Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation On-Demand

Ellis Memorial Early Education Center is one of Boston’s best and most affordable featured in the new documentary series The Raising of America.

Learn how the growing squeeze on parents for time, money and resources can literally alter their young children’s developing brains. What are the consequences for the nation, and how might we better assure a strong start for all our children?

THE RAISING OF AMERICA looks inside the brain and brings to life recent scientific research that reveals how early experiences, beginning in the womb, can alter brain architecture and developmental trajectories. Through the stories of families from different walks of life, researchers discover how the lack of paid parental leave and high-quality affordable childcare, stagnant wages and overcrowded housing, depression and social exclusion, and perhaps most of all the time crunch, too often undermine the efforts of parents and caregivers struggling to provide the nurturing environments all children need to thrive. The documentary widens its lens to reveal what Sir Michael Marmot calls, "the cause of the causes," the larger structures that contribute - in Harvard's Jack Shonkoff's words - "to a pile-up of advantage for some children, a cascade of risk for others." By exploring how things got this way - the history of U.S. child and family policy over the past century, the victories as well as the defeats - THE RAISING OF AMERICA seeks to better understand what stands in the way of progress, and what Americans can do better. THE RAISING OF AMERICA is on-demand through April 22, 2016

Watch On-demand through April 22, 2016 at raisingofamerica.org:

Ep 1: The Raising of America (Discussion Guide)

Ep 2: Once Upon a Time (Discussion Guide)

Ep 3: Are We Crazy About Our Kids? (Discussion Guide)

Ep 4: Wounded Places (Discussion Guide)

Ep 5: DNA is Not Destiny

 

The Raising of America Trailer (11 min) from California Newsreel on Vimeo.

Attachment	Size
discussionguide-theraisingofamericasignaturehour.pdf	3.12 MB
wounded_places-discussionguide.pdf	753.46 KB
discussionguide-arewecrazy.pdf	746.49 KB
discussionguide-onceuponatime.pdf	858.14 KB