The documentary offers a good launch pad for a larger conversation in the community about early learning – what’s already being done and what’s still needed, said Jill Johnson, coordinator of the Inland Northwest Early Learning Alliance. Along with the Spokane Regional Health District, the alliance is among groups organizing the screening.
“Early learning really is investing in that birth-to-5, or prekindergarten, years,” Johnson said. “We know that if kids are prepared for kindergarten, they have a much better chance of success in life. And that’s not just in school, but as they become adults – the skills they need to function.”
That includes more than academics, she said. Other factors affecting early childhood: nutrition, health screenings, the quality of child care, “adverse childhood experiences” such as abuse.
In later episodes, the documentary explores the roles of poverty and childhood PTSD, among other challenges.
[For more of this story, written by Adrian Rogers, go to http://www.spokesman.com/stori...-americans-earliest/]
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