Ontario

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 ...

Fraser Mustard (1927 - 2011)

In Early Years Study 3 Fraser Mustard again brings his passion to early childhood development. His reasons were many, but mainly because he believed the future of our country, indeed of the world, depends upon it.

Fraser's brilliance came from his ability to distill the complex story of the dance between nature and nurture and its effect on early brain development. He gave voice to three enduring messages that have permeated the popular culture: The years before 5 last a lifetime; It takes a village to raise a child and Pay now or pay later ...

When do the Payoffs Start and How Big is the Return?

On June 22nd, 2011, an Economic Forum on Early Learning took place in Toronto. Economist Dr. Pierre Fortin of the University of Québec at Montréal discussed his new work that reveals the benefits of Quebec’s full-time, publicly-supported learning and care program begin immediately and the payoffs are more far-reaching than speculated. 

Award-winning economist Robert Fairholm of the Centre for Spatial Economics spoke about how almost all Canadian governments make the wrong decision when allocating their economic stimulus dollars. At a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Lars Osberg, McCulloch ...

Source: Telegraph-Journal

Mission: Twenty years later, Margaret Norrie McCain's focus is still on nurturing the minds of young children. She hopes politicians won't abandon an issue that transcends politics and election campaigns.

On a muggy late-spring afternoon, with the smell of an approaching thunderstorm thick in the air, Margaret Norrie McCain settles into an armchair and, like the true Maritimer she is, meanders into the story.

The air is still and the house is silent except for her voice, which is soft, but so articulate and sure-footed that it demands complete attention.

The sunroom overlooks the back gardens ...