Why Focus on the First Years?

Forty to fifty percent of Vermont’s children are not ready for kindergarten. Why are so many of our kids unprepared for school?

Science points to the earliest years. Modern research tells us that the most critical time for a child’s development is the first five years. Eighty percent of the brain develops by age three, and ninety percent by age five. Seven hundred to one thousand new brain connections are created every second, forming a mental foundation for more complex learning. The connections that are stimulated and used are strengthened, and those that are not used will be lost. Therefore, it’s important that children have quality experiences during the earliest years that stimulate their brain connections in a healthy way.

“Serve and return” interactions are an important element of healthy brain development. Scientists use this phrase to describe the back-and-forth interactions between an infant and an adult: the baby makes a bid for attention with a coo or gesture, and the adult returns it in a direct and meaningful way—perhaps with encouraging words or a smile. These simple interactions actually strengthen the connections in the growing brain. As Dr. Lewis First writes in his Let’s Grow Kids blog post on serve and return interactions, “[Such] interactions play the critical role of strengthening brain connections between all of the different areas of the baby’s brain—helping them develop the emotional and cognitive skills they need for life.”

Where in the World is Brenda "Building Blocks" Buzzell?

Brenda just returned from Orlando, FL. Numbers, year to date 2014, of children positively impacted by Building Blocks for Literacy® program: over 1,000!

Where's Brenda follows our Building Blocks Coordinator, Brenda Buzzell, around the United States as she works with preschool teachers, and early care providers and coordinators to teach them best practices for teaching early literacy skills to children ages three to five. www.buildingblocksforliteracy.org.


 

How-To: Help Your Child Get Ready to Read Through Games Part IV

This week's "How-To" focuses on vocabulary. Did you know that children from middle to high-income families have heard 30-million more words than their peers from low-income families by the time they are four? Unfortunately, this gap keeps widening as kids move through school. Below are two videos demonstrating ways to help increase vocabulary and understanding of words.

The more words a child hears, the more that child's vocabulary grows. There are numerous ways to promote language development in young children. Modeling gives you the opportunity to use multiple words with the same meaning so the child learns a word and its definition. For example, "That's a fragile statue. It's very delicate. If you knock it over, it could break." Watch how this preschool teacher models new words for her students:

Help Your Child Get Ready to Read Through Games Part III

How-To: Help Your Child Get Ready to Read Through Games, is a four-part series of “how-to” videos for parents, and early child care providers and educators that shows you different games you can play with your children to help them get ready to read in kindergarten. Each of the videos models a different technique that will increase your children's early literacy skills through fun and games. For more information on how to help prepare your child for reading, or to find more fun ideas and games, check out the Stern Center's Building Blocks for Literacy online program for parents and educators. 

This week's How-To focuses on the sounds of letters. This is important because the ability to think about the individual sounds in a word is one of the strongest indicators of future reading success. Below are two games you can play with your child that will keep them entertained while at the same time helping them practice their letter sounds.

How To: Help Your Child Get Ready to Read Through Games (Part I)

How-To: Help Get Your Child Ready to Read- Games, is a four-part series of how-to videos for parents, and early child care providers and educators that shows you different games you can play with your children to help get them ready to read in kindergarten. Each of the videos models a different technique that will increase your children's early literacy skills through fun and games. For more information about helping your child prepare for reading or to find more videos, check out the Stern Center's Building Blocks for Literacy online program for parents and educators.

This week's How-To is all about rhyming and showcases a great game to play while driving in the car, sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office or while grocery shopping.

Have fun today, rhyming away!

Stern Center Celebrates Week of the Young Child

by Suzanne Loring
 
One of the best things that parents can do to ensure their children’s future success in school and life is to read aloud with them every day. Reading aloud with your child helps increase vocabulary, improve listening skills, promote language and broaden perspectives about the world around them. 

This week, April 6-April 12 celebrates the Week of the Young Child, an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), created to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

Started in 1971, the Week of the Young Child recognizes that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children’s success in school and later in life. This year’s focus is Early Years Are Learning Years®.