Education debate ignores a child’s starting line

When my three children were born, I was laser- focused on keeping them alive and healthy. Like most parents, I was taught to worry about the health of their little bodies. Less obvious was that I also needed to worry about the health of their little brains, which were beginning the fastest period of growth during their lives.

Too few parents understand the window of rapid brain development that occurs between birth and age 3. As many as 85% of American parents are failing to give their children a basic building block that is as key to early brain development as tummy time is to physical development.

As Betsy DeVos takes the helm at the Department of Education, the debate about how to best educate America’s children has quickly become a tug of war over public and private options, costs and parental choice. But this neglects the critical starting point of a child’s education; what happens at home.

Research has found that the earlier a child is read to, the more likely he is to have the skills for preschool and be interested in reading. And a recent brain imaging study at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found that a stronger home reading environment in the critical years before kindergarten helps develop regions of the brain important to extracting meaning. It’s no wonder that since 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended reading aloud daily right from birth.

By their very design, books make enhancing brain develop- ment easy. When you read to a child, you’re bundling together a set of brain- boosting activities: hearing a wide range of vocabulary and complex syntax, bonding and interacting with a parent, hearing stories, having a routine, developing empathy. Books unlock parenting strategies, language that families don’t use every day and, for older babies, pre- literacy skills, such as turning pages and learning to enjoy reading.

Half of American parents don’t even realize reading impacts the brain from the moment a child is born. And while six in 10 parents say someone advised them to start reading to their child at birth, low- income parents are less likely to have heard this message than high- income parents. Even taking into account disparities, children who aren’t read to come from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

The result is a reading gap — some kids are reading “haves,” whose parents hear the starting gun and know they have to get kids ready for school and life. Other kids are reading “havenots,” whose parents love them but don’t realize that reading aloud is not a nice- to- have — it’s a must- have, like good nutrition or tooth brushing.

Reading to every child every day from birth won’t solve every health and education problem we face, but it will help level the brain- development playing field — and that’s the best place to start.