Woman at Mile 0 has an interesting blog posting on the All Day Kindergarten proposal that is currently under consideration in BC. She raises many good points regarding this complex issue. Her comments regarding the impact that this proposal could have on the future of child care for infants and toddlers in BC are very valid…
Considering the other side of this complex issue, and having supervised an infant/toddler child care program in the Interior at one time in my career, I believe the worries that the move to school based kindergartens from the current mash of profit and non-profit 3-5 group/preschool providers will affect dollars used to support child care for 0-3 year olds are well founded. I agree that often it is the extra money from the 3-5 year group that helps support the 0-3 year old spaces because the staffing ratio requirements are much lower, (1:4 for infants and toddlers) making these spaces more expensive. If the 3-5 years olds disappear into new programs in schools it may exacerbate the already severe shortage of infant/toddler spaces in communities.
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