From Cynthia Dunsford's Blog

Fraser Mustard was also in town recently, and it was an honour to be part of the workshop roundtable discussions. Mustard is a leader in early childhood development and the early years. his research on brain functions and development with regards to children from birth on, is not only essential, but provide for the foundations needed to design and implement programs and education for children. I am hoping to see more and  more of his work, and the work of his organization, infiltrate the appropriate department(s) in the government of PEI and beyond.

This work is even more important, now on PEI, in the midst of a transition. Kindergarten in the schools, facing the issue of declining enrollment, and dealing with the unique situations in districts like Stratford-Kinlock, where the challenges are concerned with growth instead of decline. How do we move the chess pieces forward at the same time and uphold the essential basic ingredient: QUALITY EDUCATION. How do we take care of both the front end and back end of our education system so that Islanders end up literate?

The challenges are seemingly immense, but not new. I am looking forward to my continued work on, what I see as, one of the most essential and emergent issues of our day.

Cynthia asks a good question here. Her commitment to moving this agenda forward is a model for others.  I am going to jump in and add some thoughts on this. As research by Fraser Mustard and others clearly demonstrates – investing in the early years has huge payoffs for the future.  Right now, we are faced with addressing the back end of our education system because for far too long we have not invested enough at the beginning of our children's lives.  When I talk about investing, I don't just mean dollars – though that clearly is a part of what needs to happen.  I also mean that we need to be making sure that we are all doing we can to give children the very best possible start in the early years by building supportive community environments for children to grow and learn in.  We must also ensure that we are doing everything we can to support every parent's capacity to parent effectively.  This starts from before children are born and should run all the way through the lifecycle of a family.  It  should include making sure that a full range of community programs, services and initiatives are in place that support the development of every child to their full capacity – no matter their socio-economic status.  Today, we do have issues to deal with on the back end of the education system – but in time and with the right approach, investment and strategy related to the early years we can significantly reduce this.  Taking care of the front end will ensure that we are developing happy, healthy, productive, engaged and literate citizens who can contribute to the future success of Prince Edward Island.