New science showcased in Newsweek says children begin learning at birth. Their emotional, social, and cognitive development starts from the moment they enter the world. All children are born learning. Together, we shape their learning. A child’s day-to-day experiences affect the structural and functional development of his or her brain, including intelligence and personality. The quality of young children’s environment and social experience has a decisive, long-lasting impact on their ability to learn.

Research shows that when adults interact with young children—talking, singing, and playing rhyming games—they stimulate language and vocabulary development and build important
foundations for learning to read. Every person who touches a child’s life—directly or indirectly—can enhance that child’s early learning.

Too many children aren’t getting enough quality early learning experiences:

• Kindergarten teachers estimate that 1 in 3 children enter the classroom unprepared to meet the challenges of kindergarten.  
• Some 46% of kindergarteners come to school at risk for failure.
• Almost 1 out of 4 third graders failed the English SOL in Richmond.