Head Start, the childcare program designed more than half-a-century ago for low-income families in the US, has an unusual problem: It is both oversubscribed and under-attended. Created in 1965 as part of president Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, Head Start helps to prepare disadvantaged 3- and 4-year olds for formal schooling. A parallel initiative, called Early Head Start, also serves children under 3.
WHYY: ThePulse
You know what they say — all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And science seems to confirm that statement, with findings that play is as important for adults’ emotional health as it is for children’s development. But what exactly counts as play? Who engages in it — and why is it so important? On this episode, we explore some of those questions.
And as we start 2020, Quartz offers a resolution for all of us to put our phones down in front of the kids. Good advice…
“Holidays can be a stressful time for parents. When kids don’t have daycare or school to fill their days, they expect constant entertainment. Then there’s present shopping, meal cooking, and the possibility of extended family descending on you. You’d be forgiven for wanting to hunker down on the couch with your phone and tune it all out.
But a body of research on child development tells us that’s a bad idea…”
A joint project of Temple University’s Infant and Child Laboratory and the Brookings Institution, Playful Learning Landscapes is a broad umbrella initiative that marries community involvement and learning sciences with placemaking in order to design carefully curated playful experiences in everyday spaces. As it focuses on learning outcomes, particularly for children and families from under-resourced communities, Playful Learning Landscapes offers a new way to involve families in the kinds of experiences that enrich relationships and enhance children’s development.
And as we start 2020, Quartz offers a resolution for all of us to put our phones down in front of the kids. Good advice… “Holidays can be a stressful time for parents. When kids don’t have daycare or school to fill their days, they expect constant entertainment. Then there’s present shopping, meal cooking, and […]
We all want to raise smart, successful kids, so it’s tempting to play Mozart for our babies and run math drills for kindergartners. After all, we need to give them a head start while they’re still little sponges, right? “It doesn’t quite work that way,” says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University […]
You know what they say — all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And science seems to confirm that statement, with findings that play is as important for adults’ emotional health as it is for children’s development. But what exactly counts as play? Who engages in it — and why is it […]
Kathy is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she contributes articles to her Blog on a regular basis.