See how engaged this little boy is in one of Mo Willems’ books? He’s on his way to becoming a good reader! I love children’s books, too, especially picture books. Some favorites of my crowd of 6-and-under grandchildren these days are books that delight and engage adult readers as well: Any of the Elephant and Read More
Blog
Words Count!
Read. Talk. Sing. Play. WORDS COUNT when it comes to a young child’s rapidly developing brain. The quantity of words is important. Equally important is the quality of those words! Read on for some good ideas to make your WORDS COUNT every day.
Science, Babies, and Families – a Winning Combination
You’ve probably heard people say babies are like blank slates, just waiting to be filled up with knowledge. I thought that, too, until our first baby was born. It became pretty obvious quite soon that this tiny creature was already making a big impact on her world. We were at her beck and call – Read More
Words Count
Discover creative ways to talk, sing, read, and play with your children every day. Learn more about Words Count, watch the video, and get and share great ideas on our Facebook page!
Prevent and reduce effects of childhood trauma
It seems everywhere we turn these days, we see references to childhood trauma. Also called toxic stress, or adverse childhood experiences, it refers to the profound and long-lasting effects that traumatic experiences can have on children. What kind of experiences are we talking about? For starters, family dysfunction, an incarcerated family member, substance abuse, domestic Read More
The connection between early literacy and incarceration
The rumor was false but the connection was real. In our guest blog, educator Stan Lujan tackles the connection between Alaskans in prison and literacy. As Stan notes in his testimony to the House Finance Committee, prison planners do not look to reading scores to predict how many prison beds they’ll need. But the connection Read More
Best Beginnings Report to Alaskans
Our newest publication – Success in life. It starts here. – is now available online. We’re especially proud of this report because it shows and tells, with strong graphics and clear language, what Best Beginnings is doing, why it matters, and how it is succeeding. Take a look!
Where we are
As many Alaskans know, Best Beginnings took a major body blow with a 66 percent reduction in state funding for the fiscal year that began July 1. For the current year, Best Beginnings is receiving $320,000 from the state, down more than $600,000 from previous years. Best Beginnings is tackling the challenge in several ways, Read More
Pediatricians’ Rx for new parents: Read to your baby.
It was great news recently, when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced it is asking its 62,000 members to urge parents to read to their children as soon as they’re born. For the first time, the AAP will promote early literacy—beginning from an infant’s very first days—as an “essential” component of primary care visits. Read More
It’s everywhere…and in more ways than one
I’ve been watching our four 3-year-old grandchildren demonstrate STEM skills. They turned over rocks to look for worms and found “creatures” hiding in puddles at Kincaid Beach. They planned and built Lego spaceships and tall towers and knocked them apart to see how the pieces would fall. They passed along my iPad when the timer Read More