How Early Experiences Get Into the Body:
A Biodevelopmental Framework
This interactive feature explains how early
experiences are biologically embedded in the development of the brain and other organ systems and have lifelong impacts on learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health. To do that in simple terms, it offers an organizing structure, or "biodevelopmental framework," for thinking about these particular biological and developmental processes and their long-term effects.
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How Early Experiences Alter Gene Expression and Shape Development
This interactive feature describes and explains in simple terms how early experiences get into the body and change how genes are expressed, with lifelong consequences on developing organs, including the brain.
Core Concepts in the Science of Early Childhood Development
This interactive feature describes the science of early childhood development. Through images and text, it tells the story of how brains are built over time; the interaction of genes and experience; the damage caused by chronic, unrelenting adversity (“toxic stress”); and why early intervention matters.
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Five Numbers to Remember About Early Childhood Development
This interactive feature highlights five numbers to remember about the development of young children. Learn how the numbers illustrate such concepts as the importance of early childhood to the learning, behavior, and health of later life and why getting things right the first time is easier and more effective than trying to fix them later.
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Early Childhood Program Evaluations: A Decision-Maker’s Guide
This interactive feature from the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs helps prepare decision-makers to be better consumers of evaluation information by posing five key questions that address both the substance and the practical utility of rigorous evaluation research. This feature is based on the 2007 report, also titled Early Childhood Program Evaluations: A Decision-Maker's Guide, from the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs.
