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Education
July 25, 2012

New Resources Added to Early Childhood Learning Website

The Provincial Government has developed new online resources to provide more information on early childhood learning and development to parents, caregivers, and professionals who work with children and families.

“The updated website serves as an excellent resource to parents, caregivers, professionals and others, providing access to a wide variety of early childhood learning subject matter,” said the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education. “Our intention is to enable easy access to information which supports the goals of Learning from the Start, an early childhood learning strategy designed to give every child the best possible start in life and a strong foundation for their future development and learning.”

The website was developed in partnership with the Departments of Health and Community Services, and Child, Youth and Family Services. It includes links to other government and agency websites for information about early childhood learning and development programs and services offered in this province, such as regulated child care, family resource programs, child health clinics, early intervention, public libraries and early literacy. New resources and information will be added on an ongoing basis.

Minister Jackman noted there are also 47 early childhood-related topics on the website made available to parents through an agreement with the national Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, which is also linked on the website. Many of these topics are of specific interest to parents.

“There are resources available on parent-child attachment, child’s play, language development, school transition, among many others. It will help to educate parents, caregivers and others about how and why early childhood learning is vital for successful transition into school, and what they can do to support their children’s early learning and development,” Minister Jackman said. “Learning from the Start stresses that parents play a critical role in supporting their child’s early childhood development, and this enhanced website will act as a support, allowing access to important parenting resources.”

Budget 2012: People and Prosperity includes almost $1.7 million for the second year of implementation of the province’s early childhood learning strategy, Learning from the Start, which is designed to enhance early learning opportunities for young children and their families. It is part of a three-year $4.8 million investment, announced last year, with an initial focus on the years from birth to age three.

For information on early childhood learning and development and Learning from the Start initiatives, visit the website at: www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/earlychildhood/.

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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca

2012 07 25                         9:50 a.m.

 
 
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