, about nine years,” Krawec said.
The class acts as a support group and allows parents to give input about subjects they’d like covered.
“They bring in different guest speakers – Lorraine has brought in psychologists, pharmacists to talk about medications, and other different specialists and professionals to talk to the families.”
Registration for this free class is done through the FCSS. It is held at the FCSS building from 7-8:30 p.m.
To register for Focus For Attention, please call 403-851-2250.
Finally, the Parent Link Centre is holding a monthly Do It Yourself Photo Booth contest. A section of their resource library will be decorated each month to be used as a backdrop for the photo booth.
Currently, the backdrop theme is Valentine’s Day.
“We’ll shift themes every month. So March will be a spring or Easter theme,” Krawec said.
The centre will provide props and a selfie-stick so families can snap a picture together. Then they simply submit the photo to the centre’s Facebook page, facebook.com/CochranePLC, to be entered into the contest.
The lucky winner will receive a $50 grocery gift card. People also have the option to privately message the centre’s page with their photo if they do not wish to share it publicly.
For more information on all of the centre’s resources and classes, visit their webpage located on the Town of Cochrane’s website, cochrane.ca, or “like” their Facebook page, facebook.com/CochranePLC
