Political Quotes

“I want to talk about an amendment that I introduced some time ago and which we will vote on later this afternoon. The amendment itself is not very difficult and not very complex. It doesn't have a major change. But it represents a watershed development in education. Parents for a long time have marveled at how fast their children learn when they are very young and how they pick up things--not just things off the floor but how they learn language and how they learn many other things. Research has verified what all of us have known instinctively for a long time--that the first years of life are absolutely crucial in the development of a child's intelligence, habits, and the entire approach to life. The early years have a significant bearing on development and especially on the learning of each child. Infant brain development occurs very rapidly. The sensations and experiences of this time go a very long way towards shaping the baby's mind in a way that has a long-lasting impact on all aspects of the child's life. You can think, if you have been a parent, or if you are parents, about how fast they learn in the first 3 years. A baby learns to walk, to talk, and to interact with others. As a matter of fact, an astounding figure I heard was that half a child's mature intelligence is developed by 3 years of age.”