Help us give a child the start to life that they deserve

The past year was one of tremendous growth for the Boston Basics. We established a nonprofit organization, The Basics Inc., to run the Boston Basics Campaign and support an emerging national Basics Learning Network. We are working in partnership with health care providers, early learning educators, librarians, social service agencies, and anyone who works with parents of young children to help them learn about and practice the Basics. Our goal is to help parents and caregivers prevent cognitive gaps that start at a very young age, and help their children be ready to learn and succeed in school and throughout life.

We greatly appreciate your support of this critical work. Thank you for your donation!

The Boston Basics Campaign thanks TSNE MissionWorks for serving as its fiscal sponsor.

The Basics are five fun, simple, and powerful ways that every family can give every child a great start in life

The Boston Basics Campaign is inspired by the fact that 80% of brain growth happens in the first three years of life. During this critical period, skill gaps between socio-economic, racial, and ethnic groups become clearly apparent. This does not need to be! Everyday interactions between children, their parents, and other caregivers provide abundant opportunities to give children from every background a more equal start in life.

The Basics are five evidence-based parenting and caregiving principles that encompass much of what experts find is important for children from birth to age three. Every child from every background can benefit from routinely experiencing the Basics learning experiences. Therefore, the Boston Basics Campaign is working through a broad range of institutions to ensure that every parent and caregiver is fully supported by family and friends to use the Basics practices in everyday life.