Head Start Needs to Catch Up with What We Now Know About Early Learning

• By Thamir Aljobori
• 09/16/26

Every morning, one of my preschool students rushed into the classroom and headed straight for our math center. Before I could finish greeting the class, she was already sorting number cards across the table, matching numerals to groups of objects, and counting aloud in both Spanish and English.

"Uno, dos, tres… one, two, three," she said with a smile as she proudly held up the correct card for the number eight.

She wasn't memorizing numbers. She was building mathematical thinking in two languages at once.

Watching moments like this reminds me how extraordinary the first years of life are. Young children are naturally curious. Their brains absorb language, patterns, relationships, and problem-solving skills at a remarkable pace.

It also reminds me that our nation's largest early childhood program has not fully caught up with what science now tells us about how children learn.

When Head Start was created in 1965, it transformed early childhood education. For the first time, millions of children from low-income families gained access to preschool, nutrition services, health care, and family support. It became one of America's most successful investments in educational opportunity.

Its mission remains just as important today. But the science of early childhood development has advanced dramatically over the past six decades. Researchers now know that nearly 90% of brain development occurs before age five. During these early years, children develop the language, executive functioning, self-regulation, and early numeracy skills that become the foundation for future learning.

In classrooms like mine, I see this every day. Children learn while talking with classmates, building towers, sorting objects, singing songs, asking questions, and making mistakes. What may look like simple play is often complex learning. Every conversation strengthens vocabulary. Every counting activity builds number sense. Every story develops comprehension and imagination.

Today's classrooms also look very different from those envisioned when Head Start first became law. Many children are multilingual. Teachers use adaptive learning technology alongside hands-on instruction. Families represent a wide range of cultures, languages, and experiences. We understand far more about trauma, child development, and the importance of early intervention than we did sixty years ago.

Yet much of the policy framework guiding Head Start has not evolved at the same pace.

Modernizing the program does not mean abandoning its mission. It means strengthening it.

First, Head Start should explicitly incorporate current neuroscience into early childhood standards. Federal guidance should reflect what research tells us about language development, executive functioning, self-regulation, and early numeracy during the first five years of life.

Second, the program should strengthen family support. Learning does not end when children leave the classroom. Families benefit from access to mental health resources, parenting supports, and stronger partnerships with schools. When families thrive, children are more likely to thrive as well.

Third, Head Start should recognize multilingualism as one of a child's greatest strengths. Every day, I watch children move naturally between Spanish and English while building vocabulary, mathematical reasoning, and confidence. Research consistently shows that maintaining a child's home language strengthens long-term academic success while supporting English development. Federal policy should invest in bilingual early childhood programs and prepare educators to build upon children's linguistic strengths.

None of these recommendations changes the purpose of Head Start. They simply reflect what educators and researchers have learned over the last sixty years.

Tomorrow morning, my student will once again hurry toward the math center. She will reach for the number cards before I finish taking attendance. She will count confidently in Spanish and English, connecting numbers, language, and ideas in ways that seem effortless to a four-year-old.

She does not know anything about federal education policy. She only knows that learning is exciting.

Every child deserves an early childhood program built on today's science, today's classrooms, and tomorrow's opportunities.  

Head Start transformed early childhood education in 1965. Now it deserves the same opportunity to grow.