Why Quality Child Care and Early Learning is Needed:

 How well do kids do if they go to child care compared with other forms of care? 

The  Canadian Centre for Knowledge Mobilisation  did a study

• Research results represented 563 tests of the development of nearly 28,000 children in fi ve countries.

• Results were obtained after removing possible confounding infl uences of quality of child care setting as well as family factors such as income and educational level.

• Researchers used large scale databases and standardised tests of cognitive, language,and behavioural development.

• Researchers measured quality of child care in home settings and in centre settings.

• Higher quality of child care is linked to better cognitive, language, and behavioural development.

• Compared with care in home settings, care in centres is typically higher in quality.

• Compared with care in home settings, care in centres is linked to better cognitive and language development.

• Earlier entry in non-parental care is linked to better cognitive and language development; more time in centre care is linked to better language development.

• Children’s development is better when caregivers have more education and training.

To learn more and to obtain child care research resources go to www.cckm.ca

WHAT ARE THE2006 © Canadian Centre for Knowledge Mobilisation 

An  article with excellent references on the link between quality child care and early learning from the Canadian Centre for Learning can be found at

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning/20060530LinL.htm?Language=EN

From the Council for Early Child Development  CECD 2009

THE SCIENCE IS WELL-ESTABLISHED.

A good beginning to life is the foundation for future development, health and well-being. We recognise the importance of the early years but why is the field so fragmented and lacking integration of research,policy and practice?

In Canada

• Over one quarter of children start kindergarten with challenges so entrenched many are at risk of not graduating high school.

• Canada ranks 21st out of 30 OECD nations in terms of infant mortality and 27th out of 29th in childhood obesity.

• 70% of high school students report having been physically assaulted.

• Four in ten adults do not have the literacy skills necessary to adapt to the growth in knowledge and technology that marks the 21st century.

• A stagnating birth rate means a stagnating economy; by 2015 there will be more seniors than children.

Did you know?

• Five year olds from low-income families in Monterrey, Mexico are better prepared for school than the average Canadian child.

• Infant mortality is recognized internationally as an important health measure. Iceland has reduced its rate to 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, a benchmark for the world.

•Cuban schools report one-quarter the number of fights as other schools in Latin America.

• 34% of Sweden’s adult population performs at top levels of literacy.

• Québec has reduced its rate of child and family poverty by half; and turned its falling birth rate and school test scores around.

WHY THE DIFFERENCE?

Children in Monterrey,(Mexico), Iceland, Cuba,Sweden and Québec

regularly attend early childhood programs.In Canada, outside Québec, they do not