Research continues to show us that patterns set when children are young influence their behavior, learning and health throughout their lives. We are determined to know “How are our children are doing now?” before we know how to help them do better in the future.

Prairie South is proud to be involved with the Understanding the Early Years (UEY) research project in the Moose Jaw-South Central area. With the goal of giving all children the best possible start in life, UEY takes a holistic approach to understand how schools, neighborhoods, children’s programming and services, families and childcare facilities affect early childhood development.

The project uses quality data collected from multiple sources.

• The first piece of data consists of a teacher questionnaire called the Early Development Instrument, which explores how ready a child is to learn when they enter school.
• The second piece uses parent interviews and direct assessments of children to generate information on the child’s development and on his/her skills and abilities.
• The third piece maps community resources to outline where supporting programs and services are available to families.

Together, the data will help to identify the needs of children and their families and allow us to support the South Central community in ensuring that our children have the best possible start in life.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada funds the various UEY initiatives across the country. Locally, the project is sponsored by the Regional Intersectoral Committee (RIC), in partnership with Prairie South.