• April Calendar
• STEM for Kids starts April 10th
• Our AGM is April 14th
• Critic's Corner: Our Co op Student William
• Toronto Public Library programs for children
• Emotional Regulation Tips: What is Separation Anxiety?
• More Links & Resources
• Our Marketing Committee wants your testimonials and photos!
• Kitchen and Snack Program Updates for Kimbourne
• Happy Birthday to Kavya and Thank you for the Donations!
• Procedure and Protocol Reminders
• Land Acknowledgment
• Stroller Parking at Kimbourne & Terry Fox EarlyONs

Schedule Hi-lites!!

• April 3rd and 6th: Easter Weekend Program Closures at Terry Fox EarlyON
• April 10th: STEM for Kids starts
• April 10th: Public Health Nurse Visit at Terry Fox
• April 14th: Annual General Meeting 5 - 7:30 pm
• April 14th: Lactation Consultant Visit to Baby Time
• April 21st: Public Health Nurse Visit to Baby Time
• April 23rd: Children's Librarian Visit to Baby Time

Bookmark our Linktree on your phone for quick access to our schedules!

EECC's Annual General Meeting is fast approaching and you are invited! Here's the plan:

5 pm: Doors Open; Family Friendly Dinner catered by Oak Park Deli

6 pm: Performance by Rabbit and Bear Paws

6:45 pm: Departure of families not attending the official Meeting of the General Membership

7 pm: Meeting of the General Membership with child care provided

Space is limited. RSVP is required by April 7th.

Book Review by William Tziavaras

Title: A Day With No Words ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magical story highlights the communication of a nonspeaking autistic child 

This book is authored by Tiffany Hammond, a Black autistic blogger and influencer well known in autistic spheres. It is a fictional narration by Aidan, a speaking autistic boy, of a normal day with his mother. 

Hammond introduces Aidan as a playfully rhyming wordsmith, and his special way with words mirrors Hammond’s unmistakable gift of being profound without pretense. While the language is accessible, it sews a patch of magic and whimsy over the monochromatic fabric often seen in children’s stories.

The story itself highlights the connective world of alternative and augmented communication (AAC) - in this case the tablets both mother and son use to communicate, demonstrating that speech is not required to connect through language. The re-assurance provided to children when their loved ones have confidence in them and protect them from the harmful effects of othering, is the happy theme. In the case of Hammond’s story, the mother defends her son from the ugly ableism they encounter in a park [read more]

A Day With No Words is Available at EECC!

Book Review by William Tziavaras

Title: Baby’s First Ramadan, by DK Books

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Made For Babies, Good For Everyone

For this review, I read a few baby books about the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, and this little reader is the one that I would most recommend to caregivers of babies and toddlers. Here’s why this one stands out:

• The photographs are clear, warm and inviting, making it much easier for a young child to engage with than the abstract cartoons found in other books. Simple monochromatic backdrops help young eyes focus on one or two things that stand out in each image. The graphics and fonts are clean and undistracting. They will capture your baby’s attention.
• The language doesn’t distract from the traditions of Ramadan, and is easy without being abstract, making it suitable for any age. This is important because babies aren’t reading the book alone; anyone who happens to read to them can learn the principles and customs of Ramadan, including vocabulary such as “suhor” and “iftar”. These words mean a lot to the people who fast for Ramadan, therefore it means a lot to include them. The book also uses “we” and “our” to invite readers into the spiritual customs, [read more]

The book is available at EECC. Ramadan is observed through March 19.

Hi, I’m William. I am a non-speaking autistic who communicates with augmented &

alternative communication (AAC). While my brain is fully capable, I experience difficulty with planned movement and sensory processing.

These differences affect my speech and physical coordination, but not my intelligence. Many people mistakenly believe that those with similar differences are unable to think. I invite you to have a conversation with me to see that’s not the case. I communicate most effectively using a letter board and iPad with a text-to-speech app or a keyboard for typing. More About William Tziavaras

More links!!

