{"id":745,"date":"2013-08-27T01:01:29","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T01:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/content.scienceofecd.com\/secd-intro\/?page_id=745"},"modified":"2025-07-08T18:47:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T18:47:21","slug":"ec-2-3-early-childhood-education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/content.scienceofecd.com\/secd-intro\/ec-2-3-early-childhood-education\/","title":{"rendered":"EC 2.2 Early childhood education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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‘Early childhood education and care\u2019 or ECEC\u2026. refers to group programs for young children based on an explicit curriculum, delivered by qualified staff, and designed to support children\u2019s development and learning. Attendance is regular and children may participate on their own or with their parents or caregivers. It includes regulated child care, but also school-operated Kindergarten, Pre-Kindergarten, Early Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, nursery school, Pre-Primary, Maternelle, and parent and child centres, as well as Aboriginal Head Start\u201d (Atkinson Centre, 2020, p. 1).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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There are a variety of child development programs available for children before they enter kindergarten (usually at age five). These programs may provide child care while parents are at school or work, may provide a particular intervention, or may simply provide opportunities to socialize and play with other children. In general, options include licensed early learning and child care centres, family child care homes, and part-time nursery schools or junior-kindergarten programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Early Childhood Education Report 202<\/em>3 highlights key information about the sector across Canada. Explore this interactive map to find out how the provinces and territories compare on a number of benchmarks. For instance, see the percentage of preschool children who take part in an early childhood education program in provinces across Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n EXPLORE<\/span>\n Early Childhood Education Report 2023<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n
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Studies about the effect of early learning and child care arrangements on children’s development have focused on the:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • impact on mother-child relationship,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • impact on children’s social, emotional and cognitive development, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • quality of child care environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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    The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) studies the long term impact of participation in an early childhood education program. It is the first large European longitudinal study of a sample of young children\u2019s development between the ages of three and fourteen years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The following slides show some highlights from the EPPE studies.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \n VIEW<\/span>Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) (1:43)<\/span> \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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