Poverty, Early Learning, and Rainbows | Early Learning, From the Director, New Museum, We Play Campaign

I have my Google alerts set to send me interesting tidbits each day about topics I want to stay current on: young children, Pierce County, early learning, poverty, and rainbows (because after reading about the affects of poverty on learning, you need a little sunshine in your day!).

Recently, I came across an article in the Washington Post by Valerie Strauss about school reform in Memphis. “What does this has to do with young children in Pierce County?” you ask. Well, near the middle of the article was just the reason the Children’s Museum is launching a Pay As You Will admission program.

“Poverty increases family stress, leads to poor nutrition and medical care, and, importantly, means children are talked to less and end up with vocabularies that are about half that of middle-class children. Research suggests that the first years shape a child’s capacity to learn. Science tells us that it is essential to brain development that babies are spoken to, read to, cuddled, and allowed to engage in physical play. National Institute of Health studies have indicated the foundations necessary for higher learning �" working memory, vocabulary, spatial recognition, reasoning, and calculation skills �" are set by the time a child reaches puberty.”

So, the time to act is early in life. And who better to address those pre-school years than your Children’s Museum? And how? Let families of young children play for free. It's sure to add a little sunshine, and maybe a rainbow, to their day!

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