Aboriginal young children's language and literacy development : National strategy for early literacy

While there are commonalities in the biological unfolding of language and literacy capacities across all children, the cultural nature of development, as well as variations in access to supports and services, call for a focused consideration of the needs and approaches to supporting Aboriginal children’s language and literacy. [...] This strategy would include: •. regional and national networking and leadership development specifically for those working in the area of Aboriginal early language and literacy through virtual and face-to-face conferencing; •. d. evelopment, delivery and evaluation of post-secondary training curricula to extend the capacity of Aboriginal early childhood practitioners to promote. [...] In addition to factors related to political will and the lack of a national monitoring system, there are several other reasons for the lack of substantial evidence of Aboriginal children’s language and literacy development in Canada. [...] The absence of national or regional epidemiological data necessitates reliance on proxies to gather a picture of the nature and prevalence of challenges and opportunities for Aboriginal families to support their children’s language and literacy development. [...] Studies have shown that some of the factors contributing to this low level of academic achievement are that Aboriginals in Canada have the lowest income and thus the highest rates of poverty, the highest rate of drop-outs from formal education, and the lowest health indicators of any group.” (Council of Ministers of Education, 2004, p. 22).