“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”
Why kindergarten readiness matters
How ready a child is on the first day of kindergarten has lasting effects. Research published in Pediatrics links school readiness to higher high school graduation rates and better self-esteem. It's also linked to lower rates of obesity, substance use and anxiety later in life.
Young brains are busy
In the first few years of life, the brain forms more than a million new neural connections every second, according to Harvard's Center on the Developing Child. Starting at birth, the Imagination Library gives families tools for this critical window.
The best return on investment
Nobel laureate economist James Heckman has shown that investments in the earliest years pay off the most. Few educational resources reach families before preschool. This one starts at birth.
An underfunded window
Public spending on education for infants and toddlers is a small fraction of what's spent per school-age child, according to the Urban Institute. The years that matter most get the least support.
Gaps start early
Stanford researchers found that by age two, children from higher-income families already know many more words than children from lower-income families. The gap in how quickly they process language is already about six months.