Created in 2001, the
Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD) is a consortium of partners from Canadian universities, federal ministries, provincial representatives, community services, professional associations, national organizations and First Nations. Its mandate is to foster the dissemination of scientific knowledge on the social and emotional development of young children, as well as on policies and services that influence this development. The CEECD disseminates this information to service providers, planners and policy-makers.
The primary activities of the CEECD are:
- to identify and synthesize the very best scientific work on early childhood social and emotional development and its influence on young children’s health;
- to disseminate this knowledge to the target audience identified;
- to encourage leading-edge research on child development;
- to provide governments and service planners with a consultation service for policies on early childhood development;
- to create, at the local, national and international levels, networks of people and groups interested in early childhood development, in order to encourage knowledge-sharing and dialogue.
The main dissemination product of the CEECD is its
Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. The Encyclopedia is a compendium of texts written by more than 250 international experts on 33 topics related to the social and emotional development of young children, from the time of conception to age five, that have an effect on their health and well-being. Contributing researchers trace the major trends to follow in the study of services related to early childhood development (in terms of both health and social and cognitive development). They identify emerging critical issues with respect to services and policies (health, education, social) as well as research questions to be pursued.
The Encyclopedia topics are investigated from three perspectives: development, services and policies. In addition to the contributions of experts, a simplified and succinct synthesis for each topic presents key knowledge to practitioners and planners: How important is it? What do we know? What can be done? The Encyclopedia also presents practitioners’ observations on the articles under the heading, Voices from the Field. The practitioners also comment on the challenges faced by those who plan children’s services (health, education and social) and policies in Canada.
Download and print handouts or brochures on Babies and Aggression, Toddlers and Aggression and Preschoolers and Aggression from Invest in Kids and the Early Childhood Learning Knowledge Centre. These resources were developed using the CEECD Encyclopedia.
Responding to Children's Needs: Important Developmental Milestones in Young Children
"Parents have a good understanding of physical milestones, such as when children learn to walk, but are less familiar with important intellectual and social stages."
The Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research just published a new resource for parents, caregivers, and service providers. Parenting Series outlines the important developmental milestones during a child’s first five years of life. Other topics featured in this publication include attachment; play, and peer relations.
You can consult this publication online at the following link:
http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/Parenting_2009-11.pdf.
The latest
Bulletin highlights the ten best in Canadian ECD research in 2008.
This is the eighth annual edition of CEECD's special feature on research and this year’s issue presents topics such as bullying, breastfeeding, stress and poverty, asthma and autism.
View this Issue
The Inventory of
Pregnancy and Birth Cohort studies lists Canadian cohort studies that are completed, ongoing or in development. It provides detailed information on the content and design of the studies, and compares features amongst studies to facilitate both national and international comparisons. This initial version provides information on over 45 studies.
This inventory has been created by the
SKC-ECD together with the
Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) of the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the
Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN).