About 200 educators from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana joined first lady Laura Bush in Woodlawn on Wednesday for a discussion on the importance of developing and challenging the brains of preschool children.

        Organizers hope the educators take the information back to their schools, agencies and parents in their community and use the research to improve their programs and home learning, said Patricia Grey, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education.

        The “Ready to Read, Ready to Learn” gathering on early childhood learning held at RISE Learning Solutions in Woodlawn was similar to one Mrs. Bush led at the White House in July.

        That meeting attracted the attention of Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, who helped coordinate this first of several regional gatherings on early early childhood development to occur around the nation.

        Mrs. Bush said, as a parent and a former teacher, she recognizes the need to develop children's brains early because research shows children who arrive in school prepared for reading and learning are more likely to meet with success in learning and life.

        “During the vital time from birth to kindergarten, children learn basic skills upon which they'll build for the rest of their lives,” she said.

        According to the Ohio Department of Education, more than 300,000 children in the state under the age of 6 spend eight to 10 hours a day in child care, family child care, Head Start and public and preschool programs.

        The quality of the programs are critical to children's early literacy development, said Dr. Susan H. Landry, an early childhood professor at the University of Texas.

        For optimal learning, she said, children need to have a strong foundation in:

        • Language development.

        • Early literacy, such as letter knowledge, motivation to read and book and print awareness.

        • Early math, such as learning numbers.

        “It is not a digital divide in our country; it is a learning divide we are beginning to see,” said Susan B. Neuman, assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education.

        The meeting participants urged legislators to make policy changes to ensure quality early learning programs. They also urged lawmakers to give families accurate information about programs for early childhood learning.

        Deborah Bradshaw, director of early childhood for Cincinnati Public schools, said CPS is ahead of the game in the area of early learning for its 3,000 pre-kindergarten students. For example, early childhood teachers require a four-year degree at CPS instead of 2 years for Head Start teachers.

        “For you to be able to teach in CPS, the standards are a little higher,” she said.

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