Wait, wait, just tell me…

Ever hear something on the radio that froze you in your tracks and immediately thought, I’ve got to share this with everyone I know!

We did and so we are.

This week we were blown away by a conversation that eloquently described five basic principles to follow to close the achievement gap for preschool aged kids. NPR’s Elissa Nadworny spoke with Tara Register, group leader at an infant/toddler learning group in Dorchester, MA, and Harvard economist Ron Ferguson, a leading expert in the achievement gap.

Here are excerpts from that conversation:

RON FERGUSON: Kids aren’t even halfway to kindergarten. And they’re already way behind their peers.

NPR: This comes despite the fact there’s actually a whole bunch of research on what caregivers can do to encourage brain development.

FERGUSON: The things that we need to do with infants and toddlers are not things that cost a lot of money. It’s really about interacting with the child, paying attention to them, being responsive to them.

NPR: So Ferguson set out to translate the research into five simple and free things adults could do with their little ones.

FERGUSON: [No.1] of the basics is to maximize love, manage stress.

NPR: That means moms and dads have to take care of themselves, too, because babies pick up on that. [No. 2], talk, sing and point with your child.

FERGUSON: When you point at something, that helps the baby to start to associate words with objects.

NPR: Some babies will point before they can even talk. No. 3, that’s the one about numeracy that Tara Register was focused on.

TARA REGISTER: [No. 3] Count, group and compare.

FERGUSON: So [No. 4] of the basics is to explore through movement and play. And the idea is to have parents be aware that their children are actually learning when they play.

NPR: And [No. 5] is to read and discuss stories. Ferguson puts a big emphasis on discussing. That’s a piece lots of parents miss when they’re just reading aloud.

FERGUSON: I mean, I’ve got a Ph.D. My wife has a master’s degree. But I know that there are some things that are in our Boston Basics that we did not do.

***

NPR: [REGISTER] wishes she had known about this stuff when she first got pregnant years ago.

REGISTER: I was a teenage mom. I had my daughter when I was 15, so I know the struggle, right? This is real to me. I understand it.

NPR: She said she finds her teenage parents are surprised to discover that so much learning happens so early on.

REGISTER: Some of the stuff they’re doing and probably didn’t even know there was, like, a name to it or there was a development behind it, you know?

NPR: Back in class, Register has one final thought for the group, which she repeats several times before they finish. It’s essentially the thesis behind all five of the Boston Basics.

REGISTER: Our babies are incredible. They’re complex. They’re incredible. They’re smart. They can take it all in. So don’t underestimate them.

NPR: Ron Ferguson at Harvard – he’s hoping this message can get to every caretaker and their baby first across Boston and then across the country.

[To hear the whole story yourself, follow this link to NPR]
—

We take this work very seriously.

In October, look for a special report from PCCY and statewide partners that includes an ambitious plan to insure every baby and toddler in Pennsylvania has access to quality care.