Early education yields big results
Alberni Valley Times
September 15, 2008
By: Shayne Morrow

School District 70 is part of a growing trend to introduce children to the education system at a younger and younger age.

This year, the school district has created the Alberni StrongStart Centre at Alberni Elementary, which is part of a province-wide initiative for pre-schoolers, focusing on parent participation and family literacy….

One goal is to incorporate First Nations culture into the StrongStart programs at Alberni and Wickaninnish, through the participation of aboriginal role models within the community. …SD 70 offers a wide range of early childhood education (ECE) programs, including Ready Set Learn, for three- and four year-olds, with two schools (Alberni and John Howitt) offering the Roots of Empathy program, which brings infants into the classroom.

…. At present, two schools, … provide full-day kindergarten.

"Currently, full-day kindergarten is for students who are bused in -- usually aboriginal students," Manson said. That picture could be changing, however, she advised.

In February, the province announced the creation of the Early Childhood Learning Agency, with the Ministry of Education working in concert with the Ministry for Children and Family Development. The goal is to provide full-day kindergarten for five-year-olds, with optional full-day prekindergarten for three- and four-year-olds.

Manson said the current wisdom is that $1 invested in ECE yields three times the results of $1 invested in Grade 1 through 12.

But bringing in younger and younger children also raises the question of infrastructure, such as washrooms and playground equipment, Manson noted, as well as the role of parents in ECE.

"What does full-day prekindergarten do to the StrongStart program?" West Coast trustee Sally Mole asked.

"StrongStart is for three- and four-year-olds, and it requires parent participation," Manson said, adding that prekindergarten would presumably contain less parent involvement.

Trustee Glenn Wong suggested that the emphasis on more formal education at an earlier and earlier age is an unhealthy trend, with debatable goals.

"Children have a long time to grow up," Wong said, noting that time spent at school is time spent away from siblings and parents. "We don't want to invest in a glorified babysitting service."