Early Childhood Education

Children are born ready to learn, but too many of the 16 million U.S. children living in poverty enter school not prepared to succeed.

This might have happened to three-year-old Olivia. Fortunately, she was given an amazing gift: the chance to start learning early. Now she and her sister Pauline, 2, are visited by a Save the Children coordinator in West Virginia who helps to prepare Olivia and Pauline for success in preschool and beyond.

Why is early learning so critical?

Many kids don’t have the chance to take part in high-quality early learning like Olivia. Without access to these programs, children fall behind. Many never catch up.

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Save the Children Action Network’s solutions

Trailblazing. As the sister organization to Save the Children, we do what most non-governmental organizations can’t: bring kids’ issues directly to lawmakers and speak fearlessly for children. With the foundation of a respected nonprofit and the mindset of a startup, we approach improving early learning with an entrepreneur’s eye: what has been done? How can we do better? How can we give more children the chance to learn?

Building a movement. We know that change begins with individuals. That’s why in 2015, our local volunteers knocked on over 50,000 doors to spread the word about high-quality early childhood education. We’re also working in seven states—Colorado, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Washington—to build national momentum that we can take to state and federal decision-makers.

Working across the aisle. Kids’ futures depend on the actions of lawmakers today. SCAN support efforts of the many governors, state legislatures and local officials proposing policies to improve and expand access to high-quality early learning programs for all children from birth to kindergarten. Plus, we’re working to identify innovative and practical funding mechanisms to support expanded investment in early education that Republicans and Democrats alike can get behind.