Early development critical to children's success
While Brownsville educators can attempt to provide incentives to students at the high school and university level, experts at United Way of Southern Cameron County emphasize that early childhood development is key in forging intellectual abilities that will benefit community children for life.
When the United Way Executive Director Traci Wickett wants to impress the overwhelming value of early childhood education, she brings an image of the brain up on her laptop.
On one side is a scan of a child's brain that has been stimulated, a fiery red "healthy brain." On the other is an "abused brain," considerably less active.
"During the first three years (of life) there is a crucial opportunity to stimulate a child's brain and open those synapses, forging those connections," Wickett said. "After that, that door just closes. If you haven't taken the time to stimulate that child's mind, learning will never be as easy as it could have been. You can't see those images and not be moved."
Wickett and her colleagues have created educational materials that parents can integrate into practical situations, like going to the supermarket, that help children to develop age-appropriate analytic skills.
According to Ariadna Mahon-Santos, the Brownsville Success By 6 coordinator, putting a child in front of the television does not achieve the same kind of stimulation, and may actually make learning more difficult in the long run.
"A child needs the spatial relationship and emotional component to learn," she said. "A child shouldn't watch television before 2 years because there are so many images that it actually rewires the brain."
According to Wickett and Mahon-Santos, early childhood education may be the key in breaking the link between poverty and academic performance. Unlike tutors, summer school, and special educational tools that a child may need as they get older, a young child can reap exponential benefits from the cost-free stimulation of a parent's company.
They have published a number of easy-to-use educational pamphlets that help parents turn simple activities into opportunities for brain stimulation.
For example, Shop-N-Learn leaflets encourage parents to talk, sing and play with their children as they take them along to the grocery store. "Tell your baby what you are buying," one pamphlet reads, or "show and say to your baby the parts of your face: eyes, nose, mouth, ears and hair."
Rev. Armand Matthew says Brownsville can thrive by using family involvement in children's education.
"You can't just say a life is diminished by economic factors," he said. "This community is rich in another sense. It is rich in community values, rich in family values, and rich in spiritual values."
