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Posted: May 17, 2013
A slightly different kind of Brain Building: how a bond bill can support early ed
In an opinion piece in this week’s Boston Globe, Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Jeffrey Sanchez wrote about legislation that would upgrade child care facilities serving low income children, to meet important quality standards.
United Way has been working with Children’s Investment Fund on this issue since 2011, when we helped fund the study that evaluated child care facilities operated by nonprofit, community-based providers. We’ve worked closely with them since then to push this legislation at the state house, recently testifying at a legislative hearing.
Working with over 50 organizations in our area that provide early childhood services in our neighborhoods, we know exactly how critical these programs are to working families. We also know through research that investing in young children and the environments where they spend their time is an investment in the future prosperity of the Commonwealth. Today’s children are tomorrow’s prosperity and it all begins with building young children’s brains.
The architecture of the human brain is constructed through an ongoing process that begins at birth. Just as the building of a home follows a sequence, brain architecture is built and shaped by early experiences. A strong foundation early on increases the likelihood of positive outcomes. Brains get built through interactions with parents, caregivers, and community. These “back and forth” interactions literally wire their brains.
The context and environments where brain building happens matters. Good physical spaces enhance the quality of the interactions between educators and children, reduce behavior issues in classrooms, and promote the general health of those spending up to ten hours a day in these spaces. Most child care spaces were not originally designed as educational settings, and as a result, lack appropriate, safe, healthy facilities.
The state has demonstrated its commitment to quality care and education through current investments to ensure that kids enter school ready to learn, and to close the achievement gap, through the implementation of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), and by leveraging federal resources such as Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge funding. This legislation would augment these investments by providing the means for those programs that serve our most vulnerable children to create effective, safe, and welcoming spaces to give these kids a good start. Additionally, it would enable facilities to more fully participate in QRIS, the state’s method of assessing quality in its early education and care and out of school time facilities.
We know what works. We know how to design and build effective high quality child care spaces. This bill will enable programs to have the funding to implement what has been proven effective. Children need programs that support their optimal development, and in the future, those children will repay the investment through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship.
URL: http://speakunited.org/blog/russet+morrow/2013/05/slightly-different-kind-brain-building-how-bond-bill-can-support-early-ed