A Hope and A Promise for Young Brains

A Hope and A Promise for Young Brains

Dr. Linda Karges-Bone

I like to think of the famous educator and fellow Italian innovator Dr. Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori Method of early education as my cousin, at least in the spirit. Who knows? We are both Italian and known to have soft hearts and a stubborn streak, especially when it comes to little ones. Dr. Montessori once said, “The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.” In that quote lies the topic of today’s epistle. Our community, both locally and further abroad at the state level, must concern itself more intensely with the early education of all children. Indeed, the impact of church pre-schools, early learning, First Steps, First Starts, Head Start and many more initiatives is a beginning, but only that. Random centers for storytelling and borrowing toys or quarterly parent training sessions around the county will not suffice. If we are serious about a healthy and highly competitive citizenry, then a comprehensive, free, public system for child development must be on the table. Consider this: the smartest any of us every was, potentially happened at around the age of two years, when we had an abundantly dense cerebral cortex of over 100 trillion neural connections, waiting to be hard wired. Those connections enriched by language, sensory learning, warm attachments, and consistent feedback become part of a healthy, functional brain. Those connections that remain untouched will be pruned away, permanently. If this is true, and I think it is, then every toddler is a potential genius.

Yet, we do almost nothing to capture that potential. Other countries realize the power of this research and use it their advantage. In a critical report titled “On Early Ed, the U.S. Is Light Years Behind Other Industrialized Countries” published in the US News and World Report, we find that “Out of 36 countries, the U.S. ranked 29 in enrollment rates for its 3- and 4-year-olds, according to Education at a Glance 2016, the 500-page report released Thursday from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. In the U.S., 42 percent of 3-year-olds and 68 percent of 4-year-olds enrolled in early childhood or preschool programs in 2014 – far below the OECD average of 71 percent of 3-year-olds and 86 percent of 4-year-olds. One commenter noted that the US rates of early education compare most closely to Mexico. Really? Mexico. Can’t we do better? Studies abound linking comprehensive early education to higher test scores, lower incarceration rates, fewer incidents of child abuse, and many more hopeful statistics, yet SC lags behind other states, offering 4-year-old programming only to the most at-risk children and 3-year-old programs to those who have serious delays. What about the garden variety youngster whose trillions of neurons remain un-stimulated as they languish in poor quality daycare or in front of televisions at home? A proviso of course. Early education need not be compulsory and it should be offered in a menu of options to suit the needs of parents who are able and wish to provide enrichment at home. There are many choices, but too few voices to speak for the little ones at risk. Again, Dr. Montessori said it perfectly…a “hope and a promise” in every small child. It is my hope that our community can promise much more in terms of creative, consistent early education for every child.

Dr. Linda Karges-Bone is “Distinguished Professor” of Education at Charleston Southern University and the author of “Rich Brain, Poor Brain”. She is also the voice of the “Prayerful Parenting” radio program heard locally on WKCL radio.