Three out of 10 B.C. kids on a path to failure
By Cheryl Chan
The Province
October 17, 2010

When the little boy trudges into kindergarten class, his teacher notices he is wearing the same clothes as the day before.

During a short exercise session, he is listless, his movements uncoordinated. At circle time, he jumps in and out of song. He has trouble waiting his turn during games, despite repeated instruction.

At five years old, the boy doesn't know words like "cat" or "house." His counting ability falters at 10, and worse, his teacher observes, he doesn't seem to care to try.

Not your child? He's somebody's. And he's not alone.

More than 30 per cent of kindergarten-aged kids in B.C. are entering Grade 1 "developmentally vulnerable," according to the latest results of the Early Development Instrument (EDI), which has tracked more than 140,000 kids over the last decade.

More alarmingly, B.C.'s vulnerability rate, which was 25 per cent in 2001, has been steadily creeping upward, meaning that an ever-larger percentage of kids is arriving at school lacking the skills needed to thrive.

"We're in a state of crisis unless we can start to turn the tide on child vulnerability," says Joanne Schroeder of the Human Early Learning Partnership, a University of B.C.-based consortium of researchers focusing on early child development.

"It has lifelong implications for the health and behaviour of that person and huge implications for our society."….

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