By 3 years old the trajectory for our future development is largely set
via http://bigthink.com/think-tank/learning-starts-at-home
“Children’s brains and children’s attitudes are formed in the first five years of life, and children’s opportunity to learn is affected by the homes in which they grow, the communities in which they grow, their respect for learning, their respect for teachers,” says Ravitch. The makings of the achievement gap are already there on the first day of school
"...children must acquire rudimentary skills that serve as stepping stones toward mastery of the more advanced and complex skills.” Some kids learn these skills from parents and siblings before entering school, others learn them at daycare. But some children don’t learn them at all. And “children who have mastered these skills in the preschool years are more likely to learn to read, write, and calculate” earlier and more proficiently than those who haven’t.
The lesson is clear: any program which seriously intends to promote learning for all will have to start early. Children are already forming their understanding of the world and navigating how they will relate to it as toddlers.
Rob Paterson introduced me to this thinking a while back
We believe that the research has now come together to provide us with a clear direction and a clear focus. If we focus on the acquisition of vocab by the age of 2 and its drivers the amount and quality of conversation and the amount and timing of touch we believe that we will have resolved the gigantic complexity of the early years into a field narrow enough yet powerful enough to get movement.
Our development in the Early Years is not only confined to our ability to learn. Our world view is set then as well which sets up our norms for behaviour and the boundaries for our coping skills. Consequently, many of the drivers for our future health, such as the capacity of our immune system, are also laid down in this period as well. By 4 we will have acquired life-long eating preferences that will be hard to change throughout life. By 4 our athletic skills and our desire to take exercise will largely be set.
Our brains and our world view are open to many choices at birth but by 3 many of the alternatives and the trajectory for our future development is largely set. By the age of 2 the size of our vocabulary will indicate how we will be able to learn all the way through school.
This insight has huge implications for how we as a society consider our current investment in the education system that begins age 6. We have enormous faith in schools - after all we all went to them and they have become the centrepiece of how we "see" education. But as we begin to understand the idea of trajectories for learning and for behaviour School Readiness takes on a new importance. Why is this so important? Because we are finding it very difficult to alter trajectories in school once they are set.
"It is clear that the trajectory for much of the chronic illness we suffer from today is set in the Early Years"
