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Description
NCSL’s Jennifer Palmer discusses the science of early brain development and learning, and why the long-term benefits of investing in young learners and their teachers are well worth the initial cost.
Explore the full playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrLes3ojwahls8aD_l5FT_kdyNDMb32mS
Visit NCSL.org for more information on this series:
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B
B
This
past
year
been
mostly
working
at
home.
Of
course,
like
many
of
you
and
have
been
very
close
to
my
own
children
under
the
age
of
six,
my
own
early
learners,
I
should
say,
including
my
one-year-old
here,
who
was
born
in
the
pandemic,
and
I've
had
really
a
front
row
seat
to
all
of
the
change
in
the
growth
that
happens
month
to
month
year
to
year
in
in
the
early
years.
B
So
what
that
means
is
neurons
or
nerve
cells
are,
you
know,
part
of
the
brain's
basic
architecture
and
they
allow
different
parts
of
the
brain
here
to
to
communicate
with
another.
So
here's
baby
cameron
and
his
neurons
rapidly
developing
you
can
sort
of
think
of
those
neurons
as
telephone
poles
and
the
neural
connections
as
the
the
wires
connecting
each
pull
together
and
every
day
in
an
infinite
toddler's
life
as
they're
taking
in
the
world
around
them
they're
interacting
with
their
caregivers
they're,
developing
millions
upon
millions
of
those
connections.
B
I
know
a
lot
of
you
on
the
line
also
already
know
that
the
the
growth
of
those
neural
connections
is
important,
but
also
the
refinement
of
those
pathways
as
we
get
older.
So
you
can
see
here
these
images,
this
period
of
great
proliferation
of
those
neural
connections
in
the
first
few
months
through
the
first
few
years
are
happening,
but
also
the
brain's
adapting
and
those
pathways
that
get
used,
the
most
are
getting
stronger
and
those
that
are
unused
or
underused
start
to
become
weaker
in
a
process
called
pruning.
B
Now
this
is
necessary.
This
is
a
really
important
part
of
brain
development
because
it
helps
to
make
our
brains
more
efficient.
It
helps
to
strengthen
those
parts,
those
pathways
that
we
need
to
use
more
often
just
as
a
gardener.
You
know
prunes
away
extra
leaves
or
wilted
flowers
to
make
room
for
for
more
blooming
and
flourishing
parts
of
the
plant.
So
does
our
brain,
so
you
can
see
here
the
difference
between
a
two-year-old
and
the
adult.
B
Well,
these
pathways
that
form
in
the
earliest
years
lay
the
foundation
for
the
more
complex
pathways
that
build
on
top
you've,
probably
heard
the
phrase
the
brains
are
built
from
the
bottom
up.
So,
as
this
graph
illustrates,
there's
this
huge
growth
spurt
in
the
early
years
on
these
basic
pathways,
around
vision,
hearing
language
communication
that
will
be
absolutely
necessary
for
the
more
complex
skills
and
pathways
that
we
need
later
on,
like
reading
for
reading,
and
for
writing.
B
So
what
can
we
do
to
support
early
learning
and
early
development?
I
feel,
like
you
all
know
the
answer
to
this,
but,
of
course,
this
whole
process
of
rapid
growth
and
pruning
is
influenced
by
genetics,
but
also
very
strongly
influenced
by
our
relationships
with
caregivers,
and
that
extends
you
know
from
parents
of
course
to
grandparents
other
family
members,
but
also
to
caregivers
outside
the
home.
So
that
includes
child
care
providers.
Professionals
within
in-home
settings
center-based
settings
it
extends
to
teachers
within
pre-kindergarten
and
early
early
elementary
school
classrooms.
B
Those
nurturing
and
stable,
responsive
caregiving
relationships
are
are
essential
for
supporting
all
of
this
brain
development
and
research
shows
that
when
children
have
access
to
those
relationships
within
high
quality,
early
learning
settings,
they
are
more
ready
for
school.
They
reap
a
whole
host
of
benefits.
B
So
for
you,
as
policy
makers,
if
supporting
early
learning
is
important
to
you
and
to
your
state,
then
understanding
the
strengths
and
the
challenges
of
the
workforce.
The
folks
who
are
providing
all
that
care
and
education
is
is
really
essential
and
we
hope
that
that's
why
you're
here,
high
quality
early
learning
means
high
quality
early
educators.
B
B
We're
really
glad
that
you
have
chosen
to
spend
these
next
couple
of
hours
with
us
you're
going
to
hear
from
a
lot
of
very
smart
and
folks
who
spend
a
lot
of
time
on
this
researchers
administrators
as
well
as
some
folks
from
the
higher
ed
world
later
on.
In
the
series,
though,
we
would
really
like
you
to
hear
directly
from
the
early
educators
themselves,
so
look
for
some
information
on
a
panel
with
early
educators
later
on
this
summer
for
right
now.
B
Let's,
let's
bring
it
bring
them
in
a
little
bit
here,
we're
going
to
show
a
video
to
really
bring
in
the
the
voice
of
the
early
educators.
This
is
a
video
created
in
partnership
by
an
organization
called
new
america,
as
well
as
the
center
for
the
study
of
child
care
employment.
We
will
have
some
representation
on
one
of
our
panels
later
and
and
it's
it
really
nicely
captures
some
of
those
challenges
and
strengths
that
I
mentioned
earlier.
C
C
A
E
E
F
F
E
A
G
It's
seen
as
the
children
are
just
playing
and
how
we
say
yes,
they're
playing
and
when
they're
playing
they're
learning
their
learning
is
their
work
and
we're
guiding
them
in
their
work
called
play.
And
so
the
teachers
who
come
along
have
to
be
skilled
and
and
now
in
our
workforce
more
than
ever
we're
requiring
that
we
have
at
least
a
bachelor's
degree
what
teachers.
D
E
G
C
Don't
want
to
see
scribbling,
you
guys
are
going
to
kindergarten.
You
should
be
able
to
draw
your
shape
for
a
lot
of
the
children
who
come
here.
This
is
like
oasis,
like
some
place
where
they
can
come
and
feel
happy,
and
that's
one
of
the
big
things
I
can
say
that
the
teachers
and
myself
we
say
I
love
you
a
lot
around
here
and
we
give
them
a
lot
of
love
and
a
lot
of
hugs
and
because
that's
what
they
need,
along
with
giving
them
an
education
yeah.