In October 2000 the Healthy Child Development Advisory Committee prepared a report entitled …For Our Children A Strategy for Healthy Child Development and presented it to the then government of PEI.

Unfortunately, eight years later, PEI continues to struggle with properly supporting young children and their families. Families with children on PEI face many challenges.  From inadequate supports related to special needs children to the general lack of access to early intervention initiatives.  From the way the current early childhood sector is structured to the significant ranges in the levels of quality of early childhood programs that exist across the Island.  From the recent results of the student literacy and math assessments to the issue of so many young adults who leave the Island in search of better career opportunities elsewhere.  From the planned integration of Kindergarten into the public school system to the varied opinions on how best to support the developmental needs of young children. 

Over the last while the early years has been the subject of increased discussion on the Island.  I have written about this here and here. There is also information here. There have been many discussions take place related to how best Island children can be supported.  Last summer Rob wrote about the challenges related to school readiness on the Island and why the Island must strategically invest in the early years. The fact is that investing in children up front will ensure greatly decreased costs in the future – in almost all areas – education, health, crime etc.  The cost savings are immense. 

Last week, the ECDA released their vision for the future of early learning and child care services on PEI.  It states that "all Island children between infancy and five years will have access to a comprehensive, provincial, early childhood system that is available, affordable and high quality".  While I applaud the ECDA for supporting Early Childhood Educators and Island children/families through their vision, I also caution that access to quality child care and early learning programs are just one part of what is needed to ensure Island children are truly prepared to take on the challenges of tomorrow. There is also so much more that needs to be addressed. 

So with all that we know about the importance of investing in the early years, perhaps it is time to build on the work completed eight years ago, as well as all of the more recent dialogue, by developing and implementing a newly updated and comprehensive Early Years Strategy for PEI.

From The Guardian – October 27, 2008

The Early Childhood Development Association of P.E.I. has developed a new vision to allow Islanders and decision-makers to see more clearly why proper early learning is so important for children.
Last week, the association launched a five-year plan to promote affordable access to sustainable, high quality early childhood education.
“We believe it is critical that community and government and partners realize that learning begins at birth and we need to consider the full spectrum of education, and not just be looking at the public school system,” said Sonya Corrigan, executive director for the Early Childhood Development Association.
She said early childhood educators have been feeling as though government and the public don’t really understand what they do and why the training they have received is important to children’s early learning experiences.
The curriculum offered in the Island’s early learning centres is play-based. Getting people to understand what this means and why it is important has been a huge challenge, Corrigan said.
“The greatest misconception is around the value of play and how that is foundational in building the success of the later years academically and socially.
“Play is fun, but play is children’s work. It’s not a formal ‘sit down at a desk and have the teacher take a lesson’ but it is a learning environment.”
A number of early childhood educators (ECEs) and operators attended the official launch of the new vision and marketing campaign.
The association has a new, interactive website and will run advertisements in The Guardian and on radio and TV to promote early childhood education.
Doreen Baird, an ECE and association board member, said she hopes the attention to the sector will help parents know what to look for in their early learning centres.
“There are high-quality centres available for our children and with this marketing campaign, we’re going to help everybody to understand that they are out there and help them to know what to look for in those centres,” Baird said.
Fellow ECE and board member Tracy Craig agreed, saying it will help children to have more information available to parents about what Island centres are offering and what the value is of ECEs on P.E.I.
“Having that out there and having people understand what that means will in turn help our children because they’re going to reap the benefits of having those professionals being in that licensed environment with those educators every day,” she said.