A New Kind of First Day

I join every parent in Fountain Hills in sharing their joy over the “first day of school.” We all know the same thing, “There is nothing like it.” Soon, beginning on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 1:00 pm parents of new babies and those expecting will have their first day. It will be as part of a four-session course called “Parenting from the Start” being given at the Fountain Hills Community Center.

Course Description: New research connects early parenting to adult success and problems too. Learn the skills to promote positive development right from the start in these five areas: COGNITIVE, MOTOR, SOCIAL, LANGUAGE and SELF-ESTEEM. Bring your new baby.

Thanks to Professor Burton White from Harvard University for his classic 1975 book The First Three Years of Life, with several subsequent editions, we learned something new about education—It starts at birth with important parent-child input. From his studies he uncovered specific strategies to use during the birth to three years and especially for the whole first year. According to White, in his book, he explained that early experiences for little ones really do lead to later positive development. Times and technology have changed since then, but the children have not. They need the exact same kind of balanced program identified early on. Mainly it is one that connects mother and child in their strong first and most important relationship. Child and adult difficulties have multiplied enormously since that time, but prevention is still the name of the game. Interestingly enough, current theories and research are even more specific about this time and how it makes a huge difference for children starting school, navigating the teens, and later in life.

Imagine … every smile makes a difference! it keeps that first and most important relationship strong, healthy and growing in the right direction.