What are the skills – the tools – children should learn to make it easier to learn to their personal ability, remember on purpose and pay attention? Deborah Leong, Co-founder & President of Tools of the Mind, explains the “Vygotskian tradition” and how young learners can extend their mental capacities the same way physical tools extend one’s physical capacities.
NBCDI President Dr. Leah Austin discusses how the 52-year-old national organization that focuses on the healthy child development of Black children takes its mission and message to all U.S. communities, working with key local leaders, educators and parents to improve education, as well as offering key lessons from the NBCDI’s Early Years Climate Action Task Force.
As an NLC Youth Representative and a member of the Brighton (CO) Youth Commission, Giana Rocha partners with adult leaders to help youth access the tools they need to be involved and make change. One area for impact: Helping peers with mental health issues know that support is always there.
How can parents turn every day moments with their children – bath time, meal-time, even trips to the laundromat – into learning moments for their kids? Patti Miller, CEO of Too Small to Fail, explains.
When University of Maryland Associate Professor Geetha Ramani and her colleagues visit early learning classrooms, they’re known as the “game people.” Ramani’s research shows not only the importance of teaching math skills, but also the effectiveness of what might seem like an obvious tactic: Make it fun.
For many high school students across the country, the pandemic resulted in Zoom classes, missed milestones and an increase in mental health concerns. As a member of the Austin Youth Council—as well as NLC’s Council on Youth, Education and Families— Ann Vadakkan advocates not just for youth empowerment, but also for youth mental wellness, raising awareness to help reduce any stigma.
As the NBCDI advances its “Eight Essential Outcomes” for childhood learning—health, education, nutrition, digital safety, representation, climate, narratives and safe community—the organization seeks to align with the local partners who can bring those opportunities to life. As NBCDI’s Vice President of National Partnerships and Community Mobilization, Allyson Jones leads that effort.
From her earliest days, teaching has been part of Carol Brunson Day’s life. And since those first lessons through her time in the classroom and as NAEYC Past President, she has been a relentless, powerful activist for equity, access, and high-quality education for children.
Every child has a story. And the BCDI-Carolina’s Marketing & Communications Manager explains why—in order to improve all children’s learning experience—it’s incumbent on all of us to listen to their stories and know how to share them with others.
April Fournier is not just a Portland (ME) Councilmember, she’s also an early childhood support specialist within an outpatient pediatric clinic. After the child’s medical health visit, Fournier checks in with the parents to provide support on the “social determinants of health”: housing, food and other areas critical to a child’s development.
According to NYU University Professor Lawrence Aber, poverty and violence are the two most toxic challenges for child development – areas he has researched from the U.S. to Africa and the Middle East. Regardless of location, children can experience poverty and violence in difference ways and levels. Aber explains the research, tools and tactics required to give children the best opportunities for successful development. Filmed for Early Learning Nation’s Mobile Studio at the Society for Research in Child Development’s biennial meeting in Baltimore, MD, on March 22, 2019. #SRCD19
How do you build leadership in early learning? According to Maurice Sykes, Executive Director of the Early Childhood Leadership Institute, it goes beyond the usual skills and benefits from an eye towards equity and social justice: “[making] sure that children, regardless of zip code or surname or gender, have access to high quality programs.”