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was that mentally retarded children also
had. mentally backward mothers. From
this group carne almost all of the chil–
dren who sulfered a progressive decline
in intelligence. This shocking revelation
showed the central importance of a
motber's role in her child's development.
The challeoge was to see if this form
of mental retardation - labeled "cul–
tural familia}" retardation - could be
prevented. The team felt that the chil–
dren's declining L Q.'s were due to
their home environment. They theorized
that mothers of Jow intelligence who
lacked special training failed to create
an intellectually stimulating eovironroent
for their children.
The stakes were high. Five to eight
million Americaos, almost all of whom
live in slums, suffer from "cultural–
familia!" retardation. Millions more are
functionally illiterate.
From the beginning, Dr. Heber and
his associates stacked the odds against
themselves. A group of mothers with
l.
Q.'s of less than 70 were invited to
enroll their newborn children in the
experimental program. Each of the
TIME FOR LEARNING
mothers quickly seized the opportunity.
Twenty-five infaots and oewborn
babies were chosen for the experimental
group. Without intervention, most, if
oot all, of the children would show
signs of mental retardation as they
grew older.
If
the Project could reverse this dire
trend, if these children could be given a
stimulating early childhood, and if they
could reach school age without suffer–
ing an l. Q. decline - then the Ptoject
would have succeeded in preventing
cultural-familiaJ retardation.
T he Infant Education Center
In 1966, the Infant Education Center
was established in the slum area of Mil–
waukee where the original surveys were
conducted.
Three elements were considered es–
sentía! for the success of the center.
First, the project had to improve the
welfare of the
entil·e famiJy.
The moth–
ers were offered on-the-job occupational
training and instruction in homemaking
and child care.
Second, a program of instruction was
carefully planned and structured. A cur-
riculum from birth to age six was care–
fu!Ly programmed before the children
were boro.
And third, teacbing started almost
from birth. Rather than waiting until
the child was already lagging behind
others, the project aimed at preventing
any intellectual stagnation.
Shortly after the mothers returned
home from the maternity ward of the
hospital, teachers began visiting them to
spend severa! hours a day playing with
and talking to the babies.
After three to six months and when
both mother and teacher agreed that the
time was right - the infant began
spending part of each day at the Infant
Education Center.
Until age two, each infant had a per–
sonal teacher. The teachers continued to
play with the babies, exposing them to a
wide variety of roentally stimulating
games, sights and sounds. The biggest
goal during this period was to build the
child's
understanding of words
- long
before he began to speak. As the chil–
dren reached age two, they began small–
group Jearning. Two or three teachers
were assigned to each group of five