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Show Sunday, April 20, 1997 THE DAILY HKRAI.I), Provo. feel, communicate and .slate to others. And without proper stimu lation and loving attention from adults in these early years, a child is far less likely to live up to his emotional and intellectual potential. Thursday, Bill and I will be g conference at hosting a the White House to discuss these new scientific findings most of them the work of American scientists in government-sponsore- d labs such as the National Institutes of Health and what they mean not only to families but to teachers, employers, lawmakers and our society as a whole. The White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning will bring together leading pediatricians and specialists with child-car- e providers, business and religious leaders and others whom we will rely on to help put this new knowledge into practice. It will be transmitted via satellite to emotionally and intellectually. In fact, it literally helps a baby's brain grow. At birth, an infant's brain is far from fully formed. During the governor in a small Arkansas town, j approached a group of women and children and introduced self . Chelsea who was just a toiler then was holding my Mnd when I said to one mother codling a newborn, "I bet you're hiving run, playing with her and fc&ing to her all the time." The woman gave me a baffled ltpc and said, "Why would I talk &;&er? She can't talk back." wasn't quite sure how to ijesbond. Bill and I knew that talking and reading to Chelsea not only fun but also helped ifs tier: begin talking and reading on tier own. But we couldn't say wjiy. Until now. In the past few years, researchers have found Scientific evidence for what many parents always suspected: Time spent talking, singing and reading to an infant strengthens the bond between parent and child and helps the child develop Pi L? ElKI&iy Redhara Clinton-- some 80 schools, jpolleges and hospitals across the country. I'm excited about the conference for a number of reasons. First, we hope to share ways to help parents make sense of and apply this new knowledge in their daily interactions with children. Second, we hope to spur lawmakers, educators and business leaders to recognize the role this information about early childhood development must play in policymaking. Given what we now know about the first years of life, we have an even greater responsibility to bring issues such as expanding early childhood education and improving child care to the top of our national agenda. And most of all, I hope this conference will help lay to rest the counterproductive, yet enduring, debate in our society over nurture vs. nature in determining a person's success in life. The new research offers evidence that we are the result of both. Our charac day-lon- tI Talking it Over first three years of lite, the brain is a sponge, absorbing every bit of activity in its environment. It must rely on the stimulation of its sura mother's loving roundings voice, sunlight from a window, the warmth of being held against a to help connect parent's chest its cells to each other and "turn on" the child's capacity to learn, Pgt All couldn't make more sense "alking to your toddlers On a hot summer day in 1982, while helping Bill campaign for lUh neuro-scientis- ts, nt ter and potential are far from completely determined at birth. And we can work together to provide all children with the physical, emotional and intellectual nurturing they need to become healthy and productive citizens. Today, just 39 percent of parents read to their infants and toddlers daily. But we are already witnessing some hopeful efforts to change this statistic and make good use of the new knowledge about the importance of reading in the early years. This week. I announced a new national partnership among several sectors of our society to encourage more parents to read regularly to their infants and toddlers. Through a national program called Reach Out and Read, pediatricians, who often are the first professionals to have regular contact with new families, will "prescribe" reading aloud to young patients and their parents during every visit. Publishers such as Scholastic Inc. and organizations such as First Book have promised to contribute hundreds of thousands of free books to health clinics across the country that serve needy families. And through its Born to Read program, the American Library Association will work with the nation's 16,000 public libraries to establish partner- - 'I ships with health-car- e profession als to teach the critical importance of reading and learning. But with all this attention on the importance of the first three years, let's not lose sight of the fact that deal. learning is never a one-shAs any parent who has shepherded a child from infancy through adolescence can tell you, children need the love of parents, the attention of teachers and the guidance of mentors at all stages of growing up. As a country whose continuing prosperity depends on unlocking the potential of all our citizens, we can't afford to leave any of our children behind. non-prof- it pre-scho- ol ot Circus ordered to treat bears well By CHRISTINE SHENOT "They'll be in their cages tomorrow and the incident will be closed," Azzi said Wednesday. Maj. Kyle Hill of the game and fish commission said the agency sent a final warning by fax and registered mail Wednesday and planned to send an officer to the circus today to make sure it was Newspapers Knight-Ridd- After sevORLANDO, Fla. eral weeks of prodding the Moscow Circus to build larger cages for its performing bears, Florida wildlife officials Wednesday told circus officials they will have to leave the state if the bears aren't moved immediately. ' The circus arrived in Florida early this year with plans for a stay in Central Florida on International Drive. The Florida Garne and Fresh Water Fish Commission, which monitors the care of captive and maintenance wildlife, issued the circus the required permit. At the time, the agency told circus officials to move their six Russian brown bears into new cages. The circus opened in late February', but has continued to keep the bears in their traveling cages, whjch are too small to meet state requirements. After an initial letter of warning to circus officials giving them 30 days to comply, wildlife officers issued a citation on April 8. But the bears still weren't moved. Tony Azzi, an independent producer who came to Central Florida from Paris a week ago to run the circus, said workers started building new cages this week and are nearly finished. taking immediate action. He said the agency gave the circus the names of zoos and other facilities where the bears could be kept. He stopped short of saying the state itself would remove the animals but said his agency had taken the necessary steps to make sure they're put in larger facilities. Pacemaker technology is six-mon- th )rJy a.i vnootmc B T TIC I at the heart Smoothies are an I invigorating combination of juice and fresh fruit blended in ice. of this watch. The Longlife' Collection. 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