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World News about Early Care and Education
Week of June 30, 2008
New group working to increase access to early education We are born wired to learn. By age 3, our brains have one trillion synapses — more than we’ll have in adulthood. By age 6, our brains are 95 percent the size of mom’s and dad’s.
Parents invest in summer tutors to give young children a leg up Nazira Ason draws the line at 5. His 5-year-old is too young to spend the summer in academic tutoring. His 6- and 9-year-olds, however, are not. The Woodlands kindergartener and third-grader are among a growing number of very young children receiving one-on-one help this summer in reading and math. Some parents are hiring tutors, experts say, because they're feeling the pressure of looming high-stakes tests, which begins in Texas with the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for third-grade children. Others are thinking about college.
Wilder research finds 'stable and enriching' low-income homes “Many low-income children have stable and enriching homes, where parents provide ample early learning opportunities and are hopeful about their children’s future. Nevertheless, too many low-income parents, along with the early learning providers and agencies aiming to help them, face daunting challenges and potential barriers for achieving school readiness.” In a nutshell, that was the conclusion of a Wilder research study focusing on school readiness of low-income children. The study suggests that access to high-quality early care and education should be provided to low-income families.