Result: Children Enter School Ready to Learn and Prepared to Succeed

Success in school and later life depends on establishing a positive foundation in early childhood, and the environmental influences that have a significant impact on young children.  Stress associated with maternal deprivation, poverty, poor nutrition and child abuse can lead to lifelong behavior, learning and physical and mental health problems.  Children must be ready to succeed when they get to school, the need to attend regularly and they need to have “high quality learning opportunities, beginning at birth and continuing in school and during out of school time, including summers, in order to sustain learning gains.”

What are the Key Elements to Achieving this Result?  

• Supportive families.  Stable, secure and nurturing relationships are a core component of healthy development.  Parents who have effective parenting skills, are literate and have the capacity to provide for their children’s physical and emotional needs, combined with connections to supportive networks and services, are the foundation for healthy and prepared children. Teens that delay parenthood, and plan for parenthood as adults, are better able to achieve educational and financial goals that result in better outcomes for their children.

• High-quality early care and education.  Quality early care and education programs can enhance cognitive, emotional and social development, especially among low-income preschoolers.  Participation in these programs helps prepare children for school and has a long-term positive impact on a child’s academic performance. 

• Effective early elementary education.  Regular attendance and successful progression through school, school stability, positive classroom experiences and teachers who provide instructional and emotional support all contribute to early and continued school success.