News: October 2010 Archives

Full-day Learning in Ontario: A year one checkup
Source: Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, transmitted by CNW Group October 25, 2010

Excerpt: "Much has happened in the 12 months since Premier Dalton McGuinty promised to embark on a new vision to reform education and care services for children and families..."

Child care shortage looming
Source: Toronto Star, October 26, 2010

Excerpt: "A province-wide shortage of trained child care workers is threatening the rollout of full day kindergarten, advocates say. About 20,000 early childhood educators are expected to be working in teams with kindergarten teachers by 2015 when the province?s all-day learning initiative is fully implemented. But child care workers have been leaving the field in droves due to low wages and poor working conditions..."

New Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (BECE) degree
Source: Brock University, October 2010

Excerpt: "Building on the foundation of a two year Early Childhood Education Diploma, graduates of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education program will have a comprehensive understanding of the issues and trends in early care and education for children from birth to 8 years old and be well prepared for further studies or work in the field of care and education for young children."

Early learning memorandum 11: Full-day early learning kindergarten planning for 2012-13 (Yr 3)
Source: Ministry of Education, Early Learning Division, October 5, 2010

Excerpt: “This EL-Memorandum provides school boards with information about the planning steps for Year 3 FDK implementation,and cumulative board-by-board FDK pupil places for the 2012-13 school year (see Appendix 1). With this expansion, the program will reach 49% of projected kindergarten enrolment in Ontario."

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People for Education's annual conference (Nov 13th & 14th)
Source: People for Education, October 4, 2010

Excerpt: "Find out how kids’ brains develop and effective things parents and schools can be doing to support them. Listen to Ontario's Minister of Education, award-winning teachers, groundbreaking researchers, a celebrity chef/healthy eating guru and parents who have walked in your shoes."

New provincial policy for parents - Will it affect parents' involvement both at school and at home?
Source: People for Education, October 4, 2010

Excerpt: “When a draft of the policy was sent out earlier this year for feedback from parents and parent organizations across the province, several themes emerged in the feedback received by People for Education.” 

From the (messy) desk of Annie Kidder - TRUSTEE ELECTIONS ARE COMING!!
Source: People for Education, October 4, 2010

Excerpt: "Sometimes it's hard to get people excited about trustee elections but there are lots of reasons you should be. On October 25th, voters across Ontario have a chance to elect the people that are in direct contact with the schools that educate almost 2 million children."

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New rules for parent involvement committees
Source: People for Education, October 4, 2010

Excerpt: "Under the new regulations, PICs have been given a mandate that focuses on parent engagement, communication and supporting school councils." 

Implementing Early Learning in Ontario: Lessons from Toronto First Duty
Source: AECEO 60th Annual Provincial Conference (Zeenat Janmohamed, Janette Pelletier & Carl Corter)

The New Kindergarten Program (pdf)
Source: Canadian Family, March 2010

Excerpt: "Full-day kindergarten, complete with both teachers and ECEs, may be coming to a school near you. Tim Johnson discovers that these classrooms will look like and how this new structure will make your child smarter."

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Canadian Index of Wellbeing's education report & highlights
Source: Canadian Index of Wellbeing, authors Martin Guhn, Anne Gadermann and Bruno Zumbo

Excerpt from Highlights: "Education should not be equated with schooling. It is a process that begins before school age and extends beyond high school, university, and apprenticeships. Before the start of formal schooling in kindergarten, education is reflected in pre-school arrangements such as childcare and early childhood education. Beyond high school, college or university, and professional training through apprenticeships, education takes place in the form of adult learning and lifelong learning." 

Environmental scan
Source: Early Childhood Educators of BC; Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, author Jane Beach

Excerpt: "...the environmental scan provides an overview of current developments and activities underway through provincial/territorial ministries of education related to early years care and/or learning. The scan includes an overview of: the role of ministries and departments of education in the provision of early childhood programs and services, and new developments, and; how provincial/territorial early care and learning systems meet the guiding principles." 

Curriculum and play in early child development
Source: Encyclopedia on Child Development (CEECD), authors Elena Bodrova & Deborah J. Leong

Excerpt: "The need to integrate play into early childhood curriculum has been supported by decades of child development research and is reflected in the most recent documents of such professional organizations as National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Research Council. However, the specific aspects of the relationship between play and curriculum remain open to interpretation which affects the beliefs of Early Childhood practitioners as well as their classroom practices." 

Families Count - New statistics on Canadian families
Source: Vanier Institute, October 1, 2010

Excerpt: "The Vanier Institute of the Family is pleased to present Families Count - a comprehensive statistical portrait of Canadian families in all of their diversity."

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