Hillary tweeted this link to an op-ed by Bill Frist.
New op ed by Senator, Doctor and friend Bill Frist, who is on the leadership council. Worth a read.
Just as a healthy diet and physical activity help toddlers
grow, reading and talking to them helps their brains develop and build
language skills that form the foundation for learning the rest of their
lives. / Getty Images
Written by
Bill Frist
As a surgeon, I understand the exigency of a window of
opportunity. In cardiac transplant, procurement of a donor heart starts a
strict four-hour window until that heart needs to be beating in the
chest of the accepting patient — a patient who is almost always a plane
ride away.
Neuroscience research has revealed a similarly crucial
window of opportunity. Between birth and 5 years old, 90 percent of a
child’s brain development occurs, and at a lightning-fast pace. Every
sight, smell, sound and sensation makes an impact. Long before most
children step foot into a classroom, neurons are building networks,
cognition is exploding, language is developing, and the foundations are
being laid for a lifetime of learning.
Outside of that five-year
window, you lose opportunities you may never get back. Children who
don’t develop sufficient language skills in those first years are up to
six times more likely to experience reading problems in school. When
children fall behind in reading, every other aspect of education
suffers.
Read more >>>>
Hillary Clinton
