This struck me today: “There are only 2,000 days between the time a baby is born and the time she shows up for kindergarten and her experiences in this time will determine how her brain is wired.”

This quote comes courtesy of a pre-school teacher in North Carolina, via “Smart Start?” from The Huffington Post. Wow! The piece profiles a school in NC and notes, “In recent years, a number of studies have shown that pre-Kindergarten programs can help low-income children succeed in later grades and eventually get good jobs. Many researchers feel that investing in pre-K is the best and most cost-effective way to lift children out of poverty and to build up the economy.”

Scholastic.com has a Preschool Playground, which explores some age-appropriate crafts that families can do together. And, of course, there’s reading, which we all know offers tremendous benefits.

Parents, how do you begin engaging your kids in education in the first 2,000 days of their lives?