I expected my parenting experience to be more calculating, more specifically purposeful than it has manifested in reality. ... I didn’t realize the foundational education I was tasked with edifying her with was buried in a gigantic mountain of squealing, hysterical fun.
The Urban Child Institute's message—that brain development in children ages 0-3 is critical—is straightforward. It's the dissemination of this message that gets more complicated. Enter the Technology Department.
A few years ago, The Urban Child Institute (UCI) and Neighborhood Christian Centers partnered on a simple concept that would encourage Mid-South families to spend time together in a way that fused science and good old fashioned parenting. What emerged was Touch Talk Read Play (TTRP).
In numerous ways every day, with your help, we search for just the right words to engage more of the public and to make them understand the importance of brain development for the future of our children - and our community. What would our youngest children want us to say that everyone will hear and remember? Four words: Touch, Talk, Read, Play.
The Urban Child Institute recently launched its Baby Small campaign, offering a big idea: we can improve the future of our community through small, smart decisions and actions that promote optimal early childhood brain development. Baby Small reminds us that the first years of life are a period of both extraordinary development and extraordinary opportunity. Babies' brains develop in response to their environments.
There’s an old saying that “play is the work of childhood,” and this issue of Research to Policy looks at the ways in which play works to shape the developing brains of young children in Memphis. Research shows us that play supports early brain development in impressive ways. Through play, young children learn about the world around them.
