The first eight years of a child’s life are so defining that third grade reading and math outcomes predict future academic, career and life success. Decades of research show what children need to build strong brains and succeed in school.
High-Quality Birth-Through-Age-Eight Learning Environments
High-quality child care, pre-kindergarten programs, and elementary schools help prepare children for school and life success. Economists, including Noble prize-winner James Heckman, have shown that early childhood programs bring impressive returns on investment. Heckman depicts what he calls “the economics of human potential” through his “Heckman Curve.” It shows that investments in quality early education are more life- and cost-effective than later remediation. Particularly for disadvantaged children, quality early education can have returns as high as $7 – $13 for every $1 invested. (Source)
Physical Health, Mental Health and Development on Track Beginning at Birth
Good physical and mental health help ensure children are successful learners from their earliest years, putting them on the pathway for grade level proficiency. Children who are often sick, have tooth pain, are dealing with chronic unmanaged or undiagnosed physical or mental health conditions, or who struggle with developmental delays and lack supports they need, often fall behind their peers in school. Health in utero, good birth outcomes, developmental screenings, and access to health and mental health services as needed, are all crucial to laying a strong and healthy early learning foundation.
Supported and Supportive Families and Communities
Families play a critical role in building strong foundations for learning. Positive parent and child interactions, such as talking, playing and reading together, helps children grow stronger emotionally, develop larger vocabularies and learn more easily. Parents often need support in order to be able to provide the care and opportunities their children need to thrive. Especially for economically disadvantaged families, or those experiencing other adversity, formal family support services and informal support networks can help mitigate the negative effects of living conditions like poverty and family stress. Mental health and substance abuse services, nutrition supports, access to resources and opportunities otherwise unaffordable for their families, and services that build parents’ skills and knowledge of child development are all examples of supports that can improve caregivers’ capacity to effectively support their children to thrive and achieve success in school.
