Just how important are the 2000 Days before your child reaches Kindergarten? Early Literacy and Language Development

Academic Success Mental and Physical Health Professional Success Social Success Employability Likelihood of Poverty Self Confidence Research shows your childs early environment impacts his / her future: Why?

Most reading problems are entirely preventable ! Why?

Starting kindergarten with good pre-literacy skills = increased likelihood of academic success. Stanovich – University of Toronto Why?

Majority of brain wiring happens during infancy and toddlerhood

Factors that influence readiness to learn trajectories in young children Readiness to learn 0 Adapted from Halton N, McLearn K. Families with children under 3. What we know and implications for Results and Policy, in Halton, McLearn and Shuster eds. Child Rearing in America. Challenges Facing Parents and Young Children. New York, Cambridge University Press yr 2 yrs 3 yrs 4 yrs Lower learning trajectory Higher learning trajectory Parents education & emotional awareness Reading & speaking to the child Appropriate discipline Preschool Poverty Lack of supports for parents Family discord Low incidence of reading / talking to child Lack of modeling

Early literacy and language development: developing the foundational skills, attitudes and brain wiring necessary for reading and writing. These include: - Phonemic awareness - Alphabetic principles - Vocabulary - Comprehension - Accuracy and fluency with text Definition

Learning to talk or walk is innate. Learning to read is not. Learning to read requires explicit instruction, repetition, motivation and mental effort. How?

Definition SING R EA D TAL K PLAY EVERYDAY!

- Sing, Read, Talk and Play with your child everyday! - Make your interactions fun! - When you read to your child, make the reading: - Interactive (ask questions, let your child fill in words), - In a quiet place, - With lots of repetition, - On a childs timeframe, - Regular, - Age-appropriate - Let the child lead

When you snuggle up with a book with your child… … your baby is learning - a natural love for reading and books - about positive, quiet time with you - about the rhythm and cadence of language - early vocabulary and sounds

When you snuggle up with a book with your child… … your toddler is learning : - front and back of the book, - beginning and end of the story, - turning pages, - labeling objects, - vocabulary, -complex story book language and structure.

When you snuggle up with a book with your child…... Your preschooler is learning: - alphabet awareness, - story structure awareness (ability to predict what happens next), - personal awareness (comparing characters to themselves), - sequencing, - confidence.

Rate of return to human development investment across all ages Return per $ invested Age 0618 Pre- school School Job training Cameiro, Heckman, Human Capital Policy, 2003 Brain sensitivity Spending on health, education and welfare

More information and resources are available at no cost