'Dive in, do something big': Speech pathologists open unique Regina preschool

It doesn't take much coaxing for two-year-old Arianna Bailey to join hands in a circle and sway along to the music.

But for the two-year-old's father, it's a big sign of growth for his daughter, who was born with a genetic disorder that's manifested in movement and speech delays.  

"Her involvement and what she's doing with the group is way more than what we saw in therapy," said Doug Bailey. "It's really encouraging to see."

Arianna is among the children who have started classes with Pathways Learning Centre. The centre has started a private preschool program in Regina, focused on speech, language and literacy skills. It held its grand opening on Saturday.

Bailey said he's glad to see the preschool building on his daughter's therapy, and to see her applying these skills with other children.

"Our hope is this and the therapies would be something that would get her up to a higher level, or maybe the same level as she would have been in kindergarten without any disabilities," he said.

Filling a need for families

Meagan Mason and Cari Thiele are speech pathologists and co-founders of the centre.

Mason explained they had often heard from families who were looking for pre-school programming that would offer strong foundations in language and literacy, but that was also inclusive.

They decided just "to dive in, do something big," as Mason described it, opening Pathways, to offer individual services for speech therapy for people of all ages, as well as the preschool.

"Our goal is to help all kids get ready for kindergarten because we know language and literacy are the building blocks for everything school," she said.

So far, they've gotten a positive reaction from parents who had been asking for a service like this, she said.

"They don't have anywhere that their kids are accepted so they're very thrilled to have a place for their children to go, and a place that, I'll say, gets their kids."

While it is a private preschool, people can claim tuition fees as an eligible expense if they receive individualized support for children with autism, or if they are Indigenous and qualify for support through Jordan's Principle. They can also claim the tuition if they have private insurance that covers speech pathology, she said.

While the program is still young, Mason said she's already seeing kids progress.

One child who has autism was unable to sit for more than two minutes when classes first began a month ago. But just this past week, he sat down for half an hour, listening and participating with the other kids, she said.

"I know for his mom, she's just over the moon, and so are we," Mason said. "We're sharing in that success."