2020 Spring Kansas Child

Firm
Foundation
for
LIFE
BY L. CAROL SCOTT, PhD
Every other period in the human life cycle
pales in importance when compared to the
first three years. That statement might shock
you. You might be questioning me: “But what
about when we learn to think logically? Or to
read? What about those crucial years of transitioning
from teenager to adult? What about
the wisdom of the golden years?”
Even considering these alternatives, I
stand by my dramatic opening. Nothing
matters so much to the success
of our species and its many cultures
as what we do for infants and toddlers.
Here’s why: none of the rest
of that—thinking logically, reading,
adulting, wisdom—is possible
without a firm foundation in
the first three years. In fact, that
explains a few people you know,
I’m guessing.
You see, we humans are not
fully cooked when the bun comes
out of the oven. Our species’ babies
are born, not because they’re
fully ready for life on the outside, but
because they have run out of room for
floating in their little maternal hot tub.
After a fairly protected beginning for its
first nine months of growth, that little human
newborn, now out here in the big, noisy, busy
world, still has an enormous amount of developing
to do.
Unlike the young of most animals on our
planet, human newborns do not immediately
stagger to a stand, tuck into a first meal, or
join the running herd. (That would make parenting
SO much easier, eh? Or maybe not...)
Delivered into its first experience of air and
daylight after hours of labor, the neonate of
our species is utterly helpless. Even marsu-
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A Publication of Child Care Aware ® of Kansas