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Zhenhua Xu: Doctor of Education in Developmental Psychology & Education (DPE), Class of 2021.

Nivatha Moothathamby: Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology & Education (DPE), Class of 2021.

Lianette Basterrechea: Master of Education in Developmental Psychology & Education (DPE), Class of 2021.

Our hearts are heavy with news of the horrifying attack on a Muslim family in London, Ontario. Four lives and three generations of a family taken and one young boy now orphaned.

The Atkinson Centre promotes research on child development, and the development of early learning policy and practice that serve young children and their families.

Excerpt: "The proposed ELCC act will increase transparency and accountability by requiring the Province to produce annual reports on its progress towards building an inclusive, universal child care system. The report will also include how the Province is collaborating with Indigenous peoples to support Indigenous-led child care. The ELCC act will also give the minister responsible the authority to create new regulations, including the ability to set limits on child care fees for parents. This will help ensure child care is more affordable for families."

Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the 215 children found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Posted on The Conversation.

Excerpt: "As Canada emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, early education is key to the recovery of not just children and families, but of our social economy. Children have endured learning delays and many have seen worsening mental health. The pandemic has also rocked an early childhood sector that was already unstable and uneven. We must do better.

The newly released Early Childhood Education Report 2020 monitors quality and changes in early child education across Canada, and suggests critical issues to consider. The report is produced by the Atkinson Centre, a research centre based at the University of Toronto that uses best available evidence on early child development to inform public policy."

The Atkinson Centre promotes research on child development, and the development of early learning policy and practice that serve young children and their families.

This is the 4th edition of the Early Childhood Education Report (ECER). Established in 2011, the report is released every three years to evaluate provincial/territorial early years services against a 15-point scale. Results are populated from detailed profiles of each province and territory. The ECER is organized around 5-categories with 21 benchmarks forming a common set of minimum criteria contributing to the delivery of quality programming. This report captures changes to early years services from March 2017 to March 2020, as such it is able to assess the impact of the Early Learning and Child Care Bilateral Agreements and serves as a baseline for the pre-pandemic status of ECE in Canada.

Excerpt: "More families than ever are benefiting from better access to quality, affordable child care, thanks to the fastest creation of child care spaces in B.C.’s history. The Province has exceeded its original three-year goal and has funded nearly 26,000 new licensed child care spaces since the 10-year Childcare BC plan was launched in 2018. Nearly 70% of these spaces are expected to be open for families within the next year."

Presented by Kerry McCuaig, Senior Policy Fellow, Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, at 17th Annual Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development - The Early Years: From Disruption to Recovery and Beyond, June 2, 2021