• Are you a NEWCOMER parent? Join a newcomer parent/caregiver network at EYET EarlyON.
• Canadian Dental Care Plan: applications are now open for children and adults with no health care benefits
• Do you need assistance with laundry costs? Apply for FREE or watch for local events for on site registration.
• Could You Use Some Mental Health Support? We know how hard and expensive accessing mental health support can be, which is why we're delighted to be partnered with GreenShield Cares’ Women’s Mental Health program. This program offers anyone who is part of the EECC community 5 hours of FREE, culturally-sensitive, trauma-informed virtual therapy with a registered therapist. You can sign up here. 
• Browse a list of nearby EarlyON Centres
• Search for an EarlyON Child & Family Centre anywhere in Toronto
• Other local resources: food banks/free pantries, links for people experiencing violence, personal care banks, local library programs
• We've added links to breastfeeding supports and perinatal supports to our local resources page
• Communication Checklist for children from Surrey Place Centre's Speech & Language Program

As a small organization, EECC does most things in-house, allowing us to spend more of our revenue on programming. We're currently working to expand our marketing capacity and we invite participants to help in two ways:

• submit testimonials. Send us your heartfelt words about our programs, our space, our staff, our impact on you and your child and we will quote you in our marketing materials and funding requests. If you'd like to contribute a testimonial, please submit it here.
• help us build our photo gallery. We're looking for your favourite photos taken in our program spaces at Kimbourne and Terry Fox. We understand that not everyone is comfortable with their image or their child's image on the internet. If you would like to contribute an image, please submit it here.

"The Wall" at the north end of our Kimbourne space has been up for so long, that many of our current participants don't know that it's there to enclose a construction project nearing completion, or that EECC normally serves a nutritious snack to children every morning, prepared in an actual kitchen.

Very soon, that wall will come down, and our morning snack program for children will resume. We will send out an update about how snacks will be offered. Tentative date for return of the snack program is Saturday, April 4th.

Happy Birthday to little Kavya and Thank You to all who celebrated Kavya with donations to EECC! We're grateful!!

East End Children’s Centre is located in Tkaronto, now known as Toronto, which in Mohawk means ‘where there are trees standing in the water”.

East End Children's Centre is located on the traditional territories of many First Peoples, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. These nations continue to experience ongoing colonization and displacement– where land acknowledgements are offered in place of land itself.

This territory is part of ‘the Dish with One Spoon’ wampum, a Treaty made between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas, and Haudenosaunee, where nations entered into an agreement to protect the land and responsibly care for its resources in harmony together.

As settlers, newcomers, refugees, and Indigenous peoples, we have all been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect. We are also mindful of broken treaties that persist across Turtle Island today and recognize our responsibilities as Treaty people to engage in a meaningful, continuous process of truth and reconciliation with all our relations.

We remember those who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery. This city was built on stolen land and stolen labour of Black, Indigenous, and racialized people. What we now refer to as Canada was also built on the labour of many immigrant and migrant communities. From the transcontinental railroad to farming and food production, the country heavily relied (and continues to) on the talent, skill, and hard work of racialized people. In exchange, many of them are denied residence, and they continue to go through punishing immigration experiences and perpetuating racial disparities.

By being on this land, we are all responsible for upholding its treaties. Treaty agreements were made to last as long as “the sun shines, the grass grows, and rivers flow.”



We invite you to learn about the Indigenous Nations that care for the land you are on, and where you might come from, visit native-land.ca to learn more.

• Please self-screen and STAY HOME if you or the children are not well. Our organization has always required self-screening for cold, flu, gastro-intestinal symptoms, conjunctivitis (pink eye) and any suspected or confirmed communicable illnesses. We ask for the same vigilance you've shown all through the pandemic.
• Please be sure to scan your KEyON tag when to arrive at program. Be sure to let us know if you have lost it, so we can give you a new one. Hack: take a photo of the QR code on your tag!
• Please place toys that have been in a child's mouth into the labelled container for toys that need immediate washing.
• Please clean your hands and your children's hands on arrival at our programs, after blowing or wiping your/your child's nose, before and after playing in the sandbox, before and after snack and after using the washroom.
• Please take home your used diapers (we have bags!) and please never flush wipes down our toilets.
• Please don't bring extra adults, especially on Saturdays. Two adults per family may attend.
• EECC is known for our sense of community. Thank you in advance for being welcoming and supportive of everyone, including parents and caregivers whose choices differ from yours and children who may be neurodivergent and need accommodation.

Stroller Parking Tips

• Lock your stroller to a railing or bench at the Terry Fox site.
• At Kimbourne, please be prepared to park your stroller on the lawn on days when space fills up and bring a lock so you can lock it to the railing way up on the hill. Sadly, stroller theft is always a risk.
• Our stroller parking room is currently not available. Please bring your stroller directly into the program space, please park with BRAKES OFF, to make it easier for us to manoeuver strollers as needed.
• Please... NEVER leave your stroller on our ramp at Kimbourne, as this disrupts accessibility and evacuation procedures.