Senate Passes Child Care and Community Block Grant Reauthorization On March 13, 2014, the Senate voted 96 to 2 to pass S. 1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 (CCDBG), reauthorizing the the CCDBG Act of 1990 through Fiscal Year 2020. The bill was lauded as an example of how the Senate […]
Quick and Helpful Resources on Early Brain Development
“The parents in our program are busy. I know they care about early brain development but they don’t have much free time to read about it. What do you suggest we share with them?” This question was asked during one of the For Our Babies Bookclub discussions with Dr. Lally. Because we think it’s a […]
News Roundup January 13th
A New Study Suggests a Father’s Diet and Folate (Vitamin B9) Levels Before Conception May Be as Important to Infant Health and Development as That of the Mother A recent study from McGill University using mice with low paternal dietary folate levels showed alterations in mouse sperm epigenome associated with negative pregnancy outcomes. This study […]
New Video from Harvard: The Science of Neglect
Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child’s “InBrief Series” is one to check out. This series includes short (one page) summaries and video companion pieces on recent scientific presentations and research on the science of early childhood development and early childhood program evaluation. A new video in this series, “The Science of Neglect“, is a 6 […]
The Human Brain’s Need for a "Social Womb" During Infancy
In this article “The Human Brains Need for a Social Womb” J. Ronald Lally tells us why the young brain needs a protected and nurtured experience equivalent to the protection a fetus receives in the womb. Because of the lasting impact of early brain structuring, Lally argues that whether a baby is cared for at […]
News Roundup November 22nd
Pre-natal Exposure to Music Induces Lasting Neural Effects Pre-natal sound exposure is found to induce long-term neural effects in this recent study out of the University of Helsinki, Finland. The study was composed of a learning group and a control group of pregnant women in their last semester, with the learning group listening intensely to […]