Early childhood development (ECD) programs play a crucial role in promoting children’s cognition and language. Many programs include home visitors or groups who work with parents and young children through play activities that not only build children’s language and cognitive skills, but also engage children and parents together to experience the joy of playing and learning … [Read more...] about Balancing Scale and Quality: Insights from a Meta-Analysis on Early Childhood Development Programs
child development
The tender hour: skin-to-skin contact provides the best start to life
Imagine arriving at an unknown place, a strange planet, alone, with no familiar voice and no one to guide you. At that critical moment, your survival would be at stake. But this is how a baby’s life begins outside the mother's womb. The newborn experiences an unknown external world for the first time, and that’s why his or her basic need for skin-to-skin contact with the mother … [Read more...] about The tender hour: skin-to-skin contact provides the best start to life
Women’s Day: What is the relationship between child care centers and female employment?
Today, Women's Day, we celebrate all initiatives that seek to close gender gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean. From the point of view of early childhood policies, we know that there is abundant evidence on the impacts that child care programs have both on child development and female labor participation in developed countries. However, rigorous evidence for the region is … [Read more...] about Women’s Day: What is the relationship between child care centers and female employment?
Community of Practice: Keys to Understanding the Migration Landscape for Early Childhood
Migration phenomena are studied from different areas, but it is necessary to deepen the conversation for early childhood. What started to happen in Latin America a few years ago between migration flows and young children? What policies should be generated to protect the development of migrant children? These questions were addressed at the second workshop of the Community of … [Read more...] about Community of Practice: Keys to Understanding the Migration Landscape for Early Childhood
Nurturing care for young children in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities
The first five years of life are a crucial period when nurturing care establishes strong foundations for lifelong development, learning, and health. In a new study, we show that millions of children in the world, and in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) specifically, lack access to the most basic nurturing care, demonstrating the urgent need for innovative strategies and … [Read more...] about Nurturing care for young children in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities