Why is this important?
Applying best practices in teaching children, as determined by major research universities will provide the most effective and cost-effective results in decreasing the achievement gap. Teaching core life skills are essential for children to function in school and life.

Summary
• Children learn effectively from the ‘give and take’ or ‘serve and return’ interaction with caregivers.
• Reading to a child from birth forward is beneficial however it is only one of the tools children need to learn.
• Children start to communicate at birth. Crying is basic communication, sharing a need with an adult. Moving on to facial expressions, then pointing. Merely giving a name to items the baby indicates to is very important.
• Core life skills are learned early in life and are:
o support our ability to focus, plan for and achieve goals
o adapt to changing situations
o resist impulsive behaviors.

Research

(https://developingchild.harvard.edu/)

‘Development is a highly interactive process, and life outcomes are not determined solely by genes.’

‘While attachments to their parents are primary, young children can also benefit significantly from relationships with other responsive caregivers both within and outside the family.’

‘One of the essential experiences in shaping the architecture of the developing brain is “serve and return” interaction between children and significant adults in their lives. Young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at them. This back-and-forth process is fundamental to the wiring of the brain, especially in the earliest years.’
(https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/serve-return-interaction-shapes-brain-circuitry-icelandic/)