Learning Begins Early

"When you hear the phrase 'early learning', do you think of preschool? The importance of preschool is increasingly widely acknowledged all over the world. Yet by the time most kids start preschool, aged around 3, the most important building blocks for learning have already been put in place. That’s why this edition of Early Childhood Matters (June 2013) focuses on learning from birth to 3 years old."

From the Bernard van Leer Foundation, this early childhood magazine offers a collection of articles on early childhood development, beginning with the introduction "Learning from Birth", which describes the importance of the first 3 years of life and what case studies and policy-related articles are contained in the issue. This issue of Early Childhood Matters/Espacio para la Infancia includes:

• Providing a path to early success: securing the foundation for learning - "What policies and programmes can promote learning among the 0-3 age group? This article examines what we know about the status of children of this age; outlines why early childhood policies need to be integrated and comprehensive, providing a continuum of support; and suggests an agenda for change to assure that young children survive and thrive, grow and learn." Joan Lombardi and Rebecca Sayre
• What happens in the brain as very young children learn - "Neuroscience is increasingly showing that common assumptions about rearing children need to be reviewed and adjusted if we want to nurture individuals who will build societies that are harmonious, hospitable, respectful and productive. This article explains what physically happens in the brain as children learn, before birth and in their earliest years of life, laying foundations on which future structures can be built." Saul Cypel
• A Vygotskian perspective on learning, culture and an education that matters  - "A largely unacknowledged, and erroneous, basic assumption is that child development is the same across all cultures and all times. But cognitive development is not just an unfolding of biologically given ability, adding more information and memory capacity, or acquiring language. Nor is it passive absorption of external input. The psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) would characterise it as a co-construction between an individual and society in its various manifestations. This article explores what the Vygotskian perspective tells us about early learning in very young children." David W. Kritt
• Health for learning: the Care for Child Development package  - "Intersectoral collaboration is essential for reaching young children, with the health sector typically being best positioned to deliver interventions that can promote early learning among the 0-3 years age group. In this article, the authors introduce the World Health Organization and UNICEF Care for Child Development package, an evidence-based set of materials to help health sector workers to support caregivers in improving the sensitivity, responsiveness and psychosocial stimulation of their children." Charlotte Sigurdson Christiansen, Chiara Servili, Tarun Dua, and Bernadette Daelmans
• Regional Project on Child Development Indicators (PRIDI): processes, results, and challenges to date - "The Regional Project on Child Development Indicators, or PRIDI (Programa Regional de Indicadores de Desarrollo Infantil), is currently collecting data on child development outcomes in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru. It is the first international study of its kind, seeking to generate high-quality and regionally comparable data which currently do not exist. Results are expected to be published in 2014. This article summarises the processes and results to date." Aimee Verdisco and Jennelle Thompson
• The need to have a legal framework for the early years - "Osmar Terra is a political leader in early childhood in Brazil. A paediatrician, he is now President of the Parliamentary Front for Early Childhood in the National Congress of Brazil. When serving as the Secretary for Health in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, he created and implemented the Primeira Infância Melhor (PIM) (Better Early Childhood) programme, which provides home visiting services at scale. Here he talks to ECM about promoting support for early learning on a national scale." An interview with Osmar Terra
• Enriching the home environment of low-income families in Colombia: a strategy to promote child development at scale - "This article outlines how a home visiting intervention in Colombia, delivered at scale through partnering with existing social welfare systems, successfully increased the variety of play materials and play activities in poor households with children aged between 1 and 2 years at the start of the intervention. It explains how these factors, among others which are generally associated with household wealth, are correlated with differences in early learning that are likely to persist into adulthood." Orazio Attanasio and Sally Grantham-McGregor, Camila Fernández, Emla Fitzsimons and Marta Rubio-Codina, and Costas Meghir
• Defining a right to integrated early childhood development in India - "Meeting a child’s right to education involves recognising that learning begins early and is inextricably linked to health and nutrition. In this article, Venita Kaul outlines work to define a right to integrated early childhood development in India, identify weak spots in existing provision, and suggest ways to make services more effective by taking a multi-sectoral approach and involving communities." Venita Kaul
• Effectiveness of parent support programmes in enhancing learning in the under-3 age group - "While considerable research has been done on the impact of preschool in developing countries, there is less information available to guide policy on effective large-scale programmes for the 0–3 years age group. This article reviews the evidence on the impact of interventions aimed at improving early learning and parent–child interaction for children aged 0-3 through strategies to enrich parenting practices and empower parents to facilitate child learning." Susan Walker and Susan M. Chang
• The Mãe Coruja Pernambucana Programme: a comprehensive care network to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Pernambuco state, Brazil - "Since being established in 2007, the Mãe Coruja Programme (PMC) has become a model of effective intervention for young children in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. This article describes how the programme was implemented, how it is managed and the challenges in creating a programme that can serve as a reference point for public policy across the country." Ana Elizabeth de Andrade Lima, Lusanira Santa Cruz, Cristina Pinheiro Rodrigues, Virgínia Maria Holonda de Moura, Renata A.L. Campos, Tania A. Lima, Maria da Conceição Silva Cardozo 
• Fathers and early learning: what we know - "Given the centrality of parenting to children’s learning in the first 3 years of life, it is reasonable to hypothesise that engaging fathers more in parenting will translate into better learning outcomes. This article summarises findings of broader research into engaging fathers, commissioned by the Bernard van Leer Foundation and published in 2012." Based on a paper by Fiona McAllister and Adrienne Burgess, described by Jane Kato and Gary Barker.
• Home visiting programmes: The evolving use of mobile phones - "What role can mobile technology play in promoting early learning among the 0-3 years age group? Beyond the proliferation of apps aimed at parents, mobile technology is revolutionising the delivery of home visiting services. While interventions are currently focused more on health than on early learning, there is potential to use mobile phones to enhance the effectiveness of home visiting programmes in improving early learning among very young children." Harouna Ba and Loulou Bangura
• Supporting parents from a day-care centre: ÇAÇA’s work in Ben-u-Sen - "As the only civil society institution operating in its neighbourhood, ÇAÇA’s day-care centre does much more than look after children. This article explores how the centre is achieving far-reaching effects on family life, including working with parents to help them support the early learning of children who are too young yet to be left at the centre." Yiğit Aksakoğlu