Other Programs

|Our other programs address the variety of needs of our diverse client base.

The Mothers Matter Centre gains critical insights into the lives of low-income, newcomer, refugee, and Indigenous mothers and families across Canada through our flagship Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program.

Using this specialized knowledge, the Mothers Matter Centre develops new programs that address areas of our client’s life that require support: whether it’s early learning for siblings too young for the HIPPY program, supporting adult literacy, finding appropriate educational programming for the summer months, or learning how to be an involved and informed Canadian citizen.

While the Mothers Matter Centre researches, designs, tests, and evaluates the feasibility of these programs to ensure the wellbeing, dignity, and social connections of our clients, we partner with social purpose organizations who are the ones that bring these programs to life in their communities.

Early Language Learning (ELL) for Newcomers

HIPPY Program and English Language Learning (ELL) is a specially designed program to support mothers who have the basic needs of the HIPPY program – highly isolated mothers of three- and four-year-old children – and low levels of English literacy. The innovation combines the HIPPY program and its mother-to-mother approach with home and community-based language learning. We hear frequently from HIPPY Home Visitors, Coordinators, and families in the HIPPY program of the long waitlists for the LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) programming.

ELL Curriculum

Free Instructional Resource: Early Language Learning for Newcomers (Pre-LINC) by Mothers Matter Centre Canada

This free new comprehensive curriculum provides material and support documents to create a pre-LINC program of task-based English language learning for Literacy to CLB 3 newcomers, with an emphasis on parents of young children. Material includes Instructor Guides with CLB-aligned objectives and suggested activities, as well as detailed scripts for use in one-on-one or small group follow-up support if feasible.  Learner handouts include vocabulary, dialogues, listening scripts and grammar tap sheets.

The ELL Curriculum was originally designed for use with a HIPPY program for newcomer mothers, but can stand alone as a language class or be used to support conversation circles or tutoring. ELL covers 12 key settlement topics such as Knowing Your Community, Settlement and Community Services, Physical and Mental Health, Financial Literacy, and Canadian Parenting norms. Newcomers work toward informal skill-using tasks, build confidence, learn about key resources in the community, and break the cycle of isolation surrounding immigrants and refugees with low levels of English so they are more ready for structured LINC learning when their personal circumstances allow.

For organizations or programs interested in acquiring the ELL curriculum,  please email: yqadir@hippycanada.ca

Literacy Plus

Literacy Plus is a guide to adding adult literacy activities to family service programs. It was developed as a proactive approach to embedding literacy instruction in the day-to-day needs of HIPPY families as they interact with one another and the various services and systems that shape their daily lives.

Many HIPPY families (primarily mothers) have low literacy levels that are compounded by their unfamiliarity with the practices and the expectations of public health agencies, child care centres, schools, and workplaces. Social isolation, in addition to working long hours and/or living in poverty, means that many of these families are unable to attend literacy classes away from their home environments. These families not only need to learn literacy skills, but also how these institutions work and what is expected of them to participate in Canadian society.

Literacy Plus provides needs-based at-home language instruction provided by trained Home Visitors and group activities that teach new skillsets and encourage the building of social language skills.

Interested in offering Literacy Plus? Email: info@hippycanada.ca

Care, Identity, and Inclusion (CII)

Care, Identity, and Inclusion (CII) is a set of community-based discussion materials that engage parents from culturally excluded communities in a discussion about the role they play in developing their children’s sense of cultural identity and how it affects their inclusion in Canadian society.

Using participatory facilitation and arts-based approaches, family participants enjoy a reflective opportunity to understand their lived experience of inclusion and exclusion, gain increased awareness of how they currently contribute to cultural awareness and inclusion for their children, and learn new strategies to improve this aspect of their caregiving in the future.

Interested in offering Care, Identity, and Inclusion (CII)? Email: info@hippycanada.ca

I Have the Right to Be a Child

I Have The Right to be a Child is a Mothers Matter Centre program designed to help families develop a deeper awareness and understanding of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

I Have The Right to be a Child will leave the parent and child empowered with the tools to advocate for children’s rights. The five session curriculum covers the basic rights children have to a name, food, water, a home, weather-appropriate clothing, health care, and play. It also guides the parent to teach the child how to understand the difference between needs and wants. By the end of the program, your child will be able to share information about children’s rights and you will both be informed advocates.

Interested in offering I Have the Right to Be a Child? Email: info@hippycanada.ca

Practicing Citizenship

Practicing Citizenship aims to increase immigrant women’s participation in Canadian society through a practical, hands-on program in Canadian history and democracy, practical community experience, mentoring and literacy training. Participants make informed decisions about their settlement and improve their understanding of life in Canada. The course objectives include: developing knowledge and skills required to initiative an appropriate action in response to a community issue within a democratic culture, understanding the history and practice of democracy in Canada, and cultivating a social support system.

Interested in offering Practicing Citizenship? Email: info@hippycanada.ca

For more information, please contact:
Yusra Qadir, Director of Innovations, Advocacy and Multicultural HIPPY: yqadir@hippycanada.ca
The Right to be Ready Initiative
The Right to be Ready Initiative