Economist: A successful child needs investment

March 09, 2012

Creating a successful workforce starts by investing in children before they are 5 by supplementing resources of disadvantaged families, according to Nobel Laureate economist James Heckman.

In a time of shrinking budgets, massive cuts and inequality in services, Heckman argued the way to make true change is to invest in character early in a child’s life.

By age 3, gaps in achievement and understanding are set. Statistically, Heckman said, those remain throughout education. To make effective change, the United States needs to start talking about prevention rather than remediation.

Basically, he said focusing on building children who have successful social-emotional skills, cognitive skills and are in good health allows for success in the future.

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=230160&title=Economist:%20A%20successful%20child%20needs%20investment

Children's Academic Success Linked to How Parents Play With Toddlers

08 Mar 2012 - 5:00 PST
The ways in which parents engage with their children at age two predicts their children's future academic outcomes, according to results from a 15 year study.

The study was conducted in 1996, by researchers from Utah State University's department of Family, Consumer and Human Development (FCHD). In order to find out the extent of influence early parent-child engagement has on children's future academic success, the team examined families participating in the "U.S. Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project." Results from the study will be published in an upcoming special issue on fathers in the Family Science journal.

According to the researchers, parent-child activities demonstrated to have a positive impact on children's future academic outcomes, include:
Elaborating on the words, actions, and pictures in a book or on unique attributes or objects
Relating book text or play activity to the child's experience
Encouraging and engaging in pretend play
Presenting activities in an organized sequence of steps

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242651.php

Rice originated in China about 8000 years ago

, a team of genome researchers has concluded in a study tracing back thousands of years of evolutionary history through large-scale gene re-sequencing. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicate that domesticated rice may have first appeared as far back as approximately 9,000 years ago in the Yangtze Valley of China. Previous research suggested domesticated rice may have two points of origin—India as well as China.

The study was conducted by researchers from New York University's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and its Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis' Department of Biology, Stanford University's Department of Genetics, and Purdue University's Department of Agronomy.

http://www.sciencenewsline.com/biology/2011050313000047.html

How fathers and mothers play with children at age two predicts their children's future academic outcomes.

LOGAN, Utah, Mar 06, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Mothers Do More Teaching With Their Child When the Biological Father is a Resident in the Home

Results from a 15-year research project show that the ways in which fathers and mothers play with children at age two predicts their children's future academic outcomes.

Among the highly stimulating activities parents engaged in that were shown to have a positive impact on children's later academic performance are:

-- Encouraging and engaging in pretend play

-- Presenting activities in an organized sequence of steps

-- Elaborating on the pictures, words, and actions in a book or on unique attributes of objects

-- Relating play activity or book text to the child's experience

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/15-year-study-shows-positive-connection-between-how-parents-play-with-toddlers-and-their-childrens-academic-success-2012-03-06

Brain doubles in weight from birth to age 3

Did you know that the brain becomes 75% wired by age 1?
Did you know that a baby’s brain doubles in weight from birth to age 3?

Play is the single most powerful learning tool that young children have to
learn about their world. Learn about the role of play in early brain development.

http://www.beechacres.org/Document.Doc?id=47

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

We expressed deep concern regarding the House Select Committee’s prior draft recommendations that would cut off nearly 10,000 children from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive high-quality early learning at a critical time in their brain’s physical development and as they seek to reach key educational milestones.

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2012/03/01/praise-wariness-follow-committee-decision-to-slow-down-changes-to-pre-k-eligibility/

Children who begin school behind typically remain behind

There is a convergence of knowledge from neuroscience, child development and economics on the importance of early childhood. A child’s most important brain development occurs before age 5, and children who begin school behind typically remain behind. Early experiences affect the quality of the brain’s architecture — establishing a sturdy or fragile foundation for all learning, health and behavior that follow.

http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2186452-123/letter-early-learning-critical.html