Early childhood Education:
Provide child learning at a much earlier age
A core challenge we face is providing early learning opportunities for our children from age three. This is where we should all start. If we can begin on this premise, this notion that learning must be integral to a child's life from an early age, every goal we have for our youth, our economy, and our culture will be fulfilled.
The latest scientific research on how the brain works informs us that a child's brain is at its most active stage of growth from birth to age three. For example, a child learns a language by age two and an adult's potential vocabulary is shaped by words learned before the age of five. The neurological foundations for later-stage learning of math and logic are set before age four. Moreover, a child's first two years of life experience largely determine how his brain will develop into adulthood, along with his overall level of emotional stability. Waiting until age five to introduce formal learning is a dinosaur-like practice, one whose elimination can be supported by scientific evidence. With this in mind, we must focus on providing a sound foundation in the early years of life.
To succeed, we will have to get up early and drive slowly, but we will get there safely and on time. All families, particularly those with limited incomes, must have access to this early public learning opportunity. From an economic perspective, this early start will decrease the cost of successfully educating a student, since the recurring costs for failure would be eliminated. We spend millions of dollars on remediation, compensatory education, security, special education, retaining students, summer school, and incarcerating those who enter the juvenile justice system. Funding early learning will cost taxpayers far less than funding the incarceration of so many of these children in later years.
The latest scientific research on how the brain works informs us that a child's brain is at its most active stage of growth from birth to age three. For example, a child learns a language by age two and an adult's potential vocabulary is shaped by words learned before the age of five. The neurological foundations for later-stage learning of math and logic are set before age four. Moreover, a child's first two years of life experience largely determine how his brain will develop into adulthood, along with his overall level of emotional stability. Waiting until age five to introduce formal learning is a dinosaur-like practice, one whose elimination can be supported by scientific evidence. With this in mind, we must focus on providing a sound foundation in the early years of life.
To succeed, we will have to get up early and drive slowly, but we will get there safely and on time. All families, particularly those with limited incomes, must have access to this early public learning opportunity. From an economic perspective, this early start will decrease the cost of successfully educating a student, since the recurring costs for failure would be eliminated. We spend millions of dollars on remediation, compensatory education, security, special education, retaining students, summer school, and incarcerating those who enter the juvenile justice system. Funding early learning will cost taxpayers far less than funding the incarceration of so many of these children in later years.