Early childhood education for all kids starting at age 2

Today we learned about a report that recommends good quality, publicly-funded early childhood education for all Canadian children starting at the age of 2.

The Early Years Study 3 said there was an "avalanche of evidence" that shows just how far quality, play-based childcare goes to set children on a good path in life.

This report is the third installment in a series of research papers by the late Dr. Fraser Mustard, Margaret Norrie McCain and Kerry McCuiag, which set the groundwork for all-day kindergarten in Ontario.

In an exclusive interview with the Star, Mustard, who passed away last week, made the point that the risk for physical and mental health problems is set in early childhood.

It's important to note that - just like kindergarten in Ontario - this kind of program would be optional.

Predictably, there are those who suggest providing quality childcare for all kids is a "nanny state" move that rips babies away from their mothers' bossums.

But that's just inaccurate and irrational.

The fact is that there are nowhere near enough licensed childcare spaces in Ontario and children suffer as a result. Parents who don't nab coveted quality daycare spots for their children are forced to put their kids in suboptimal care instead. Either that or miss out on employment opportunities and the chance to better themselves that participation in the work force provides.

What a program like this would do is level the playing field between the lucky minority in good childcare and the rest of children. Let's not forget that in the GTA, 51 percent of households have income at least 20 per cent below average, putting them deeply below the poverty line. Universal childcare wouldn't be causing a problem; it would help to solve one that's been unaddressed for too long.

A universal childcare program in Quebec that costs parents just $7 a day has been wildly successful in addressing just the kind of space shortages that plague Ontario families. And as a result, Quebec now boasts higher employment among women who wish to work outside of the home. In June an economist released a report that proves the program now pays for itself.

You've heard my view. What's yours? Please take our poll and let us know.

 

Really? A ban on balls in the school yard?

Parents are scratching their heads today over the news that one Toronto elementary school has banned balls in the school yard.

Earl Beatty Public School sent a letter home to parents Monday to say that students would no longer be able to kick a soccer ball, toss a football or play any other sort of game that involves a ball.

The letter went on to explain that there have been "serious incidents" during which staff and students were hit. School trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher told the Star that one Earl Beatty parent took a ball to the head and suffered a concussion.

That's unfortunate.

But is an outright ball ban the right approach, especially when we're facing a crisis of inactivity among children? As my colleague Andrea Gordon mentioned in her latest story on children and exercise, childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, and only 7 per cent of kids get the recommended hour of daily exercise.

Sure space is tight in urban school yards like the one at Earl Beatty. I have to be very cafeful to stay out of the line of fire when I pick up my youngest son from his small school yard, so I can appreciate the risk.

But that's the thing about risk. It has to be balanced against reward. And in this case the reward is just the kind of free play and exercise that today's screen-addicted kids need.

What do you think? Are there solutions the administration at Earl Beatty may not have yet explored? Is the answer better supervision in the school yard so there are some grownups to herd the junior kindergarteners out of the way of kids twice their size playing soccer? How about a sign at the yard gate to remind parents to beware of flying objects?

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Is your teen hooked on video games? Brain research shows why

Latest social network for kids promises a small and safe site - for a price

Cute kid quote of the week: Bathtime edition

Both boys hopped in the tub for the first time in a while last night. Cameron, 8, has moved on to showers, but I asked him to bath with Alister last night.

Alister: "We're TWO NAKED brothers!!!!!"

Cameron: "I'm only here to save water."

Cute kid quote of the week: Cheesie edition

Earlier this week, Cameron, 8, was indulging in a few Cheesies from one of those little bags he got in his Halloween loot.

Me: "You know, the less fingers you use to eat those, the less fingers you'll have covered in orange goo."

Cam: "The less fingers I use, the less delicious my fingers will be."