The Florida Department of Education (DOE) indicated
that twenty percent of Florida's children entering
public school are identified as "not ready to
learn." Many early childhood educators have said
that a five-year old entering school for the first
time, beginning the journey of a lifelong education,
may already have missed some crucial opportunities
for learning that can never be recaptured (Newman,
1997). From the standpoint of brain development,
children start school relatively late in life. Long
before youngsters master their ABCs, their brains
have passed many developmental milestones. Yet,
education policy has not addressed how children
learn before they arrive at school or how parents
can be helped to enrich the home environment so that
their children will be ready to learn when they
reach school age. The purpose of this study was to
determine if young children who experienced a brain
enriched learningenvironment prior to starting
school, enter school ready to learn.
that twenty percent of Florida's children entering
public school are identified as "not ready to
learn." Many early childhood educators have said
that a five-year old entering school for the first
time, beginning the journey of a lifelong education,
may already have missed some crucial opportunities
for learning that can never be recaptured (Newman,
1997). From the standpoint of brain development,
children start school relatively late in life. Long
before youngsters master their ABCs, their brains
have passed many developmental milestones. Yet,
education policy has not addressed how children
learn before they arrive at school or how parents
can be helped to enrich the home environment so that
their children will be ready to learn when they
reach school age. The purpose of this study was to
determine if young children who experienced a brain
enriched learningenvironment prior to starting
school, enter school ready to learn.