Facts

Wondering about your child’s development and how you can make sure they have the best chance at becoming everything you know they can? Here are a few interesting facts:

What happens during a child’s early years affects the rest of their life, and the first five years are most important.
Issues that proper early childhood care can help prevent include learning disabilities, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, as well as social issues of crime, teen pregnancy, alcoholism and drug abuse.
The brain grows most rapidly between birth to age five.
Once a child’s brain connections are formed, they are difficult to change.
All physical and mental stimulation – playing, reading, talking to – helps a child’s development.
Only 5% of children are born with developmental delays. However, 25-30% of NWT students are functioning below grade level by Grade One, a situation parents and caregivers can change.
Smoking and drinking during pregnancy can affect a child’s development, even before it’s born.
Both mothers and fathers are integral to a child’s development.
A parent’s poor mental health can affect a child’s development.
If parents and single parents build a network of extended family and community members to help as caregivers, this can improve the chance of a child’s proper development.
James Heckman, an economist and Nobel Prize winner, has calculated that spending $1 on early childhood programs pays the same dividend as $3 on school-age programs and $8 on education for adults.