Our vision is a child who is able to communicate and learn at their fullest potential

We serve the community

Language and literacy skills build the foundation for learning now and in the future. Montreal Fluency Centre works with families, community groups, and schools to help children fulfill their potential by providing speech and language services in English and French.

Our evidence-based speech and language programs address specific gaps in social services delivery to Quebec’s vulnerable communities. Often these communities are comprised of linguistic and cultural minorities who live in impoverished life circumstances. Incorporating cultural sensitivity and results-based therapy into all of our activities, we reduce the long-term risks of language and literacy deficiencies, minimizing the impact they may have on children’s lives and on the quality of life in Quebec.

Where we work:

  • Côte-des-Neiges
  • James Bay Region
  • Kahnawake
  • Parc Extension
  • Westmount

Côte-des-Neiges

Bringing books into the lives of at-risk children and training parents to enhance children’s literacy are two of the goals of the ‘Gift of Reading’ project. The project is run in collaboration La Maison Bleue a family service organization in Côtes des Neiges.

Montreal Fluency Centre launched the project in 2008 with an initial group of five at-risk children and their parents. The children and parents were offered weekly, one-hour treatment in groups and one-on-one sessions. Through reinforcing phonological awareness, print concepts, alphabet knowledge, and narrative and literate language, all children participating in the 10-week project attained critical literacy skills necessary for a successful transition from pre-reader to reader.

Our future plans are to:

  • Expand the program to include more groups of children at La Maison Bleue
  • Conduct intensified community outreach to broaden the points of program delivery and support within Côtes des Neiges
  • Provide ‘prep kits’ that include the needed books and materials to community centres and local libraries
  • Train La Maison Bleue staff to continue the project
  • Hold workshops in community centres for parents and educators

James Bay Region

Since 2006, Montreal Fluency Centre has partnered with the Cree School Board to develop authentic, culturally appropriate assessment tools to identify students who are at risk for speech or language development.

Working with teachers and parents in nine Cree communities of the James Bay Region, we have created a classroom consultation model. The model is curriculum-based and helps teachers adapt the objectives of language development into their classroom. We have also trained Cree teachers as communication aids, developed an articulation test based on the Cree alphabet, and created educational materials that reflect the Cree culture.

Montreal Fluency Centre is currently collaborating with the Cree Health Board to provide speech and language services to kindergarten children. We are plan to offer workshops on spotting and handling early language development issues for early childhood educators and parents in childcare centres.

Kahnawake

Oral History Project

Montreal Fluency Centre applauds the extraordinary efforts of the children, parents, and teachers of Kateri Elementary School in Kahnawake, Quebec. Our decade-long partnership in the Oral Language Program continues to reap rewards for children with communication problems. Starting in kindergarten, on a weekly basis the project:

Works with at-risk students in small classroom groupsHelps teachers to identify at-risk studentsPromotes curriculum development and in-classroom delivery through ready-made, comprehensive, literature-based lesson plans and materialsEducates parents on how to provide a learning-centred home environment

30% of kindergarten students of Kateri Elementary School considered at-risk due to poor oral language skills are no longer at risk after participating in Montreal Fluency Centre’s Oral Language Project.

Pre-school early intervention program

The educators at the Step by Step Early Learning Centre in Kahnawake, Quebec, keep up-to-date on best practices in stimulating language skill development thanks to Montreal Fluency Centre’s early intervention program. Consulting weekly with the team of educators, a MFC speech pathologist oversees the running of this culturally sensitive program for children from three years through kindergarten. The program is replicating the British Columbia-initiated ‘Moe the Mouse’ concept developed by Anne Gardner, SLP and Margaret Chesterman, SLP [www.acc-society.bc.ca] to provide home language stimulation programs that are culturally relevant. As a result, children with special needs smoothly enter elementary school and their progress can easily be followed by teachers in their new school.

Parc Extension

In Parc Extension, 42% of children are not be fully prepared to enter school. Nearly 80% of children who live there speak neither English nor French as their home language. Solving the school readiness problem, therefore, has to address linguistic differences. That’s why the CLSC Parc Extension chose Montreal Fluency Centre introduced the Read it Again program to Sinclair Laird School.

Developed by Dr. Laura Justice, this program is designed for 4-year-olds.  Two 30 minute weekly sessions are provided by teachers as part of the pre-kindergarten curriculum, the 10-week, teacher-administered program follows child participants over three years to see if this early literacy intervention is effective in increasing school readiness.

Key features of Read it Again include:

Supplements the existing preschool curriculum.Targets four domains of early language and literacy development: vocabulary, narrative, phonological awareness, and print knowledgeEach week, there are two half -hour lessons that include the reading of a high-quality children’s storybook. The school keeps all program materialsLesson plans can be modified to meet the needs of each learner.Student progress is measured using the MFC’s Emergent Literacy Screening Protocol.

The inaugural Read it Again program ran from January to June 2009. The program results show significant vocabulary, language comprehension, and oral motor skills improvements in the 15 Sinclair Laird School students who participated in the first Read it Again program.

In 2009-2010, we plan to expand Read it Again to five French-language primary schools in Parc Extension.

Westmount

Montreal Fluency Centre operates individual and group speech language pathology sessions and a host of other language and literacy services through our head office located in Westmount, Quebec.

Our home base is an incubator of innovative new teaching, therapeutic, and evaluative techniques upon which our community programs are based. Each week, more than 100 children use the services provided at the head office. In 2010, with expanded videoconference facilities, we will be able to conduct literary and language workshops for educators and parents from Quebec’s remote regions, thereby extending our professional services across the Province of Quebec.