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News & Stories: Publications

July 22, 2021

Posted on The Globe and Mail.

Excerpt: "Surprise! No jurisdiction in Canada is better equipped to create a system of high-quality, accessible early learning and child care; a system that can reduce inequalities in a way comparable to schools and health care. Ontario already provides early learning to a quarter-million – 90 per cent – of four- and five-year-olds in its kindergarten classrooms and requires schools to provide before- and after-school care where parents want it. More than half the province´s schools already have child care, and a billion-dollar capital program is under way to add more. Building on your existing public assets is the secret sauce in bringing high-quality early learning and child care to a neighbourhood near you. Ontario leads that parade."
August 15, 2021

Posted on The Conversation.

Excerpt: "Today’s Liberals have shown more gumption than in 2005 when they caved in to provincial demands in their rush to get everyone on side before the opposition forced an election. To date, Ottawa has stood firm on its criteria for non-profit delivery, better trained staff and — what they’re banking on as the vote-grabber — marked-down fees for parents. Any provincial proposals coming forward without these pillars get sent back to their respective capitals."
August 26, 2021

Posted on The Conversation.

Excerpt: "Among the parents we studied, we found that women with a history of early life adversity were the most vulnerable to mental health problems. But men with a history of early life adversity were still at greater risk for mental health problems than men without such early adversity."
August 30, 2021

Posted on TVO Today.

Excerpt: "We'll be looking back at more than a decade of full-day kindergarten in Ontario. How well has it worked? Were the original concerns about it warranted? And has it accomplished its goals. With guests Jane Bertrand of ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ at the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½; the Toronto Star's Kristin Rushowy, and the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½'s Elizabeth Dhuey."
March 14, 2022

Feedback on ELCC Legislation submitted to the Federal Secretariat on ELCC

Excerpt: "The Atkinson Centre at ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½/²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ and Institute for Change Leaders hosted a Virtual Roundtable - Have your say about Canada’s new Early Learning and Child Care Legislation, on March 9, 2022. The event was in response to February 11 correspondence from the Federal Secretariat on Early Learning and Child Care seeking feedback on legislation to enshrine the principles of a Canada-wide child care system in law and support a lasting federal commitment over time. The following is a summary from the roundtable."
April 5, 2022

Posted on The Conversation.

Excerpt: "The early learning and care workforce is female dominated and racialized. It’s among the lowest-paid sectors even compared to other female-dominated jobs requiring similar education and experience.

When compared to male professions with similar education and training requirements, the wage gap is even more staggering, and shows how our society’s devaluation of labour related to educating and caring for young children is deeply gendered."
²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ 4, 2012

Research Bulletin: Genes, Experience and Parenting Behaviour

Excerpt: "In a recent study, Dr. Rossana Bisceglia and her colleagues wanted to see what factors affected mothers' ability to provide sensitive care to their children. The hypothesis was that both biological and environmental variables would impact mothers’ sensitivity, and that certain combinations of factors would be more detrimental to parenting than others."
²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ 10, 2012

Research Bulletin: Siblings Teaching Siblings

Excerpt: "Research demonstrates that young children teach one another, showing individual differences in the amount of teaching they do and the strategies they use. There is a special teacher-learner relationship among siblings, in particular.... We developed a measure to capture teaching between siblings when the youngest child was age 3 and their older sibling between 4-8 years old..."
²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ 24, 2012

Research Bulletin: Playing favorites is bad for everyone

Excerpt: "In a study recently published in the journal of Developmental Psychology, psychologist Jean-Christophe Meunier and his colleagues at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education tested to see if playing favorites, as a family style, has negative consequences for all children in the family, rather than just the disfavored child."
²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ 31, 2012

Research Bulletin: Playing favorites is bad for child health

Excerpt: "In a study recently published in Social Sciences and Medicine, PhD student Dillon Browne and psychologist Jennifer Jenkins sought to determine if being a disfavoured sibling can have negative consequences in terms of general health. Browne and Jenkins followed 501 families over a period of 18 months as part of an investigation called the Kids, Families, Places Study, led by Dr. Jenkins at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education..."
²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ 31, 2011

Atkinson Letter - Family-Friendly Schools Spell Success!

The report on full day early learning, envisioned family-friendly schools where, “…hours after the last bell has rung the school is still buzzing. Parents come and go, picking up children who have participated in extended programming. There are recreational, arts, and social activities and homework clubs for the children, and a concurrent parenting program is running.â€
June 30, 2012

Atkinson Letter - Modernizing the Early Years

Early years programs are undergoing significant changes in Ontario. Full day kindergarten will be available to all 4-and 5-year-old children by 2014. School boards are required to secure extended day options where there is sufficient demand. Child care programs are repurposing to serve younger aged children and their families.