School readiness

In Robert Munsch’s Murmel, Murmel, Murmel, Robin finds a baby in her sandbox. Declaring she is too young to take care of a baby, she searches for an adult. Her skills, knowledge and attitude prove five-year-old Robin is school ready.

School readiness is different from academic readiness. To succeed academically (and in life), children need self-regulation, executive functions and socialemotional skills. These abilities are wired in by parental attention. In Canada, one out of four children fail school readiness tests. (The failure rate is higher for Indigenous children — another criminal legacy of the residential school system.)

Imagine Robin found parents stressed by poverty. Our baby is less likely to develop school readiness. Economist Ha-Joon Chang recognizes children need more than “minimum nutrition and parental attention.” Dr. Gabor Maté appreciates “the parent’s brain programs the infant’s, and this is why stressed parents will often rear children whose stress apparatus also runs in high gear, no matter how much they love their child and no matter that they strive to do their best.”

Maté proves every baby needs parenting from a “reliably available, protective, psychologically present and reasonably nonstressed adult.” Would guaranteed annual income (GAI) increase the likelihood that parents would be non-stressed and better able to wire in school readiness? If you would like to find out, take action. Contact your government representatives. Ask about GAI in leadership races and elections. Most importantly, promote the idea around your kitchen table with children, family, friends, and neighbours. Nancy Carswell, Shellbrook