However, two psychologists, Betty Hart and Todd Risley, came to a startling realization after looking into the efficacy of these programs. While they were managing to help some of these children avoid entering into a poverty level lifestyle as adults as well as avoid becoming involved in criminal activity, these interventions that our government was funding to the tune of $7 billion dollars a year were doing little for increasing academic success. These programs that appeared to be well ran, and generously funded were producing minimal results in regards to literacy rates, vocabulary skills, and had absolutely no impact on math skills for 3 and 4 year olds.
Let's be clear, their realization in NO WAY involved the development, implementation, or execution of these programs. The issue fell solely with what I have been saying for over 20 years..that timing is the key! Meaning these children were receiving the interventions too late! These children from low SES environments were becoming lodged in an intellectual rut way before they ever began attending Head Start. In fact, it was occurring before they reached the age of 3. Therefore these two scientists asked themselves the question that has plagued development for hundreds of years, "Does the obstacle we face life within genetics or the environment?" Their published report, "The Early Catastrophe" explains how they discovered the strongest indicator for impact on development was the environment, specifically parental interaction and parenting styles. Anyone who knows me, will also tell you this too is something I have agreed with throughout my entire career. I have always felt that that the situation in which a child was raised and the parental exposure they had would vastly outweigh any genetic upload they possessed.
This work is ground breaking and should sound an alarm for parents everywhere. Their studies show that the level at which children are performing academically at the age of 3 is STRONGLY indicative of their achievement levels at the ages of 9 and 10. The first three years of life are a period of incredible growth in all areas of development. The groundwork for who are children can become, emotionally, physically, academically, socially, will be laid in these first few years. While that doesn't mean that changes cannot occur after that, it does mean that as parents we have to be diligent and proactive about what and who we expose are children to, because parental influence is ultimately what will define them. As research has mounted, we have obviously gained extensive knowledge in regards to the development children. We even know now that development can be affected before conception by the way people take care of themselves i.e. their lifestyles, eating habits, stress levels, etc. Children are human sponges in the early years and have the capacity to learn infinite amounts of information so I feel it's our job as the parents to be good stewards of that responsibility.
With that being said, I would also like to note that these first three years are by no means a "use or lose it period" meaning if your child is older than that, it's not too late for them. Nor am I saying that once your child is three, your work is done. There is still PLENTY of work to be done after and PLENTY of change that can and will happen. The overall goal here is just to help kids, as I said, get off to the best start possible, but more than anything, to assist parents from low SES and poverty level environments see there's no need to feel less than or even hopeless because they don't have access to expensive/extensive resources. It's no secret that children who come from these environments have tremendous struggles and this is so because their parents, educational systems, and communities are sharing in those same struggles. Now, while I am not going to be able to bring change to those issues overnight, what I can do is make a few parents feel a little more empowered. So while money does tend to make a situation easier, there are choices that can be made in any income bracket that have the potential to produce positive effects...which I am going to share.
This article is the first in a series that will discuss topics such as electronics and the developing mind, day care/pre-school options, things that can be done in the home, the importance of reading to your child and by the adult, parenting styles, and my personal favorite, why spanking shouldn't be the only tool in your tool box or there at all, as well as some other ideas! As always I hope you enjoyed this article and will stick around for the ones to follow. Also if there are any topics you would like to share or that you would like to read about, please let me know!
