Womb to Tomb: When Does Education Begin?

People can always recall the one kid in class who struggled with reading. Whether the student was considered lazy or developmentally challenged, “something” was clearly wrong. And since everyone else in the class could read, it was also clear that what was “wrong” had to be within that student. Was the issue bad parenting? Perhaps the teacher didn’t motivate them to want to read? Maybe the entire school system was flawed. Teachers needed training on how and when to present phonics (sounds with letters), phonemic awareness (manipulating sounds within words), and strengthen comprehension (the ability to understand). These questions became the catalyst for the Science of Reading. 

Reading is not a natural process! It is not like learning to speak or walk. It is complex, requiring new pathways to be written in the brain to connect words on a page to images and life experiences. So, when does learning begin? How do we best create the potential to reach every child regardless of their cultural or economic circumstances? 

Dr. Bruce D. Perry, co-author of the book “The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog” and senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy, presents compelling research and interpretations of the need for early emphasis on education. “While the body doesn’t reach its adult height and weight until adolescence, the brain’s growth follows a much different path. By age three, it has reached 85% of its full adult size. In fact, most brain growth occurs in the first three years of life.” 

Dr. Willie J. Heggins, Director at Heirforce Community School in Lima, Ohio feels his strong development of reading comprehension results from a blending of concrete ideas about learning and the expectations of heritage, culture, and parenting. “This idea [of Womb to Tomb learning] is near to home for me, because I am a byproduct of that philosophy.” His mother was the first African-American to earn a Doctorate from Rutgers University, specializing in metacognition. She leaned into Piagetian theory. Piaget believed that there are 4 stages of cognitive (how humans learn to know and understand) development. Further, he theorized that there is a sequence that prepares the brain for the work it must do for reading to be possible. Dr. Heggins recalls how this resonated with him, providing stepping stones to reading comprehension. “As time has gone by, educators, with the pressures of differently gifted students and outcome-based measures, have returned in some instances, to rote memorization rather than immersive and systematic learning sequences.” Often, that’s where we begin to see that “gap” presenting itself in kindergarten and widening as the child progresses through school. 

In Dr. Heggins’ experience begins with prenatal care: “Children early on have to be exposed to environments where they [feel] safe being 11 curious; places that offer joy, success, and challenges.” 

In 2025, the push toward the Science of Reading placed an incredible number of educators, Pre-K through high school, into the same time tunnel, compelling them to learn from the same playbook, while creating an educational safety net that would loop in every child in that state. 

The key component? Understand how the brain works to create pathways to learning, understanding, and comprehending. 

Dr. R. Lisa Bradley-Glenn conducts professional development experiences across the country and is confident when she says, “It starts at birth. We don’t notice it because it’s more psychological, but that is where awareness starts. Infants are paving a two-way street for communication through their crying, whimpering, and whining. They train us, and we interpret as best we can. There is a point at which we open ourselves up to learning as a reciprocal process. There is the conjoining of the mind – being intuitive, driving us to want to learn. Knowledge is enhanced by an evolutionary connection that finds its nexus in the womb.” 

Both these philosophies support the concerns for children laid out in the trust/mistrust theory: 

If the infant’s needs are not met consistently through a caring, affectionate, and responsive caregiver, the child learns that the world is unreliable, which then impacts their sense of self-worth, breeds insecurity, anxiety, and develops mistrust. In Dr. Heggins’ mind, it sets the tenor and tone of their trajectory. “If we are nurtured, loved, supported, that care must start before birth and follow through until age 5.” He believes this is the most significant indicator and speaks to the importance of an early childcare program steeped in education-based development. Dr. Heggins adds, “The dividing factor in the American system is access to adequate resources and top-quality childcare. Without that, there is injustice for that child, and their hope for the future. And, yes, there is a small percentage of kids who are exceeding expectations. In most schools, particularly those in urban environments, those high flyers are left to navigate the systems as their teachers are occupied with struggling learners. Where is the viability?” 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” Nelson Mandela

As children’s first teachers, parents begin the exchange of knowledge during prenatal care and never decline until our final breath. As adults, we must be deliberate in our communication with young children to connect, engage, and have an mpact. 

The greatest part of this story is that it’s never too late to begin. When you meet a child, listen, ask questions, encourage them to be curious. Respond to facial expressions, giggles, gurgling, or hugs. Give them language, teach them the rhythm of conversation. One thing the experts do agree on: their introduction to learnig begins with you. 

Dr. Vickie Shurelds is an educator/entrepreneur/ youth advocate living in Ohio. She has two children and eight grandchildren. She teaches Middle school ELA and Reading and is the executive director of GLTX/Daddys at Work Childcare Center. 

1. Perry, Bruce Duncan, and Maia Szalavitz. The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us about Loss, Love, and Healing. Tantor Media, 2011.