Few things bring more joy than interacting with a young child who is discovering the world around them.
You watch their senses come alive as they smell the beautiful fragrance of a flower, eat a sweet and juicy strawberry or pet a dog or cat’s soft fur for the first time.
With each new experience, children are learning and their brain grows, preparing them for their next adventure. Research shows more than 90% of brain development happens by the time a child reaches age 5. That’s incredible, and it’s an opportunity for us as a community to prepare them for a successful future.
Our organization, Enriching Partnerships for Early Learning, the Elgin-based early childhood community collaboration, School District U-46, and more than 30 community collaborators are launching a project to help our youngest children best reach their full potential.
The initiative is The Basics of Greater Elgin, a movement to support the evolution of critical skills in language, physical development, and social-emotional growth to drive success for every child.
Today at the Centre of Elgin, Dr. Ron Ferguson, founder of The Basics Inc. and a Harvard University professor, will share the transformative impact of the movement he created and explain how it aligns with the core principles of learning and fostering social-emotional development and healthy relationships. We will be bringing together families, educators, early childhood partners, businesses, and community leaders to explore how we can collectively support every child’s development from birth.
It’s a project that’s more than two years in the making as we learned about The Basics and how it could enhance our community.
The need for The Basics is great because we know that only 20% of children who enter kindergarten in our community are considered ready for school, evidenced by the annual Illinois State Board of Education Kindergarten Individual Development Survey 2023 U-46 data.
The Basics has five principles designed around science-based tenets of positive parent-child interactions. These principles are:
• Maximize Love, Manage Stress — secure attachment and self-regulation.
• Talk, Sing, and Point — language and communication skills.
• Count, Group, and Compare — math and science knowledge skills.
• Explore Through Movement and Play — problem-solving and social and physical development.
• Read and Discuss Stories — knowledge and imagination skills.
After the launch of The Basics of Greater Elgin, our community and family engagement outreach team will meet with organizations that interact with families each day and ask them to display prompts encouraging parents to talk and engage with their children. If, for instance, barbers or hair stylists share the importance of reading and discussing stories, if faith leaders integrate early learning messages into their congregation’s weekly messages and if families know they are so loved and are equipped with the knowledge to support their children at home, we can create a thriving community of children ready and eager to learn.
Investing in The Basics of Greater Elgin fosters a healthier and more equitable future for children with measurable outcomes such as improved school readiness and stronger community connections.
One of those connections is Basic Insights, a free texting platform that sends families two messages weekly in their chosen language with suggested activities to boost a child’s learning and brain development. Basics Insights is available to all families with children ages birth to 3 who live within U-46’s boundaries, encompassing 11 communities across 90 square miles throughout Bartlett, Elgin, Hanover Park, South Elgin, Streamwood and Wayne and portions of Carol Stream, Hoffman Estates, St. Charles, Schaumburg and West Chicago.
We need everyone in our community to be involved in The Basics of Greater Elgin. The time to act is now. Let’s ensure that every child in greater Elgin has the opportunity to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Join us in making The Basics a community-wide movement and help build a stronger, more equitable future for all.
• Amber Peters, amberpeters@enrchingpartnerships.org, is executive director of Enriching Partnerships for Early Learning