Cause for concern; Some Dawson Creek kindergartners falling behind in development
Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune -- DAWSON CREEK, B.C.
11 Apr 2007

An alarming percentage of kindergarten-aged children are lagging in development in South Peace schools and across the province, University of B.C. researchers say.

More than 30 per cent of children in all neighbourhoods studied in the South Peace were considered vulnerable in terms of child development, according to the results of the early child development mapping project, a partnership between UBC researchers and government and community stakeholders.

Joanne Schroeder of the UBC interdisciplinary research institute Human Early Learning Partnership recently presented the results of the province wide project to about 30 educators and child-care professionals here....

A key component of the project is the early development instrument, a research tool used to assess children's readiness to participate in and benefit from school activities....

Development is measured in five areas, including language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge.

In School District 59, researchers found 35 per cent of children were considered vulnerable in at least one domain of their development, up nearly five per cent from 2006.

Overall vulnerability is higher in this district than in most areas of the province, Schroeder said.

Schroeder said high vulnerability in children attending kindergarten in South Peace schools could be caused by a number of factors.

"We know that children need adequate income, they need affordable housing, their parents need to have good, solid jobs, kids need safe outdoor play spaces, good recreation services - all of that factors in to children's development.

"We like to think that vulnerable children only live in the big, bad downtown eastside of Vancouver, but vulnerable children are everywhere and all communities in B.C. have to do something to change that."

Schroeder said the first five years of a child's life are important in terms of development, but the provincial child-care system is too underfunded to provide quality, accessible child care for pre-school children.

Many young kids in the South Peace are in child-care arrangements where they spend too much time watching television and don't get enough outdoor playtime, Schroeder said.

Everyone in the South Peace - including businesses, faith organizations, service providers and school districts - needs to get together and come up with a common vision for what they want for their children in terms of child care, then assign responsibilities to different people to make it happen, she said.

"We're leaving children so far behind at kindergarten entry that we're really setting them on the wrong course for life and that we need to change," she said. ...