The focus on a child’s early years intensified in late June as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Conference of Mayors declared the importance of early learning, and a new website was launched to promote solutions.

Acknowledging the importance of reading proficiently by the end of third grade, the American Academy of Pediatrics began urging doctors and health providers to talk to parents of young children about the importance of reading aloud. The policy statement  points to research that shows reading and talking with children helps develop strong language skills, literacy development and parent-child relationships. The statement dovetails with the work done by Reach Out and Read, which distributes 6.5 million books a year through medical providers at 5,000 sites.

The same week, mayors from across the country unanimously adopted a resolution  supporting a National Commitment to Building an Early Learning Nation by the Year 2025. The resolution, approved at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, helps launch a movement to ensure that children born within the next decade are equipped to face the challenges of the 21^st Century.

A new Early Learning Nation 2025 website, created by the Bezos Family Foundation, promotes the work already going on in cities, including several in the GLR Communities Network. Cities are invited to share the work they are doing on the website as the movement grows. Also be sure to like the ELN 2025 Facebook page: facebook.com/eln2025 and follow on Twitter: @eln2025