– There is a growing consensus among scientists and educators that early childhood education is much more important than people used to believe not too long ago. Until the later half of the last century, the best day care centers still used to be essentially about keeping young children clean, fed, and well-behaved. Today, even programs intended for infants include things as sophisticated as a curriculum, lesson plans and assessment goals. 

– Now, early childhood education experts know much better how a young child’s brains develops and how to optimize learning. More neural connections are formed in the first three years of life than at any other time. What children experience in their earliest years has a determining effect on their future – a crucial window of opportunity that should under no circumstances be ignored.

Image: David Woo, Dallas Morning News

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