The following article was sent out in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.
What if Seattle became a national leader in providing early learning opportunities for all of our children?
To achieve this ideal, we must move at the speed of light. Why? Because the more we research how children learn and grow, the more we confirm investing early—years before kindergarten—yields the best results.
This morning, two national experts on early childhood development and learning briefed the City Council and made the case for early investments. You can review the presentations of Dr. Steven Barnett (National Institute for Early Education Research) and Dr. Sarah Roseberry Lytle (University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences) here and here.
Dr. Lytle told us that, only hours after birth, infants can tell the difference between their native language and a foreign language and that 85% of a child’s brain is developed by the time they are three years old.
Continue reading "Invest Early in Our Children to Build the Strongest Seattle" »