Early childhood is the apprenticeship of being human. Like the apprenticeship of an artist, it is composed of both explicit instruction and continual modeling within a personal relationship. The disproportionate influence of these early years lies in the fact that apprenticeship occurs constantly in children’s most primary relationships during a period of unparalleled brain growth that has a lifelong impact on a child’s character, competence, creativity, health and ability to collaborate. For better or for worse, the family is the studio in which children begin the apprenticeship of being human.