House Bill 3909e1

                                          HB 3909, First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to education; providing that

  3         state-funded education and care programs for

  4         infants and toddlers must foster brain

  5         development; providing an appropriation while

  6         requiring an evaluation and a report; providing

  7         an effective date.

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  9         WHEREAS, at birth, a child has one hundred billion

10  brain cells that will be developed by the experiences of life,

11  and

12         WHEREAS, the stimulation that causes brain development

13  can be positive, such as conversation, music, and parental

14  love, or it can be negative, such as neglect or emotional and

15  physical abuse, and

16         WHEREAS, during the first year of a child's life the

17  connections between the cells, the synapses, increase

18  twenty-fold, making the first year a crucial time for brain

19  development, and

20         WHEREAS, infants develop synapses when they listen to

21  language and music, see colors and shapes, and feel and handle

22  objects of different sizes, shapes, and textures, and

23         WHEREAS, there is no other time in a child's life as

24  productive for brain development as the first year, NOW

25  THEREFORE,

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27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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29         Section 1.  Each state-funded education and care

30  program for children from birth to 5 years of age must provide

31  activities to foster brain development in infants and


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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






                                          HB 3909, First Engrossed



  1  toddlers. A program must provide an environment rich in

  2  language and music and filled with objects of various colors,

  3  shapes, textures, and sizes to stimulate visual, tactile,

  4  auditory, and linguistic senses in the children and must

  5  include classical music and at least 30 minutes of reading to

  6  the children each day. A program may be offered through an

  7  existing early childhood program such as Healthy Start, the

  8  Title I program, subsidized child care, the prekindergarten

  9  early-intervention program, Florida First Start, the Head

10  Start program, or a private childcare program. A program must

11  provide training for the infants' and toddlers' parents

12  including direct dialogue and interaction between teachers and

13  parents demonstrating the urgency of brain development in the

14  first year of a child's life.

15         Section 2.  There is appropriated $50,000 from the

16  General Revenue Fund to the Department of Health to contract

17  for an evaluation of programs to stimulate brain development

18  in infants and toddlers and shall report the results to the

19  evaluation to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of

20  the House of Representatives by January 1, 2000.

21         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.

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