Existing programs don’t go far enough to foster learning at young age, researcher says.

Development in pre-kindergarten is vital to a person’s success throughout life.

Research by the Human Early Learning Partnership, an inter-university research network headquartered at the University of British Columbia, indicates nearly one in three B.C. children enter kindergarten unprepared to learn and that this vulnerability greatly affects chances of staying healthy and thriving in adulthood.

In recent years, the province began funding StrongStart Early Learning Centres and early literacy programs in an effort to boost student success.

But Paul Kershaw, assistant professor in Interdisciplinary Studies at UBC and a HELP researcher, said those programs do not go far enough.

Families need three things to help them prepare their children for school, he said.

They need the time to spend with their children, access to quality child-care resources and access to a range of professionals, such as nurses and early childhood educators.

“So much critical learning happens in the early years,” said Kershaw. “And there’s no one recipe for creating quality, nurturing environments. We as a society ought to be providing parents with a range of professionals.”

He said while most look at universal child care and extended parental leave benefits as an either/or scenario, families need both.

“Too many parents are suffering from time, income or service poverty,” said Kershaw.

He supports government’s intention to provide all-day kindergarten to all B.C. students because it is something everyone can access that is consistent, whereas “boutique programs” such as the StrongStart Centres, serve only a segment of the population….