Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be speaking on the good merits and reasons why we should be doing more in early childhood education. Early childhood education is a term which refers to the education programs and strategies geared towards children from birth to the age of eight. This time period is widely considered the most vulnerable and certainly the most crucial stages of a young person’s life.
A child’s readiness to begin formal schooling is much more than just academic readiness. It’s a matter of targeting the whole needs of the child. Quite typically you’ll see that a lot of programs target children between the ages of three, four and five to help them get a good footing, a good start on their future. I can’t imagine building a house without a solid foundation, so why would we treat our children any less without giving them a good foundation to their future.
A variety of childhood education programs exist. We have often heard them referred to as nursery schools, daycare centres, preschools, Head Start programs, pre-kindergarten, junior kindergarten and even kindergarten. I am telling you that there are many forms that early childhood education comes in.
There are five dimensions often referred to as early childhood learning and what they do is they target certain areas. You have physical well-being and motor skill development, social and emotional development, approaches towards learning, language development and cognition, and general learning. Each of these dimensions play such a critical role to a young person’s beginnings as they prepare for school, they prepare for the future. This is the foundation of our commitment. Why aren’t we throwing all resources to it?
Often these dimensions are also referred to as pillars of developmental learning. These five pillars are referred to quickly as social, physical, intellectual, creative and emotional. Equally important on every stage. The fact is we shouldn’t be missing out on every opportunity to make sure our young people are ready for the future.
Now, school readiness is important, but it doesn’t just apply there. It also applies to the communities, families and our environment that we surround. This message is more for the McLeod government, that they need to act. Not just because MLAs say it’s important, not just because our early educators who are the experts in this field say it’s so important, because our constituents out there demand that we give our young people the rightful head start that they deserve. Mr. Speaker, it’s time we invest in this initiative with full force and readiness. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
