.
Clearly, "parents are the brain's first and most important teachers" (Nash, 1997, p. 54). Complicating the issue is the search for affordable, quality child care, a crucial factor considering the overwhelming number of women who have joined the work force in the last 25 years (Simmons & Sheehan, 1997). According to the results of a national study, many of the nation's nurseries and child care centers, which accommodate nearly half of the 15 million infants and toddlers of working parents, do not provide services that benefit a child's development (Hancock & Wingert, 1997). Moreover, "there's a mismatch between when the brain is most early influenced and when they're spending the money to do the influencing" (Kulman, 1997, p. 10).
Simmons and Sheehan (1997) state, "Day care is more than a service that holds daily schedules intact. It is a place where children build their brains" (p. 2). The current findings of the brain development research highlights what educators have known for quite some time: "Early social and emotional experiences are the seeds of human intelligence" (Hancock & Wingert, 1997, p. 36). Furthermore, as Hancock and Wingert suggest, "Teachers need to tune in to each child's daily experiences and needs, helping them feel safe and loved [,] while encouraging them to explore and experiment" (p. 36).
Consequently, the prescription for a quality preschool or child care program is one that reflects a child's experiences in a good home. "American educators agree on the simple elements that add up to quality: well-trained teachers; low teacher-student ratios; safe, stimulating surroundings; and strong ties between staff and families, so [that] children know there is loving continuity in their lives" (Hancock & Wingert, 1997, p. 36). Moreover, preschool is not for relating facts and administering rigid schedules, "it's about listening, guiding, and helping individual children to make sense of the real world" (Hancock & Wingert, 1997, p. 36). Furthermore, according to Margot Hammond, Director of the Bank Street Family Center, once these emotional faculties are strengthened, then children will be more ready to learn (Hancock & Wingert, 1997). Quality preschools may also be able to correct the neurological damage children sustain as a result of depressed, distracted, or abusive parents, especially since children's brains are so malleable at this age (Hancock & Wingert, 1997).
In conclusion, while researchers are continuing to find more and more empirical evidence supporting the importance of the first three years of life, parents and educators must begin to put into practice neuroscientists' astounding findings. The Education Commission of the States (1996) recommends some broad policy changes:
* A major national study should be undertaken to develop special-education policy recommendations based on what is known about how children learn
* State programs should address impediments to brain development, such as poor prenatal care, parental pre- and postnatal smoking, maternal diet and nutrition, and drug use
* Current education practices, such as how and when foreign languages are presented, should be reassessed
* Incentives and requirements for schools of education to understand, research, and expand their teaching of early childhood development should be created
* The quality of child care should be upgraded, and standards for professional development of child-care workers should be created. (p. 3)
Although parents are the child's first and most important teachers, many parents are unable to make the most of their child's critical periods of learning, because of significant changes in both American society and its work force. As more mothers work outside of the home, quality child care becomes a scarce commodity. Consequently, Americans can no longer afford to shift the blame and responsibility of educating their most precious and valuable resources - the children. As citizens, we must insist that our policy and lawmakers enact laws that are child- and family-friendly, and that promote opportunities for responsib