Excerpts from the report:
The Muttart Foundation has prepared the current paper to encourage discussion of how Alberta can best approach its support for early childhood education and care. A parallel paper aims to encourage a similar discussion in Saskatchewan. The Foundation considers early childhood education and care a public good that benefits all children and families. It sees public support for early education and care as a prudent investment that has the potential to foster child development, to support families, and to help address the inequities in opportunity that appear early in a child's life.
The paper, written with input from researchers and practitioners, is a starting point. The discussion of how best to support children and their families requires the input of many stakeholders and must take into account different values, ideas, and experiences. It must acknowledge and make sense of competing interests while remaining grounded in what research tells us about early childhood education and care.
At minimum, the development of sound public policy, and the implementation of effective supports for children and their families, requires a deep understanding of the issues central to early childhood education and care. It also requires a vision of an Alberta in which all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential: one that remains in the best interests of children and their families.