Feds funding study in early childhood development

Ottawa is putting up $365,000 for a project to collect information on early childhood development in Moose Jaw and South Central Saskatchewan to look for ways to resolve basic issues blocking childhood development.
"This is really about how we can better prepare children for kindergarten and school," said George Falk, superintendent of schools for Prairie South School Division, at the announcement in Empire Community School on Tuesday.
"We live in a time when we have more technology than ever, fantastic educational programs for our children and yet we have children who are less prepared to enter kindergarten than ever."
Funding will help the Understanding the Early Years Initiative to collect data over three years and develop locally-made solutions, he said.
The Understanding Early Years Initiative is led by Prairie South School Division but involves more than 20 community agencies from daycares and social services to health care and area education systems, Falk said.
"This is really about how we get good data . . . that helps us better understand what the needs are in families and children (from) birth to (age) six."
Matters to be looked at include why more children entering kindergarten have speech and language issues, mobility issues, social and behavioural issues, Falk said.
"We need to get a handle on why this is the way it is (to develop future programs that remove obstacles to child development and assist parents with skills)," he said.
"(If issues are identified) we know we can provide good support to families so there will be much better outcomes."
Ten neighbourhood communities - seven in Moose Jaw, one in the north part of the region and two in the south - are involved in the three years of data collection on development, local factors influencing child development, and local socio-economic characteristics, he said.
The communities will come together to create local solutions to development barriers.
Much is known about how families can help the development of children, Falk said. "It's getting families to actively participate in these practices (that is an issue)."
Without early childhood intervention, the education system and the community will face issues from behaviour to basic skills in later years, said Falk.
Palliser MP Dave Batters said the funds from Human Resources Development will help young families and children develop.

Ron Walter can be reached at 691-1264.