With 85 percent of brain development occurring between the time of conception and age five, early influences - both good and bad- affect a child’s ability to learn and function in society, a panel of state leaders learned at a Harvard University seminar.

What happens to a woman during pregnancy and to a child in its earliest formative stages “actually reprints your DNA and changes the DNA,” said state Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, who assembled a team to attend the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard University June 26-28.

Rep. Don Trahan, R-Lafayette, chairman of the House Education Committee, said the symposium confirmed his belief that “pre-natal to age five is the most important time in the development of child. Our duty now is to determine how to satisfy that need in Louisiana.”

“We actually have a road map,” Trahan said. “Zero to three in Head Start, LA4 for four-year-olds, five in kindergarten and by the first grade, everybody is on the same page, able to read.”

It will take a serious education effort to get parents to realize the importance of prenatal and early childhood factors that can make or break a child’s chances for success, said Linda Johnson, president of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, another member of the Louisiana team attending the conference.

Johnson said she will take the information to BESE and see what policies it can develop to improve the education climate.

Downs said scientists at the symposium showed evidence that numerous “stressors,” the most damaging of which is alcohol, can have long-lasting effects on brain development. Other factors include physical abuse, drugs, loud music, lack of nurturing, poverty and malnutrition.

Downs said alerting parents to these problems would improve their children’s school performance and “yield a 15-to-1 return on money spent.” He said the state for years has alerted mothers-to-be of the dangers of drinking and smoking while pregnant and “that was before we knew (other factors) had an impact on predisposition to heart disease and diabetes.”

Danny Bell, superintendent of schools in Lincoln Parish, said the stress factor “many times evolves into learning problems,” even autism. Also, “doing more from birth to the time a child enters school can have a significant impact on the success of a child.

“We learned from the science that stressors can have a lifelong impact that is almost impossible to reverse,” Bell said.

Janie Humphries, McGehee Professor of Early Childhood Development at Louisiana Tech University, said the group learned “Louisiana is doing things right.”

She said smaller class sizes, particularly in day care and pre-school, are important to development because children prosper from more personal attention.

“These are critical periods in a child’s growth” that “lay the foundation of higher thinking skills,” Humphries said.

Downs said having smaller classes is crucial because two-thirds of Louisiana’s pre-schoolers are in daycare. “Small is better and having a high ratio of adults to children is important.”

Trahan said the Legislature opened the door to universal access to the Cecil J. Picard LA4 Program but the state budget only covers at-risk children. Also, not every parish offers it. Parents of children who don’t qualify for state aid can still enroll their children in LA4 and pay on a sliding scale based on income.

Downs said the Louisiana team, which also consisted of Erin Bendily, education policy advisor to the governor, Senate Education Committee Chairman Ben Nevers, Joe Salter of the Department of Education, and Department of Social Services Secretary Ann Williamson, is planning a “mini-symposium” this fall to present the information to state policy makers. He said he expects legislation to be offered in the next session to address some of the issues that state government can influence.

Source: Opelousas Daily World, LA
http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/NEWS01/807230304/1002