All events relating to ECEC

This Summer Institute responds directly to recommendations from Canadian research on leadership and inclusion, which state: Colleges and universities must reconceptualize post-diploma/ graduate programs for resource teachers and special needs workers in early childhood education. This course provides an opportunity for students to understand "best" quality practice concerning children with disabilities or other special support needs. Students will exchange perspectives on a broad range of issues relating to the needs and concerns of all children and their families and leadership in the field relating to inclusive practices. Students will gain information and skills through in-class discussions, videos and presentations, reporting on experiences gained through their own child care centre as well as a practicum experience using the SpeciaLink Child Care Inclusion Principles and Profile measurement of inclusion quality tools. This course can be applied for credit as an elective in the Advanced Diploma in Leadership in ECCE.

Cost: $300

A session organized by the Canadian Industrial Relations Association and the
Canadian Auto Workers, featureing chair Tony Wohfarth (Canadian Auto Workers), Martha Friendly (University of Toronto), Luc Thériault (University of New Brunswick), and David Hay (Canadian Policy Research Network).

Speakers include:
Child care policy expert Dr. Paul Kershaw, and representatives of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. and the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union

Child care is a critical issue for many families. Licensed child care centres throughout B.C. have hundreds of families on long waiting lists because there are not enough spaces for the children who need them. The lack of accessible, affordable spaces hurts families and prevents them from fully participating in the economy.

The BCGEU has joined with the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. to build support at the community level to create a quality, non-profit, accessible child care system.

The "Child Care – Let's Make It Happen" campaign comes to Maple Ridge for a public forum on Wednesday, May 24. Community forums are also happening this spring in a number of other communities around B.C.

Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have barely been sworn into office and already they're cancelling the signed child care agreements with the provinces – agreements that would finally have begun to address the shortage of spaces.

Our campaign will encourage the provincial and federal governments to maintain the existing funding agreement, and to work together to develop a national child care system.

This conference invites you to explore the place of children's rights, human rights and equity throughout the early childhood and children's services field – in pedagogies, practices, programs, policies, theories and research. Share stories of hope, challenge and/or change. Inspire and be inspired. Challenge and be challenged to make a difference through your work in the field.

We invite seminars, colloquia, papers, workshops, learning circles and posters that explore questions such as:

• What troubles us and what should we trouble to honour children's rights and honour equity?

• How can/do we act as change agents in our local contexts to make a difference?

• What are the limits and the possibilities in working for equity in diverse cultural contexts?

• What do we need to rethink and/or do differently to construct safer and fairer lives for all children?

• How do we/should work with cultural dissensions and tensions?

• How can we know the world differently in order to transform it?

We welcome diverse theoretical and cultural perspectives that challenge us to think and act differently.

Deadline for submission of abstract: 30 June 06

Over the past decade, children and families have become a key focus of public policy in Canada, and Ottawa and the provinces have actively sought to improve the well-being of Canadian children. In March 2003, the signing of the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care and the ensuing bilateral agreements between Ottawa and the provinces over 2005 set the stage for what many hoped would be a fully fledged national daycare network.

With the recent election of a minority Conservative government in Ottawa, and the announcement by the new prime minister that he will cancel these intergovernmental agreements and fund families directly to help them pay for daycare services, Canada's family policy seems to be moving in a new
direction.

The roundtable entitled ''Early childhood development and childcare: What do we know?'' will examine the latest research on early childhood development and child care and attempt to sort out the policy implications. Among other topics, speakers will address the quality of care, the policy lessons to
be learned from Quebec and elsewhere, the current either/or debate about funding supply or demand and the place of child care in Canada's broader benefits package for families.

This forum is a unique opportunity to participate in an open discussion about daycare and early childhood development in Canada.

YWCA will bring together child care advocates, key stakeholders, experts, and political representatives for the launch of the final report of the "Builiding a Community Architecture for ELCC" project.

AGENDA

9:30am - Registration
10:00am - Press conference - YWCA Canada - A real choice for child care
10:30am - Panel One - YWCA Canada report presentation
11:15am - Panel Two - Response to report
12:30pm - Lunch
1:15pm - Strategy session

Child care cooks are responsible for feeding hundreds of children daily in their child care centres and supporting the nutrition education of the children's families. This event, held to honour and provide professional development child care cooks, is the largest of its kind in Canada attracting more than 100 attendees from across Canada and the northern United States.

Hosted by George Brown Centre for Early Childhood Development and the School of Hospitality and Tourism this conference will feature:

- Workshops and cooking lessons with professional chefs
- Vendor displays
- Panel discussions

On International Women's Day, women around the world celebrate our
achievements and commit to continuing our struggle for full equality. This
March 8, child care is the critical concern for working women in Canada.

Women's Equality Forum and Social
March 7, 7:30pm
Battleford Room, Delta Bessborough
2006 marks the 25th anniversary of Canada's ratification of the UN Convention on equality rights for women. Join forum participants Monica Goulet, Connie Deiter, Debbie Frost, Sue Delanoy and others in reviewing our struggle for equality rights. Everyone welcome. Child care provided on site.

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Rally for Child Care and Pay Equity
March 8, noon
Delta Bessborough (noon), Saskatoon City Hall (12:15pm)

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What we bring to the table... We bring the world
March 11
Cosmopolitan Seniors' Centre, 614 11th Street East
Free Community Fair: 4:30pm-6pm
Dinner: 6:30pm
Tickets: $20
For tickets and information call: 374-8572