Editorial: 40% of kids arrive at kindergarten ill-equipped to learn

The first three years of a child's life are a time of exponential growth. Eighty percent of a child's brain is developed between birth and age three. If children do not receive proper nutrition or health care, if they fail to bond with a parent or caregiver, if they are neglected or abused, the consequences might be lifelong and very expensive to taxpayers. The child's ability to focus, to problem solve, to express empathy and to engage in creative play and his or her pre-reading skills are all formed before kindergarten.

The ironic thing is early learning remains woefully underfunded. A Harvard study identified that less than 1 percent of the education budget goes to early learning while spending gradually maxes out as a child turns 18. This seems inconsistent with what we know about brain development and the importance of the early years in predicting a child's success in school and life. When 40 percent of children are arriving at kindergartens not ready to learn, it is clear that we need to provide services earlier.