u miss the window, you are playing with a handicap. [The studies] offer an explanation of why the gains a toddler makes in Head Start are so often evanescent: this intensive instruction begins too late to fundamentally rewire the brain. (p. 56)
Recognizing and taking advantage of the various windows of opportunity are paramount to young children's healthy development. A child's brain development suffers if the child is denied the opportunity to live in a stimulating environment (Nash, 1997). Nash reports, "Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, for example, have found that children who don't play much or are rarely touched develop brains 20 percent to 30 percent smaller than normal for their age" (p. 51). Consequently, the research emphasizes the positive effects of hands-on parenting, which includes talking with and cuddling infants and toddlers, as well as providing them with stimulating experiences (Nash, 1997).
For centuries, parents have understood the newborn's basic need for safety, nourishment, warmth, and nurturing. Now, research offers remarkable insights about human development from birth to age 3, substantiating the view that parents and other adult caregivers are a vital component in the child's development (Carnegie Corporation, 1997).
Julie J. Newberger (1997), communication specialist of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, says:
Stimulated in part by growing concern about the overall well-being of children in America, the [brain research] findings affirm what many parents and caregivers have known for years: (a) good prenatal care, (b) warm and loving attachments between young children and adults, and (c) positive, age-appropriate stimulation from the time of birth really do make a difference in children's development for a lifetime. (p. 4)
Kantrowitz (1997) echoed this sentiment, stating "Cutting-edge science is confirming what wise parents have also known instinctively: Young children need lots of time and attention from the significant adults in their lives" (p. 7).
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