Early Childhood: A Critical Window

As an educator, you know that little ones are learning from the moment they take their first breath! You know from experience that the lessons they learn, and how they learn them, are vitally important to their future growth and development.

You also know that research backs you up. Recent studies have used imaging technology to determine that developing brains are twice as active as those of adults. Further, brain development in areas associated with speech, written language, social development, and math get their most influential input from birth to age 4.

Social Domain

Physical Domain

Language Domain

A vital opportunity

You also know that this early training can have profound effects on kids’ later lives. Studies show that kids involved in preschool:

• Have stronger social development
• Are more likely to start grade school with reading, writing, and mathematics skills
• Are more confident
• Actually show positive differences in brain structure compared to children who don’t receive early training

And, these benefits continue later on. Children who receive quality preschool instruction:

• Are less likely to need government assistance as adults
• Are less likely to drop out
• Are less likely to commit a felony
• Are more likely to go to college
• Are more likely to own a home

These trends are especially strong for so-called “at-risk” kids. Of this group, kids who do not receive preschool instruction are statistically:

• 25 percent more likely to drop out of school
• 40 percent more likely to become teen parents
• 60 percent more likely to skip college
• 70 percent more likely to be arrested or committing a violent crime.

Clearly, Early Childhood Education is vitally important, not just for individuals— but for the health of society as a whole.

Emotional Domain

Cognitive Domain

A clear choice

That’s why selecting curriculum and library titles for your Early Childhood Education program is so important. As an educator, you have a unique opportunity to impart life long lessons and learning to your students at a critical window in their development—when their brains are growing, changing, and absorbing new information and new lessons at a mind-boggling pace, as they gain vital skills and learn about the world. Your important work can shape their young minds for a lifetime. And, that’s where Perma-Bound can help. We understand the importance of curriculum and library title choices for young pre-readers and emerging readers, and we’re dedicated to finding the best solutions for your program.

Sources:

• The Early Childhood Education Zone, earlychildhoodeducationzone.com/why-all-kids-should-go-to-preschool
• Focus on Early Childhood: Critical Windows of Opportunity for Learning, http://www.ttac.odu.edu/articles/focuson3.html