LAKE PLACID — Eighty percent of brain growth happens by the age of three. Beginning from birth, young brains develop like little muscles, getting bigger and stronger the more they interact with family members, caregivers and friends.
To support this critical early childhood development, Adirondack Foundation launched the Adirondack Birth to Three Alliance in 2015. This coalition of more than 30 partners today announces the launch of the ADK Basics — five fun, simple, and powerful ways to help all children ages 0-3 get the best possible start in life.
Videos, information, and tools can be found at www.adkbasics.org.
“The ADK Basics encompass most of what experts — childcare professionals, researchers, healthcare providers — find is important for increasing cognitive, social, and emotional health in the development of children from birth to age three,” said Cali Brooks, president and CEO of Adirondack Foundation. “The ADK Basics is a free community tool. It doesn’t require toys or extra hours in the day. It’s something to incorporate into a family’s regular daily routine.”
The ADK Basics are five clusters of parenting and caregiving behaviors:
- Maximize Love, Manage Stress
- Talk, Sing, and Point
- Count, Group, and Compare
- Explore Through Movement and Play
- Read and Discuss Stories
“It’s our belief that repeating the five ADK Basics daily can help a child reach their full potential,” said Bob Frawley, co-interim director of BT3.
In the coming weeks, Adirondack Foundation and BT3 will be working with partners across Essex, Franklin, and Clinton counties, as well as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, to share the tools and resources that encompass the ADK Basics.
“These tools provide a pathway for everyone — teachers, doctors, daycare providers, friends, relatives — to use the Basics, so we can weave it into our social ecosystem,” Frawley said. “Using these principles will help raise healthier, happier children, something that research has proven to have a significant impact on the social, economic, and physical health of our communities."
