Parenting Programme for Child Development

Correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed to: Dr. Patrice L. Engle Department of Psychology Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 USA Email: [email protected] Over 200 million young children in the developing world do not achieve their potential for cognitive and social-emotional development due to the combined risks of poor health, poor nutrition, and absence of supportive learning and nurturing environments (1). Aboud’s study is an important contribution to learning how to reduce these risks (2), and there is an urgency for this knowledge. With globalization, urbanization, and universal schooling, the loss of potential is resulting in ever-increasing disparities and inequalities. Poorer and disadvantaged children enter school less prepared, progress more slowly through school, and may learn less. Rarely can these children make up the differences in learning achievement that existed when they entered school. Decades ago countries, such as the US, India, and Peru, recognized that young children from poorer backgrounds need a head start before school.