HUFFINGTON
08.26.12
SMART START?
by an inability to speak in certain settings. For the first month
of school, she didn’t talk at all.
When the other kids filled buckets in the sandbox or made makebelieve cakes in the make-believe
kitchen, she’d stand against the
wall with her hands balled by her
side, staring into the distance.
After some time in the classroom, she’d slowly started “coming
out,” as Ms. Sabrena put it. She began sitting on the rug during circle
time, joined the other girls at the
make-believe stove, rode a tricycle
in circles around the playground.
By the end of three months, she
was even talking a little. She talked
quietly, never more than a word or
two at a time, and only when someone talked to her first, and rarely to
grownups. But she talked. Recalling
this discovery, Ms. Sabrena raised
her hands to the heavens and did an
impression of a choir singer praising the Lord.
As Nawal had settled into the
classroom routine, Ms. Sabrena
began taking videos of her on her
phone. She intended to give them
to Nawal’s mom to give to Nawal’s
kindergarten teacher so that the
teacher wouldn’t make the mistake of putting her in a special ed
class. Ms. Sabrena didn’t think she
“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.”
needed special classes. All Nawal
needed, she felt, was a little more
time. But now the end of the program was only three days away.
“Nawal,” said Ms. Sabrena, “will
you call the numbers?”
The ever enthusiastic Bryan
came to the rescue: “I will call the
numbers Ms. Sabrena!”
“Hold on,” said Ms. Sabrena. “I
was asking Nawal. Nawal?”
A GROWING NUMBER of education experts believe that there’s no
better way to improve the prospects
of “disadvantaged” children than by
sending them to preschool. Studies find that children who receive
intensive pre-Kindergarten services
go on to get better grades and make
more money than those who don’t,
and turn out happier and more confident and have fewer psychological