Almost 45 years after its debut, that slogan for the United Negro College Fund remains one of the most recognized in American advertising.  With its motto, "The Early Years Matter," Ready At Five is focused on a similar, enduring message, but rather on the 'front end' of a child's developing mind.  In the first years of life, more than 1 million neural connections form in the brain every second, building the brain's architecture and providing the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health.  Barriers detrimental to that brain's educational achievement can start early, including those caused by poverty, caregiver mental illness, child maltreatment, and low maternal education.  By the time that child reaches kindergarten, he is already behind his peers.  Time and time again, the adverse effects of his gap only multiplies unless there are interventions.  One proven, successful intervention is high-quality preschool.  When we provide all children with equitable opportunities to attend high-quality preschool, we ameliorate some of the risks to their learning and development.  Even economists illustrate that the early years matter, finding that there is a huge return on the public investment when children from low-income families attend high-quality early childhood programs.

"Early Math Matters" a professional development event featuring Keynote Speaker Dr. Geetha Ramani, will take place on Saturday, November 18, 2017 from 8:30am-3pm at Harford Community College in Bel Air, MD.  Dr. Ramani, an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park, will speak about the Importance of Mathematics in Early Childhood in the morning, followed by two training sessions and lunch.  Please click here to register for the event.   

“I firmly believe that we can close the school readiness gap and prepare our children for college and careers through high-quality early learning experiences, but we have more work to do…”

Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D., State Superintendent of Schools

As a kindergarten teacher, I loved the first day of school. After weeks of stapling corrugated border around bulletin boards, stringing yarn through the holes of the new name tags, setting up beautiful and enticing learning centers, and organizing the critical tools for my students – new boxes of unbroken crayons with 24 dazzling colors, writer’s workshop books, pens and pencils, glue sticks, and rubber-handled scissors with no sharp edges – the day had finally arrived. The morning was crisp, and it was the earliest in the day I had seen over the past weeks of the long, endless – and now almost forgotten – summer. Everything smelled new and full of a million new opportunities. I greeted each child at the door and with them, waved goodbye to their parents, and considered each one's potential in the coming school year … in my room.  Unfortunately, the starting line for each child varied widely because of their different life experiences leading up to that first day of kindergarten – serious differences that could mean some of them would never be able to keep pace or catch up.

Ready At Five stands with Charlottesville area school leaders who released a joint statement, along with resources for families and teachers: http://charlottesvilleschools.org/resources

Download a free children’s book Once I Was Very Scared http://piploproductions.com/stories/once/