Language learning in the toddler years provides the foundation for later intellectual, social, & emotional development.
- Children who develop rich vocabularies as toddlers and preschoolers are likely to be good readers by third grade. (Children who can't read fluently by third grade usually struggle throughout school & are unlikely to complete high school.)
- Preschoolers who are good at "using their words" have better self-control, are less likely to be aggressive, and are more sought after as playmates than children whose language lags.
- Early childhood teachers with college-level training have higher quality classrooms and warmer relationships with children than those with less education. Children in their care have more sophisticated language and play.
- Half of the early childhood direct care workforce cares for children between 18 and 36 months -- prime time for language learning -- yet most of the training and public support is focused on teachers and caregivers of older children.
The achievement gap is growing. More and more of our children start school already behind and may never catch up.
- The US lags far behind other industrial countries in early childhood education and supports for young families.
- In national studies, fewer than 1/3 of child care settings for toddlers are good enough to support robust language development. Children at home with parents or other relatives do not fare better, on average, than those in child care programs.
- Public investments are at their lowest point in the infant and toddler years - when brain growth is most rapid.
Learning a second language raises children's verbal and non-verbal IQ's and enhances their cognitive flexibility.
- A child whose background in her home language is strong can transfer her knowledge to English. It's hard to learn to read in a language you can't speak. Reading one language helps you learn to read another, even if the alphabets differ.
Early childhood education is an investment with an exceptionally high public return. The Perry Preschool Project, a program similar to Head Start, returned nearly $13 by the time they were 40 for each dollar invested.
- For about $4,000 a family over two years, the Parent-Child Home Program prepares low-income children to enter school on par with more affluent peers and to continue to achieve at average levels or above.
- Early Head Start teaches parents effective techniques for supporting babies' learning. Children show gains in all areas of development - but this underfunded program can serve less than 5% of eligible children.
- Parents as Teachers, combined with any preschool program, prevented the achievement gap at kindergarten entry for children in Missouri.
- The U.S. military provides very high quality child care in centers and family child care homes. With appropriate public policies and investments, public and private civilian programs could be brought up to a similar level of predictably good quality.