MONTREAL – The provincial government announced it will introduce 100 new kindergarten classes for four-year-old children starting this September.
There are many advantages of children starting kindergarten at the age of four, says Dr. Sheryl Smith-Gilman, a professor of education at McGill University.
“I think it’s a wonderful initiative,” said Smith-Gilman. “Four-year-olds are ready to learn, they are ready to move forward in their schooling, cognitively, emotionally, and physically.”
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The initiative is taking aim at children from low-income neighbourhoods.
“There is definitively a correlation between socio-economic class and student achievement,” said Smith-Gilman. “[Government] going into lower socio-economic areas definitely gives young children an advantage…children who have good childhood experiences do well in school.”
The initiative is estimated to cost $10.4 million.
With files from Amanda Jelowicki