Young children in the Okanagan are slightly behind their B.C. counterparts when it comes to emotional and physical development, though slightly ahead of the language and cognitive curve.
So said Joanne Schroeder, the executive director of the Comox Valley Child Development Association, who spoke at Thursday’s National Child Day Celebration on the research she co-conducted at UBC on five-year-olds in this province.
“Right now, around B.C., about a third of kids in the province are behind on some aspect of their development…It’s a concerning number,” said Schroeder.
The information for her research was done by surveying Kindergarten teachers who filled out information on their individual classes.
Child poverty and the cost of good childcare are among the reasons she sees for the childrens’ struggles and she did note the cost of living throughout B.C. is likely having an impact. Some one in five children in this province live in poverty.
Speaking to a group at the Laurel Packinghouse, Schroeder said the solution to the problem lies in collaboration between social agencies and groups looking to tackle the problem.
Twitter: @jaswrites
