Early Childhood Development

Source: Telegraph-Journal, February 18, 2013

By Jennifer Pritchett

Excerpt: Philanthropist Margaret McCain is calling on the federal government to create a national early childhood development strategy for a public system that will give children a better life start.

"It's absolutely necessary," she said, in an interview.

Through the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation, McCain and her late husband have donated millions to early childhood education in Canada and the subject continues to be one of her great passions.

On Friday, she visited the Early Learning Centre in Saint John, one of the early childhood development sites in the ...

On January 31 and February 1, 2013 members of the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc. attended meetings of the ECD Funders Working Group in Montreal, Quebec. The main topics of the meetings were children's rights and the Early Development Instrument (EDI).

The Funders Working Group

The Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc. is a member of the Early Child Development Funders Working Group (ECD-FWG). The ECD-FWG is many things: a cross-Canada learning network; a deeply shared commitment to children; a link among eight very diverse foundations. Its goal is simple—the availability of quality, publicly-funded, early ...

Toronto, October 23, 2012

Excerpt: "Less than a month after the inaugural conference for the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development, we are together again under the same theme – how research, policy and practice – across disciplines – inform one another.

Behind the IHD, and its prototype the Atkinson Centre, is an understanding that human development is complex – it doesn’t belong to any one discipline. And just as we have spent the last two days advising policy makers to breakdown the silos that hinder the delivery of early education – academics need to heed that same advice and build cross sector understanding ...

October 16, 2012, Montreal, Quebec

Excerpt: "We are the Early Child Development Funders Working Group – it’s a mouthful and we could have devised a more pithy handle but we are not about branding; we are about a goal – publicly funded early education for every child from the age of two. This objective underpins our respective equity and social justice agendas. It is progressive, ambitious and achievable.

Ours is a collaboration of eight family foundations – some old and some new; some large, some small, stretching from Alberta to Newfoundland. We first met in Toronto in an exploratory meeting to see ...

"Giving Children the Best Start: The Early Years is an opportunity for Nova Scotians to rally behind their children, to build a seamless and comprehensive continuum of supports from the prenatal period through to elementary schooling. This is the most effective means to ensure all children have an even-handed opportunity to succeed in school and in life. It is the smartest investment in its own prosperity that Nova Scotia can make."

-- Hon. Margaret McCain

Excerpt from Nova Scotia Premier's Office news release:

The province is consulting Nova Scotians on a plan to ensure young children are getting the support ...