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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says "The period from birth to eight years old is one of remarkable brain development for children."
联合国教育、科学及文化组织表示：“从出生到8岁是儿童大脑发育的显著时期。”
The organization adds that it represents an important time for their development and education.
该组织补充说，这是他们发展和教育的重要时期。
The U.S. National Institutes of Health says that supporting children's early learning can lead to higher test scores and a better chance of staying in school and going to college.
美国国立卫生研究院表示，支持儿童早期学习可以使得考试成绩更高，并获得更好的留校和上大学的机会。
Studies even suggest early learning can lead to fewer teen pregnancies, improved mental health, and a longer life.
研究甚至表明，早期学习可以减少青少年怀孕率，改善心理健康，延长寿命。
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is made up of 38 democracies with market-based economies.
经济合作与发展组织由38个以市场经济为基础的民主国家组成。
The organization aims to build better policies for better lives.
该组织旨在为更好的生活制定更好的政策。
In a recent education study, the OECD found that most of its member countries provide care or education for children under 5.
在最近的一项教育研究中，经合组织发现，其大多数成员国都为5岁以下的儿童提供照料或教育。
In countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Spain and Britain, at least 95 percent of 3-year-olds are enrolled in an early education program.
在比利时、丹麦、法国、匈牙利、冰岛、以色列、挪威、西班牙和英国等国，至少95%的3岁儿童参加了早期教育项目。
However, within OECD countries, there can be a large difference in enrollment.
然而，在经合组织国家内部，入学率可能存在很大差异。
In the United States, for example, 80 percent of 3 to 5-year-olds in the capital city of Washington, D.C. are enrolled in early education programs.
例如，在美国首都华盛顿特区，80%的3至5岁儿童参加了早期教育项目。
That is compared to 46 percent in the western state of North Dakota.
相比之下，美国西部的北达科他州的这一比例为46%。
The differences also exist in European countries like Greece, Lithuania, and Switzerland.
希腊、立陶宛和瑞士等欧洲国家也存在这种差异。
Places with higher rates of women in the workforce usually have higher rates of enrollment for children under 3.
女性劳动力比例较高的地方，3岁以下儿童的入学率通常也较高。
During the pandemic, the U.S. government provided an additional $24 billion to help child care programs nationwide.
在疫情期间，美国政府额外提供了240亿美元来帮助全国的儿童保育项目。
The funding finally ended last October.
美国政府最终于去年10月停止提供这笔资金。
The Century Foundation is a research organization in New York City.
世纪基金会是纽约市的一个研究机构。
It estimates that one-third of the programs could close as a result.
据估计，三分之一的项目可能会因此关闭。
That affects more than 2.2 million children.
这影响了220多万儿童。
The organization says that child care is important for the economy at large since child care permits parents to stay at work.
该组织表示，儿童保育对整体经济很重要，因为儿童保育可以让父母继续工作。
Around the world, governments invest little in early childhood education, UNESCO says.
联合国教科文组织表示，在世界各地，政府对幼儿教育的投资很少。
About 6.6 percent of education budgets are put toward early education programs, 2 percent in poor countries.
大约6.6%的教育预算用于早期教育项目，贫穷国家的这一比例为2%。
That is well below the target of 10 percent by 2030 suggested by the children's organization UNICEF.
这远远低于联合国儿童基金会提出的到2030年达到10%的目标。
In the U.S., parents can choose to put their children at age 5 in kindergarten or a child care program.
在美国，父母可以选择把5岁的孩子送到幼儿园或参加儿童保育项目。
Kindergarten enrollment has dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic.
自新冠疫情爆发以来，幼儿园入学率有所下降。
Concerned about the virus or wanting to avoid online school, hundreds of thousands of families delayed the start of school for their young children.
由于担心病毒或想避免在线学习，数十万家庭推迟了年幼子女上学的时间。
The Associated Press found that kindergarten enrollment remained down 5.2 percent in the 2022-2023 school year compared with the 2019-2020 school year.
美联社发现，与2019-2020学年相比，2022-2023学年的幼儿园入学率仍下降了5.2%。
Deborah Stipek is a former head of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University.
黛博拉·斯蒂佩克是斯坦福大学教育研究生院的前院长。
She said kindergarten is where children learn to follow directions, learn good behavior, and get used to learning.
她说，幼儿园是孩子们学习听从指示、学习良好行为、习惯学习的地方。
Stipek said missing that year of school can put kids at a disadvantage.
斯蒂佩克说，缺课一年可能会让孩子们处于不利地位。
Last year, Aylah went to a children's program that met mainly outdoors instead of enrolling in kindergarten in the state of California.
去年，艾拉参加了加利福尼亚州的一个主要在户外活动的儿童项目，而没有上幼儿园。
Aylah now has to adjust to being inside a classroom and learning the right way to hold a pencil.
艾拉现在必须适应待在教室里，学习握铅笔的正确方式。
"It's harder. Way, way harder," Aylah said of the new way she learned to hold a pencil.
在谈到她学习握铅笔的新方法时，艾拉说，“更难了。非常困难。”
Still, her mother Hannah Levy says it was the right decision to skip kindergarten.
不过，她的母亲汉娜·利维说，不上幼儿园是正确的决定。
She wanted Aylah to enjoy being a child.
她想让艾拉享受童年。
There is plenty of time, she reasoned, for her daughter to develop study skills.
她认为，女儿有足够的时间来培养学习技能。
I'm Dan Novak.
丹·诺瓦克为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
