Published in Education Today, summer 2007
     The little girl is sitting cross legged on the floor. Other pre-school children her age form a ring with her, listening to an adult who’s reading them a story. Behind her, also sitting on the floor, is another adult, someone special to her, her grandfather. He is listening to the story too, concentrating on each word, because he doesn’t speak English. Yet every week he’s learning a little bit more.
     This little girl is one of the lucky children in her community. Although she lives in a large new suburban house, she and her family share it with two other families. She rarely spends time with her parents, because they both work at two jobs. Many of her neighbours live like this. This little girl is lucky because her grandfather cares enough to bring her to this group.
     While the little girl is enjoying the stories, socialization with others, and time spent with her grandfather, she is actually involved in critical development of all aspects of her being, that will prepare her to be able to get the most out of the many opportunities she’ll receive once she starts kindergarten.
     This program takes place in the Region of Peel, just west of Toronto, in one of the Peel Early Years Hubs and Readiness Centres. Run by the Peel District School Board, this is the sort of program that researchers into early child development say we need to have everywhere, for all children.
     The Council for Early Child Development (CECD) sees this kind of program as part of its commitment. “The Council envisions community-based early child development and parenting centres linked to the school system and available to all families and young children,” reads their Web site at www.councilecd.ca. “The school-based centres are the hub of an integrated community network of programs, resources and supports.”
         Success By 6 Peel is an organization dedicated to helping children reach their fullest potential from birth to age six. A collaboration of more than 40 partners in education, business, labour, recreation, health, social services and government, it works to provide important opportunities in the community for children to develop their emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills.
     “Research tells us that the building blocks of the brain are created during the very first years of a child’s life,” reads their Web site, www.successby6peel.ca. “A child who hasn’t had the positive experiences to support early development will find school – and life, much harder.”
      Together with CECD, Success By 6 Peel presented the Spring Forward! Early Years National Conference in Toronto in March. The conference brought together renowned experts and committed practitioners in early child development.
     The purpose of the conference was to let them “share and exchange important research findings, practical ideas and information on integrating and collaborating when responding to the needs of young children and their families.”
     “One of the goals was to make connections among communities which are active in these areas,” says Jim Grieve, director of Peel District School Board, co-chair of Success By 6 Peel, and vice-chair of CECD. “It’s important for local communities to talk, renew and refresh themselves, because it’s tough work. There are no big budgets for this. There may be private sector funding, but we’re always trying to engage business partners. Early child development is a real investment with huge payoffs.”
     The president of CECD, Dr. Stuart Shanker, suggests that the government could be a key partner. “We have made piecemeal strides on early child development but without much support,” he says. “The government blows hot and cold. It launches wonderful initiatives but then removes support. We are absurdly behind European countries, yet it’s a core Canadian value. We think we do well compared to the rest of the world. The conference was an opportunity for perception to match reality. Here in Canada, we have some of the most sophisticated scientists in the world working in this field.”
     Four keynote speakers who shared their experience and expertise were Mary Gordon, Dr. Clyde Hertzman, Dr. Fraser Mustard and The Honourable Landon Pearson.
     Senator Pearson, now retired and long known for her commitment to improving the lives of children, took part in the opening ceremonies of the conference by symbolically presenting a Charter of Children’s Rights to the children of Peel. This charter was created in part by Peel’s pre-school children who completed the phrases “Every child has a right to…” or “Every child needs…” Success By 6 Peel received a staggering 4,000 responses in words and drawings.
     Dr. Mustard is internationally recognized as an expert in the role of the early years in determining the future of children and populations as a whole. Mustard is chairman emeritus for CECD. His Early Years Study, co-written by Margaret McCain and published in 1998, remains such an important work that a second edition was launched at the March conference.
     Entitled Early Years Study 2: Putting Science into Action, it was authored by McCain, Mustard and Dr. Stuart Shanker. It is available through the CECD’s Web site.
     Mustard’s recent research has also been presented in a document he wrote for the Brookings Institution in February 2006. Its title is Early Child Development and Experience-based Brain Development – The Scientific Underpinnings of the Importance of Early Child Development in a Globalized World.
     Mustard summarizes the work by writing “In this paper an outline is given about how child development and experience-based brain development in the very early years of life sets biological pathways that affect cognition, behaviour (violence), capacity to learn, memory, and physical and mental health throughout the life cycle.”
     While most people might understand the link between the early years and intellectual ability, the connection to health may be surprising.
     Mustard explains that “conditions during pregnancy and early life influence the development of the brain and biological pathways that set risks for coronary heart disease, hypertension, type II diabetes, mental health problems and other condistions in adult life such as disorders of the immune system.”
     Mustard also indicates the economic implications. “The return for every dollar invested preschool is much greater for the individual and society than the investments in school based programs. The return on investments in education is about three to one in contrast to at least eight to one for early child development programs.”
     His paper for the Brookings Institution raises the troubling question “Why is there such a gap between what we know and what we do?”
     To answer this, Shanker’s hope is that “this conference gives a chance to share scientific findings and help move the theoretical into practice.”
     Another keynote speaker, Dr Hertzman, has conducted studies using the Early Development Instrument (EDI). This evaluates children’s abilities at the time they start kindergarten and maps the neighbourhoods they live in. Hertzman’s study in Vancouver involved more than 9,000 youngsters and showed that while the highest proportion of children with low EDI scores come from conventional high-risk areas, more such children in actual number, come from middle-class communities.
     Grieve recognizes these issues in Peel Region. “Many parents are struggling to survive,” he explains. “you just do not see the depth of poverty here. There may be several families sharing a house. The social funding to Peel is hundreds of dollars less per person than in Toronto. The infrastructure is collapsing under its weight. There is nothing for these young kids to do.”
     Mary Gordon’s keynote speech had the title “Love Grows Brains,” which she says is also the most popular chapter of her book, Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child By Child. She is not shy about mentioning it, and the fact that The Globe & Mail named it one of the 100 most important books in 2006, because all the royalties from the book go toward supporting Roots of Empathy, an educational program that she created.
     “Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based classroom program that has shown dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression and violence among schoolchildren while raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy,” reads the Web site at www.rootsofempathy.org. “The heart of the programs is a neighbourhood infant and parent who visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year.”
     Gordon points out that children develop best in the early years through loving relationships. “The way we think, feel, learn, our approach to life and our capacity to care, are all the result of our earliest relationship, the attachment relationship.”
     Calling her speech the most politically charged speech that is possible without naming a single political party, she declares “Supporting parenting capacity is the most important thing we can do as a society. We don’t value children in this culture. Early childhood determines how many will be in prisons, in universities, and even on war fields. You incubate terror. We can use empathy to change the world. And if you’ve got it at the breast, you’ve got it in the brain for life.”
     Gordon hopes that the conference will produce change. Referring to the participants, she says “I would like to see solidarity around what we wish for. We need to define the key issues in the field. If we could do that, there would be more political punch to why we’re meeting in the first place.”
     Nor does she let school administrators off the hook. “Education has had difficulty understanding that they have responsibility for the years out of the range they have funding for,” she says. “They need to get out of that box.”

By Gloria Hildebrandt