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Early Childhood Development: What Parents Need to Know - Tuesday, April 19, 2005

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Even before babies are born, their parents eagerly await the tremendous joy, pride and hope they bring. Naturally, parents want to give their children the love and emotional security and appropriate nutrition and health care that are the building blocks for their children’s healthy, successful lives. One of the most important things parents and caregivers can give them is an environment rich in language. Research clearly demonstrates that children’s successes in school and later life are tied to their ability to read.

The years from birth through age 5 are a time of extraordinary growth and change. As early as six-weeks-old, babies like the feeling of closeness when a parent, grandparent, or other caretaker reads to them. Babies begin to learn about spoken language when they hear their family members talking, laughing and singing, and when they respond to all the sounds that fill their world. It is during these years that children develop the basic knowledge, understanding and interest they need to become successful learners, readers and writers. They begin to understand written language when they hear adults read stories to them and see adults reading newspapers, magazines and books for themselves.

However, children do not automatically learn the skills they need to begin reading—they need help and practice. Not having those opportunities can have devastating effects on children’s achievements in school. Based on the understanding that literacy and numeracy are learned skills, not biological awakenings, young children need learning environments rich in sounds and spoken language with lots of opportunities to learn about books, letters, print, numbers and counting. Through activities such as these, children understand that learning is both enjoyable and important. Such activities prepare them to be successful in school—and in life. That is why, with the “Early Reading First” and “Reading First” initiatives, the U.S. Department of Education is working to provide all children with an equal chance for academic success.

The April edition of Education News will explore questions such as:

• What does the medical community tell us about the latest research on brain development and its ties to early learning?
• What do effective preschool and early literacy programs look like?
• Early literacy begins the day the child is born. What activities can parents do—in and out of the home—to help lay the important foundation for reading?
• How can early childhood programs meet the needs of all students despite drastic preparation levels?
• In what ways does poverty affect a child’s acquisition of prereading skills?
• What resources are available for parents, grandparents, childcare providers and Pre-K teachers to prepare children to be successful in school?
• What types of professional development should early childhood professionals acquire to ensure students are prepared for elementary school?

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