María Caridad Araujo

Last week, the largest US program for early childhood development turned 50 years. The program, called Head Start, serves over one million children each year and it provides comprehensive services (education, nutrition, health, and parenting) to low-income children and families. … [Read more...] about A program that makes history

Research carried out in Chile and in Brazil shows that, regardless of socioeconomic status, parents tend to think that babies do not understand when they are talked to and that learning begins later on in life (in some cases as late as in the preschool years!). There is also little awareness of how important is the exposure to learning experiences early on for the development … [Read more...] about If Parents Only Knew

In the United States, children in lower income homes are exposed to 30 million fewer words than their wealthier peers by the time they are 3 years . This means that by the time they enter kindergarten, they are behind in literacy and vocabulary. … [Read more...] about Tech that helps children talk, not isolate

By María Caridad Araujo.  The science of child development tells us that, for early childhood interventions, what matters is “process quality.” Process quality is not concerned with the quality of the facilities where children are given care, or the types of university degrees that their caregivers have. Rather, process quality focuses on how interactions occur in the … [Read more...] about Early Childhood Development: Three Things Experts Agree on about Outcomes, Quality, and Costs

By María Caridad Araujo.  I recently read a reflection written by Brittney Cooper, an American college professor, in which she shared a personal anecdote. In the piece, she told of how once, while riding the subway in Washington, D.C., she observed a white child climbing on the seats and hanging from the bars of the train. The child’s mother did and said nothing. The author … [Read more...] about How Your Culture Shapes Your Children