The Importance of Being Little

In this bold challenge to the conventional wisdom about early childhood, Yale Early Childhood expert Erika Christakis offers a pragmatic program to encourage parents to rethink how and where young children learn best. Christakis argues that children are hardwired to learn in any setting, but when ‘learning’ is defined by strict lessons and dodgy metrics, it devalues a child’s intelligence while placing unfit requirements on the developing brain. Her message is energising and encouraging: children are inherently powerful and will flourish if we can revitalise the early learning environment.

Author Biography

Erika Christakis is an early childhood educator and school consultant. She was a faculty member at the Yale Child Study Center and is a Massachusetts-certified teacher (pre-K through second grade) and licensed preschool director. An honors graduate of Harvard College, she has advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Lesley University’s Graduate School of Education. She has written about children for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, TIME.com, and the New York Daily News. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut.