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Media Release -- New partnership to create and distribute language and literacy resource kit to 15,000 Canadian child care practitioners

London, ON – A new national partnership between the Canadian Child Care Federation and the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network will see the development and distribution of a language and literacy resource kit to 15,000 Canadian early learning and child care practitioners by August 2007. The Honourable Ken Dryden, Minister of Social Development Canada, made the announcement today at the Better Beginnings, Better Futures Community Centre in Ottawa in honour of National Child Day.

“We are pleased to be working together with the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network on this important project. This resource kit will give early learning and child care practitioners the evidence-based tools they need to help children get the best possible start in their language and literacy development – a contribution that will last a lifetime in terms of children’s success in school and in the workforce,” said Barbara Coyle, Canadian Child Care Federation’s executive director.

The partnership will leverage nearly $500,000 in shared funding through the development and dissemination of the resource kit. The resource kit, designed for early learning and child care practitioners, will contain a research-based background paper, resource list, poster, presentation materials, resource sheets based on five research theme areas, and a web-based public education component, which will be accessed online via the Internet.

“Those who work with young children on a daily basis can have a significant impact on learning, so they need evidence about what works and why,” said Dr. Don Jamieson, scientific director and CEO of the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network. “By organizing the evidence to make it easy to access, understand and update, this resource kit can make a big contribution to improving the early language and literacy skills of Canadian children.”

The partnership was announced in celebration of National Child Day, a day proclaimed by the Government of Canada to commemorate two historic events for children – the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Children in 1959, and the UN adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

The Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network, a federal Network of Centres of Excellence, brings together leading scientists, clinicians, students and educators as well as public and private partners. The Network’s mandate is to generate, integrate and disseminate bias-free scientific research and knowledge that is focused on improving and sustaining children’s language and literacy development in Canada. The Network is hosted by The University of Western Ontario. For more information, visit www.cllrnet.ca

The Canadian Child Care Federation is the largest early learning and child care organization in Canada – a federation of 21 provincial/territorial early learning and child care organizations, representing 11,000 members from across Canada with a mission to achieve excellence in early learning and child care. For more information, visit www.cccf-fcsge.ca.



BACKGROUNDER

Strengthening Language and Literacy Skills of Children in Early Childhood Settings

· Statistics Canada reports that more than 7 million Canadian adults can barely read and comprehend simple printed materials and that over 25 per cent of Canadian high school graduates lack the literacy skills needed for entry level jobs, and experience difficulties when reading even simple texts for comprehension.

· Adult language and literacy skills are built on the foundation of the language skills, which are acquired over the first dozen years of life. Work by Canadian language and literacy researchers have discovered much about what parents and other adults can do to facilitate the acquisition of such good language skills by children in their care.

· When children are unable to develop good language and literacy skills, they ultimately suffer profound and enduring consequences—including poor psychosocial development, academic failure leading to reduced employment opportunities, and an overall reduced sense of well-being.

· The Canadian Child Care Federation and the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network are partnering on a unique initiative designed to transfer the knowledge of the latest evidence-based research findings in language and literacy development to best practices for child care delivery in communities across Canada.

· The Canadian Child Care Federation is a national non-profit organization committed to excellence in best practices, capacity building, and collaboration, partnerships and networking. The mission of the Federation is to achieve excellence in early learning and child care

· The Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network is a non-profit organization with a mandate to improve and sustain language and literacy development for children in Canada by generating, integrating and disseminating bias-free scientific research and knowledge.

· Results from the partnership will be improved child care services through the application of evidence-based best practices in language and literacy development for children up to six years of age and the provision of up-to-date specialized training to pre-service and in-service ECE practitioners across Canada.

· Resource Kit: Production and dissemination of 15,000 hardcopy kits, each including:
* A Background Paper that will link the five research themes (Biological Factors, Sensory Processes & Environments, Language Development, Literacy Development and Social, Economic & Program Influences), encompassing language and literacy development of children, best practices for the provision of optimal training opportunities and quality child care from birth to age six;
* Resource Materials designed to assist child care practitioners and others who work with young children in maximizing children’s language and literacy development. This will include an introduction document, resource list, poster, presentation materials (hardcopy, CD ROM) and five Resource Sheets (RS), one for each theme area, and
* Web-based Public Education Component, including online versions of the Resource Sheets and other information, which can be accessed online via the Internet.