Who are we? Information Children is a non-profit organization and a registered charity, founded in 1979. We are located in Burnaby, British Columbia on the beautiful campus of Simon Fraser University.  We provide information, support and referrals to parents and others on most any matters related to the care and wellbeing of children and families.  What is our goal? Our goal is to foster healthy and happy children and families.  We do so by offering at no-cost, or low cost, professional and accessible support services to parents and others experiencing child rearing or family life challenges.  We answer all requests for information concerning parenting and children. If we do not have a ready answer, we do research to try to find one. We also make referrals and link families with other community resources.

What services do we offer?

Parent Support Line - Telephone Guidance, Education and Support
Help is just a phone call away for parents or anyone with child rearing questions or concerns. Via the telephone, our parent educators provide client-centered, solution focused support and referral services on a broad range of parenting issues.

This service is free and available to residents of British Columbia. Give us a call at 778.782.3548.

E-Support - Email Guidance, Education and Support

In response to the needs of the E-Generation, we offer to parents and others the convenience of an e-support service. Via email, our parent educators provide client-centered, solution focused support and referral services on a broad range of parenting issues. Some restrictions apply.

This service is free and available to residents of British Columbia. Send us an email at infochld@sfu.ca.

Parenting Workshops and Presentations - Group Guidance, Education and Support

We provide parenting workshops series' that are customized and responsive to the needs of participants. Workshop sessions offer parents and caregivers an opportunity to meet others in the community, share concerns about children and family life, and learn more about children and positive parenting. They generally run for six weeks, once per week for two hours.

In addition to our six-week parenting workshops series', we provide single session presentations to community groups on a variety of parenting topics such as infant sleep, bedtime battles, mealtime maddness, child temperament, and guidance and discipline.

Our workshops and single session presentations are offered at various locations in Burnaby and New Westminster both on a fee-for-service and a no-charge basis (with restictions and subject to funding).

Contact us at 778.782.3548 for more details.

Parent Coaching - Individual Guidance, Education and Support

We provide brief, in-person parent coaching sessions to parents with children age birth to six years. Coaching sessions typically consist of a question and answer period where a parent may discuss, in a one-to-one meeting with a parenting coach, questions or concerns relating to parenting and/or child development. In situations where the brief time alotment (20 to 60 minutes) is insufficient, we endeavor to offer parents a follow-up coaching session or further support via our Support Line or E-Support service.

This no-charge service is provided to parents at various locations in Burnaby in which early childhood programs and services currently are provided (such as but not limited to Community Schools, StrongStarts, Family Places and Libraries). Sessions are organized by host early childhood and/or family support agencies and conducted on their premises.

If you are an agency within Burnaby providing early childhood programming and would like to schedule a parent coaching session for your parents, please call 778.782.3548. Some restrictions apply.

Parenting Pamphlets

We produce and publish several parenting pamphlets on an array of topics related to the care and development of children.  Currently, our pamphlets are available to individual parents at no cost. For agencies and larger quantity orders, a fee is charged.

 

More about us …

Does Information Children cover all ages?
Yes, but our primary focus is birth through age twelve. However, via our Support Line and E-Support services, we do provide information and referral services for teen issues as needed.

Who operates Information Children?
Qualified professionals who are parents themselves operate Information Children under the supervision of a Board of Directors. All staff members are trained in child and family development at the undergraduate or graduate level. They have extensive experience working with children and families in a variety of professional settings.

What are Information Children hours of operation?
Generally, our Support Line hours are weekdays from 10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.  If you contact us outside these hours or receive our voicemail, please leave us a message. We will try to return your call the same working day between 10 a.m and 2 p.m. or within 24 hours. No question or concern is too big or small, so please leave us a message!

Where is Information Children located?

Our admininstrative offices are located at Simon Fraser University on Burnaby Mountain. Our physical address is: Simon Fraser University, AQ 6209. We welcome pre-arranged visits; however, with the exception of our Support Line and E-Support services, most of our programming is located off campus at various locations within Burnaby and New Westminster.

What concerns bring parents and others to Information Children?

- a question or a concern about a child - puzzled by a child's behaviour - feel angry, frustrated or overwhelmed with the demands of parenting - need assistance with child sleep issues, tantrums, toilet learning etc... - to obtain information about or referral to local community services and resources - would like information about our workshops - to book a Parent Coaching session at your agency - would like to receive our pamphlets and many, many more!