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Early Childhood Services (ECS) includes Kindergarten and educational programming for children as young as 2 years 8 months of age.
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French-language content for this topic on Alberta.ca is currently being developed. Information will remain available on the Alberta Education website until this is complete.
Français
La page correspondante en français est en cours de préparation sur le site Web Alberta.ca. Pendant cette période de transition, l'information qu'elle contient demeure disponible sur le site Web du ministère de l'Éducation.
Early Childhood Services (ECS) refers to educational programming for children before they enter Grade 1.
ECS includes both Pre-Kindergarten programming dedicated to children who require additional supports and Kindergarten.
Alberta is the only province in Canada that funds education supports for children as young as 2 years 8 months.
Pre-Kindergarten is for children who require additional supports to prepare them for Kindergarten and Grade 1. Children eligible include those:
Children with a severe disability or a language delay that is moderate or severe may start pre-Kindergarten at age 2 years 8 months. All other children may begin at age 3 years 8 months.
Contact your local school board or independent ECS operator for more information about available programming and registering your child.
Kindergarten is the year prior to entry into Grade 1. Children must be at least 5 years old as of December 31 of the year they have started Kindergarten.
Contact your local school board or independent ECS operator for more information about available programming and enrolling your child.
Alberta’s government is directing an additional $40 million to improve and expand learning assistance to more young children with disabilities and language delays. The additional support for program unit funding and specialized learning support grants include:
More information about the updates is available in 2021/22 Funding Manual and the Special Education Coding Criteria or Critères relatifs aux codes en adaptation scolaire.
For further information on supports, please see Early Childhood Services Handbook for the Identification and Review of Children with Severe Disabilities or Manuel de l’identification et de l’évaluation des enfants ayant des incapacités graves dans les programmes de services au préscolaire.
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