November 30, 2011 - Over the Edge

STUDY CLAIMS

KIDS SHOULD

START SCHOOL AT AGE TWO

Would This Guarantee More High School Graduates?

HANNA PETERSEN
NEWS EDITOR

New study in early childhood education insists that chil-

A= should begin schooling at the very early age of two.

t actually recommends “in-school” programs which

would aid in their development through guided play. The study

recommends programs to be run by experienced early childhood
educators.

The report entitled, “The Early Years Study”, encourages gov-
ernments to amalgamate programming currently offered in drop-
in centres and resource workshops into a central early childhood
schooling program.

Across Canada more than half of two to four-year olds at-
tend some kind of regular educational program, which is more
than twice as many than what had been documented in 2004. One
of the lead researchers, Kerry McCuaig, pointed to research that
finds that children who attend early-childhood programs perform
better on standardized tests throughout their education. They are
apparently more likely to graduate from high school, which leads
them to access higher education as well.

The idea behind the study is to expose kids to activities that

will stimulate their brain development early in life. This early
education will allow them to become better prepared with the so-
cial and emotional skills needed to succeed in a school setting.
McGuaig also argues that a early-childhood education workforce
is already in place. However, this workforce is currently spread
over other child-care related fields because there is no centralized
early child-care education system in place at the moment.

McCuaig also argues that such a structure would assist the
high number of working families who need to find care for their
young children. “By organizing early-education to fit parents’
work schedules, we get this double benefit - kids who are doing
better, a better-supported workforce, and mothers who are able to
get and keep jobs,” McCuaig states.

The Early Years Study is behind the growing number of early
childhood learning campaigns, the genesis being that the years
before the age of five serve to structure a person’s future ability to
learn and thus contribute to their success in the future as well. The
studies began in 1999 with lead researcher, Dr. Fraser Mustard.
Dr. Mustard passed away on November 16th.

HANNA PETERSEN
NEWS EDITOR

NBC Alum, Currie Dixon, graduated with his master’s degree in political science from

UNBC in May and has become one of the youngest cabinet ministers in Canadian history.

On November 5th, he was sworn in as the Yukon’s Minister of Environment and Eco-
nomic Development. Dixon is originally from Whitehorse and is the MLA for Copperbelt North,
the second most heavily populated riding in the territory.

“Some people may believe that it’s a little counter-intuitive to be named both Minister of En-
vironment and Minister of Economic Development, but it’s critically important that we develop
our resources in ways that are environmentally sustainable” says Dixon.

Currie’s Master’s project dealt with the relationship between Yukon First Nations and the Yukon
government with respect to Education. “Currie was one of the best students I’ve ever supervised,”
says UNBC professor Gary Wilson. “He was very bright and passionate about his topic, so it’s not
surprising that he’s had such success so soon after graduation.”

“If I hadn’t gone to UNBC and attained my master’s degree, I don’t believe I would have ad-
vanced to the position of Senior Policy Advisor to Premier Pasloski, continued my involvement in
politics, and ultimately been elected to represent the people of my riding,” says Dixon.

“T benefitted from having excellent and easily accessible professors at UNBC. I believe the skills
and training I learned at UNBC have given me the ability to be much more analytical and objective
when it comes to policy and political decision-making. I can’t say enough about UNBC.”

UNBC GRAD BECOMES ONE OF THE
YOUNGEST CABINET MINISTERS IN HISTORY

UNBC master's Grad Currie Dixon is one of Yukon's sitting Ministers

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Currie Dixon