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Tag: early childhood
Buffett Early Childhood Institute Marks First Year
The Buffett Early Childhood Institute is an innovative, multidisciplinary research, practice, and policy institute of the four University of Nebraska campuses. Our mission is to ensure that all children, birth to age 8, especially those who are vulnerable because of poverty, abuse, or developmental, learning, or behavioral challenges, have the opportunity to reach their potential.
Father’s Day Celebrates Heroes
This adorable father/son superhero team’s photo went viral last year, gathering almost 1.7 million comments in just two days, according to the Huffington Post. One commenter pinpointed why the image struck such a chord: “A good dad is always a hero to their kids. Capes just let the world see it a little better.”
For Kids, Vacation Can Be as Much About the Journey as the Destination
School is out for the summer and many families are planning their vacation. The logistics of pulling off a family vacation are huge—scheduling time off work around swim lessons and day camps, booking hotels and things to do, buying airfare or mapping out a road trip, and packing.
75% of Young Americans Are Unfit for Military Service
An astonishing 75% of young adults in the U.S. could not qualify to join the military due to (1) failure to meet the educational requirements, (2) criminal convictions, or (3) being overweight. Moreover, one in five U.S. military recruits score too low on the Armed Forces Qualification Test to join the Army.
Sixpence Engages Parents to Close the Achievement Gap
At-risk children under age 3 in Nebraska currently face long odds to gain access to high-quality early childhood learning opportunities. Estimates are that only 1 in 10 at-risk Nebraska children have access to early learning experiences that close the achievement gap by age 3.
Happy Mother’s Day
The more we learn about early childhood development, the more we realize the truth behind Lincoln’s words. We now know that brain architecture is profoundly affected by our earliest experiences and interactions, and mothers and fathers are a child’s first and most influential relationships.
Health Benefits of Early Childhood Education Seen 30 Years Later
Quality early childhood education leads to healthy lifestyle choices that help prevent chronic disease, says Nobel prize-winning economist James Heckman. Professor Heckman released new longitudinal findings of adults who participated in the Abecedarian study as children, and says they show that quality early education have long-lasting health benefits that could lead to reduced health care spending.
Celebrate Arbor Day and Nebraska’s Pioneer Spirit
Today is Arbor Day, a holiday pioneered by Nebraska’s J. Sterling Morton in 1872. Morton started the holiday to beautify Nebraska’s prairies, which naturally lacked trees. Morton recognized that trees would help Nebraska farmers create windbreaks and conserve soil, as well as make the state appear less desolate to investors and others passing through.
Toxic Stress and Its Sources
Toxic stress in families with young children is rarely the product of a single cause, but a confluence of factors that contribute to a breakdown in familial bonding. The presence of outright abuse or neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse or depression in the family are, of course, obvious signs of that breakdown, and effectively undercut the parent-child bond as a crucial source of emotional stability for young children.
Families, Children and Stress
As social and economic pressures facing families continue to mount, the incidence of stress as a chronic physiological condition is increasing. The effects of prolonged stress on individual adults are high enough—its relationship to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, suppressed immune function and other health issues is well documented.
Nebraska Early Childhood Research Is in the Spotlight
Challenges facing rural parents who lack higher education are affecting their children’s early development in language and other areas, said Dr. Lynne Vernon-Feagans last week at the annual CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood in Lincoln.