0 to 5: Why early learning matters

CINCINNATI - Moms and dads feel a lot of pressure to get it right. Take Margarita Carillo. I met her on a Saturday morning at an Early Learning Symposium at Summit Country Day School .

"The anxiety comes from you only get that one chance to do it and you want to do it right," said Carillo. "You want to be able to offer them everything you can to be able to learn correctly and to just make the right decisions."

Carillo is not alone in her anxiety. The symposium is filled to capacity, everyone concerned about how to raise good kids.

Educational-psychologist and author, Michele Borba says what we need to do as a group of parents is just be a little more intentional.

"Turn off that TV," Borba said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics announced a new policy late this year stating babies and toddlers under the age of 2 should learn more from play, not screens.
 
"We've turned parenting into almost into a consumer-driven business," said Borba. "When parents have been told, plug your kid in or certain tapes or Baby Einstein's going to impact your child's intellectual development. So we do it not knowing what the real research says. What the real research says is... there is nothing more powerful than your voice. Your children relate best to your tone. Your voice and not the TV."

Gina Lofquist, Director of Xavier's Montessori's Lab School agrees.

"I think we end up being very dependent on what marketing people are telling us," Lofquist said. "What companies are saying our children need when the reality is, it's quite simple what they need. It really does surround them."

Borba says the two best ways to play with your child don't cost any money.

"Your face is absolutely glorious," said Borba. "And that is, your funny faces, your happy faces, your sad faces, little ones mirror that. What does that do? It plants the seeds for emotional intelligence."

The second best toy: Your voice.

"Anytime, any shape and way, talk to your child," said Borba. "We know that not only does it increase vocabulary. It also is the seeds for intelligence. When I say talk, talk naturally. Talk about things your doing, when you're cooking. Get out that big old bowl. Tell your child, 'look I'm pouring in the water. Look now I'm pouring in the flour. Now you do it with me.'"

These simple, yet focused things we can do at home as parents have a huge impact Lofquist says.

"There's a real play that happens very early on and we as a society have to comprehend is, they're the future," said Lofquist. "And we have to place as much value on birth to five as we do high school, as we do junior high. It's not just about headed to a university  - which is odd for me to be saying because it's incredibly important - education at all levels - but zero to five is incredibly important. Yet, we don't get the information publicly out like we do at the other ages."

What makes this time so important is how rapidly the brain is growing. It's near adult size by the age of seven according to Dr. Frank Putnam. He's a professor of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry.  He says as the brain grows, it's makes connections and without stimulation, certain connections never get made.

"Connections are about intelligence," said Putnam. "That's what makes you smart is the connections. And connections are influenced by life experiences. And it's the things that happen to those kids in those first five six years of life that really shape their brains."

OTHER PARENTAL RESOURCES

For daily tips on how to play with your children:

www.bornlearning.com

www.productiveparenting.com

www.micheleborba .com

Resources from The Summit Country Day School:

http://www2.summitcds.org/resource-guide/index.cfm

http://www2.summitcds.org/resource-guide/Early-Childhood-Education.cfm

http://www2.summitcds.org/resource-guide/Learning-Styles.cfm

http://www2.summitcds.org/resource-guide/Math-Help-.cfm

For additional local programs that help parents and children in the zero to six age range:

Success by Six

Every Child Succeeds

For more information on early learning advocacy:

Strive Partnership

Books:

Inside the Brain: Revolutionary Discoveries of How the Mind Works by Ronald Kotulak

Mind in the Making: the seven essential life skills every child needs by Ellen Galinsky