Brain
Development
in Early Years
Why it MattersÂ
Brain Development
From birth to age three, a child’s brain undergoes rapid development, producing more than 1 million neural connections per second. By age three, the brain has achieved 80% of its adult size.
Missed Opportunities
Many parents and caregivers have never had opportunities to learn the science behind the Basics and how important they are to their children’s brain development and wellbeing. A number of the greatest misunderstandings pertain to the first year of life, when doing the Basics already makes a big difference.
Skill gaps clear by age 2
Nationally representative data show clear skill gaps by the second birthday. One recent study found that by the age of two, less advantaged children were six months behind more advantaged peers in language processing skills.
Lifelong Consequences
Brain development during the first three years builds critical foundations for cognitive skills associated with academic learning, but that’s not all. It also supports confer lifelong benefits.
what are they?
The basics are five clusters of parenting and caregiving behaviors, distilled from research by the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University in collaboration with a national expert advisory committee. They encompass most of what experts find is important for boosting cognitive and social-emotional development of children from birth to the age three. The Basics are free and don’t require fancy toys or extra hours in the day – they can be incorporated into families’ everyday routines.
Operation First Five
Operation First Five is a Coalition of individuals and organizations united to support families with young children and connect them with the resources they need to get a successful start in life. Because the first five years of a child’s life can profoundly shape the rest of their life, we focus on families with children from zero to five. Our goal is for individuals and organizations to come alongside these families, working together to build a stable, self-sufficient & healthy community for all of our citizens.
Mission
The mission of Operation First Five is to help children succeed through a comprehensive & collaborative early childhood system, which supports families and service providers.
Vision
Our vision is that all children in Potter County grow up healthy, experience nurturing relationships, live & grow in stimulating early learning environments, and enter school ready to succeed.
Shared Service alliance
The Amarillo Shared Services Alliance is a partnership of childcare providers working together to share costs and deliver services in a streamlined and efficient way. It came into being as a strategic solution to a complex problem to raise quality of childcare settings our community and just one example of systems change work Operation First Five is leading.