The First Nine Months

05/25/2009

Family is the first school for young children, and parents are powerful models.
Alice Sterling Honig

"Our first nine months resonate for the next 70 or 80 years because the fetal enterprise is so enormously ambitious." This strong statement comes from Emily Laver-Warren in her article, "A Fateful First Act," in Psychology Today (June 2009). Laver-Warren continues...

"Until recently, doctors believed that the journey from fertilized egg to baby followed unwavering genetic instructions. But a flood of new studies reveals that fetal development is a complicated duet between the baby's genes and the messages it receives from its mother. Based on those signals, the fetus chooses one path over another, often resulting in long-term changes — from the structure of its kidney, say, or how sensitive its brain will be to the chemical dopamine, which plays a role in mood, motivation, and reward...

"In just 270 days, a single cell becomes trillions of diverse and specialized cells — that's more cells than there are galaxies in the universe. As in any construction project, events unfold in a highly coordinated sequence. Each cell not only has its own job to do, it spurs other cells to action — sending out chemical signals that tell its neighbors to divide like crazy or to self-destruct. So when something goes wrong, it can set off a domino effect. Cells might not travel to their intended destination, or they may stop multiplying too soon, or, in the case of brain cells, they might fail to establish the right connections."

Exchange Curriculum Resources

Exchange has packaged seven of its most popular curriculum resources into a single “Curriculum Tool Kit” and is offering the entire set at a 33% discount — separately these resources would cost $166, but we are offering the entire Tool Kit for only $112. Resources in the kit include:

Beginnings Workshops Book #4 - Curriculum: Brain Research, Math, Science
Beginnings Workshops Book #5 - Curriculum: Art, Music, Movement, Drama
Hearing Everyone’s Voice: Educating Young Children for Peace and a Democratic Community
Connecting: Friendship in the Lives of Young Children
More Than Numbers: Mathematical Thinking in the Early Years
Exchange Articles Collection #3 - Children with Differing Abilities
Out of the Box Training Kit (printed version): Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum

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For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.