SINCE education in Canada is governed by local governments, we must zero in our discussion a specific province in the country. Take Ontario for example. It has a program called Best Start which takes care of the cognitive development of infants from birth to preschool. Obviously included in this program are babysitting services and day care centers. With Best Start, the government in Ontario funds the nutrition needs of toddlers in day care centers like milk. Since that means lots and lots of toddlers, your taxes alone cannot pay for their nutrition in government-subsidized day care centers. That’s why the Ontario government heavily relies on the private sector’s endowment to fund its numerous day care centers. Another supplemental program operated by the Ontario Ministry of Education is the infant hearing program for kids who have hearing impairment.

To achieve this, medical staff from the ministry will conduct two tests on the child suspected to having hearing impairment – the automated otoacoustic emissions and the automated auditory brainstem response. For the former, the ear’s response is recorded after audio is played over the headsets of the ears. For the latter, the same procedure is implemented but with additional electrodes placed in the forehead of the child in question. The government sees to it that these kids see an ENT specialist and if possible, cure the ailment so the child would not have difficulty hearing the lessons and communicating with the teacher once he reaches primary grade. Speaking is complementary to hearing so it is essential for parents to know whether there child has a speaking impairment.

Speaking anomalies like stuttering is also a symptom that a child is autistic. By six months old, babies must be sensitive to sounds. He or she communicates his or her needs by making distinctive sounds. It also means the child smiles when the parent smiles. By nine months old, the child can respond to his or her own name, can interact with the parent socially and can understand when told by the parent “no.” By the baby’s first year, the child can understand simple instructions like being told to sit down. The child is also interested in illustration books and brings to the parents any object to show his or her attention to you. To develop the child’s precarious brain at this time, the parents must communicate in simple English to the child even though he or she can’t understand it. By two years old, the child is expected to generate coherent phrases already.
Another strategy of the Ontario government is to embark on a massive information campaign to promote breastfeeding both for affluent and indigent mothers.

Affluent mothers in Canada tend not to breastfeed their children anymore because of pressing concerns at work while indigent mothers would love their children to taste commercial cow’s milk. But the Ontario government is always emphasizing that a mom’s milk is still best for babies up to two years of age. After two years, the child must then be fed with fruits, vegetables and milk products.