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The 2011/12 Annual Report of the Healthy Child Manitoba Office is released.

Excerpt: "In a study recently published in Social Sciences and Medicine, PhD student Dillon Browne and psychologist Jennifer Jenkins sought to determine if being a disfavoured sibling can have negative consequences in terms of general health. Browne and Jenkins followed 501 families over a period of 18 months as part of an investigation called the Kids, Families, Places Study, led by Dr. Jenkins at the Â¥·ïÌìÌÃ..."

Following consultations with Nova Scotians over the summer, the provincial government released a report, "Giving Children the Best Start - The Early Years: Discussion Paper," summarizing findings. An advisory council will use the report formulate recommendations on priorities for the early years.

The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy releases the second edition of How are Manitoba’s Children Doing? which examines how the province's children are doing in four areas: 1) physical health and emotional health; 2) safety and security; 3) successful learning; 4) social engagement.

Excerpt: "In a study recently published in the journal of Developmental Psychology, psychologist Jean-Christophe Meunier and his colleagues at the Â¥·ïÌìÌà tested to see if playing favorites, as a family style, has negative consequences for all children in the family, rather than just the disfavored child."

This conference examines models of early childhood service integration and their impact on ECE practice and public policy; with experts from across Canada, the UK, Australia and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC released Stepping Stones to School: AHS to Kindergarten Transition Toolkit, "an educational resource for all Early Childhood programs that include Aboriginal children... [that includes] a collection of tools and suggestions from AHS programs that help create a successful transition into school for Aboriginal children and their families."

Excerpt: "Research demonstrates that young children teach one another, showing individual differences in the amount of teaching they do and the strategies they use. There is a special teacher-learner relationship among siblings, in particular.... We developed a measure to capture teaching between siblings when the youngest child was age 3 and their older sibling between 4-8 years old..."

Excerpt: "In a recent study, Dr. Rossana Bisceglia and her colleagues wanted to see what factors affected mothers' ability to provide sensitive care to their children. The hypothesis was that both biological and environmental variables would impact mothers’ sensitivity, and that certain combinations of factors would be more detrimental to parenting than others."

The following are responses to the Government of Ontario's Modernizing Child Care in Ontario: Sharing Conversations, Strengthening Partnerships, Working Together discussion paper.

The government of New Brunswick announced it would be "investing an additional $1 million in the Day Care Assistance program to increase childcare subsidies and to expand the program eligibility to help families with early learning and childcare costs." This funding is part of the government's $38-million three-year action plan Putting Children First.

The provincial government has "re-instated the wage enhancement of $2.75 per hour for early learning and childcare staff. The initiative supports the pay equity measures for early learning and childcare staff".