Beeline Reader
The first few years of life represent the crucial window of peak brain development, where more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second. Yet, millions of children under the age of five—including 250 million in low- and middle-income countries—are at risk of falling behind in their developmental growth due to extreme poverty, lack of early stimulation and learning, poor nutrition, and exposure to violence and neglect.
That’s why Solve asked: how can all children under five develop the critical learning and cognitive skills they need to reach their full potential? MIT Solve’s Early Childhood Development Challenge received submissions from 234 innovators from 52 countries around the globe. The solutions ranged from platforms that provide knowledge and resources to support parents and caregivers, to programs and apps that allow children to develop and strengthen their cognitive skills and abilities. You can learn more about the submission trends here.
This weekend at Solve Challenge Finals, our expert judges selected eight solutions from a group of 15 outstanding finalists. And today, we’re thrilled to announce the newly selected Solver teams.
EarlyBird
EarlyBird is a 20-minute digital, gamified, self-administered app that assesses early predictors of later literacy success.
Dost Education
Dost Education is a technology platform that leverages “phonecasts” (one-minute podcasts delivered through phone calls) and other tools to provide parents with solutions for everyday parenting problems and tips on nurturing cognitive and socio-emotional development in children.
Khushi Baby
Khushi Baby is a digitized health record that’s accessible through both an app and a wearable amulet containing a biometrically-secure chip.
Kinedu
Kinedu is an app that gives parents or other caregivers a comprehensive, simple-to-use guide to activities and interactions that form the basis for brain-building moments.
Living First Languages Platform
The Living First Languages Platform (LFLP) is a technology training platform designed for Indigenous communities to develop the knowledge and tools to support their children’s early language and pre-literacy development.
Mobile Village-Based Rehabilitation
Mobile Village-Based Rehabilitation is a platform and app that provides therapy to children with disabilities living in rural areas through Community Rehabilitation Workers (CRWs).
OneSky
OneSky is an early childhood care and development training program for the women looking after more than 1.2 million children of factory workers in Vietnam.
Tabshoura Tiny Thinkers
Tabshoura Tiny Thinkers is a multi-program offline server that provides a tailored digital augmented program for early childhood education in Arabic, English, and French, focusing on marginalized, vulnerable areas and camp settlements.
Feeling inspired? Find out how you can support these innovators and learn more about joining Solve as a Member.
Photo: Joe Jenkins / MIT Solve
