I remember playing the fortune teller game as a kid. We would take a piece of paper, write cute messages and fortunes on it and then fold it origami-style to predict our future. Of course, our paper game couldn’t foretell my future or that of my childhood friends, but with the opportunities that came with growing up in a thriving community in the U.S., the outlook was bright. I had access to a quality education, which led to rewarding work experiences and, ultimately, to my dream job of leading a humanitarian organization helping make this world a better place for children.

Students participate in a counting activity in preschool teacher Sung Thi Kim’s preschool class at a Save the Children supported school in northern rural Vietnam. Photo by Jeremy Soulliere/Save the Children.

But for too many kids in America and around the world, their future is all too predictable. Girls and boys who live in poverty, like William, whom I met in South Carolina when he was 18 months old, often miss out on the essential early learning every child needs to succeed – in school and life. This means they’re at a much higher risk of starting school behind their peers and never catching up, which can have a devastating effect on their future. Research has shown that when kids fall behind early on, they are more likely to drop out of school, become a teen parent or even end up in prison.

That’s why, as the summer is winding down and as kids go back to school, Save the Children is launching an annual campaign called Invest in Childhood: See the Future Unfold, which is focused on the importance of getting an early start on learning. The centerpiece of the campaign is—can you guess?—a digital version of the paper fortune teller!  We have dubbed it the Future Teller because it shows how we can transform the way the future unfolds for children when we invest in them early on. Our Future Teller reveals how investments big and small can make a lasting difference: Investing as little as $3 can provide a baby’s first book, $5 can send a child to school and $10 can stock a home library.

William is proof that investing time, effort and resources in kids while they are still babies and toddlers—and before their brain is 90 percent developed at age 5—can have a big impact on their future. When I visited him in South Carolina, William was thriving. Rather than falling behind his peers, he was right where he was supposed to be in his development.

All parents want what’s best for their child. But many parents, like William’s, either don’t have the means to pay for preschool or have access to it. That’s why William’s mom, Jessica, enrolled him in Save the Children’s early childhood education program. She and her son have benefitted from having caring experts regularly visit their home, providing parenting support, bringing books and engaging William in play and learning activities to ensure he develops the essential skills he needs to succeed in school, setting him up for a promising future.

: Preschool teacher Sung Thi Kim reads to her class in a Save the Children supported school in northern rural Vietnam. Photo by Jeremy Soulliere/Save the Children.

Save the Children trains teachers and works with kids and parents from America to Vietnam to Mozambique to give them the tools they need to shape the futures of their children. In recognition of the world of difference these preschool teachers are making in their own communities, Save the Children this month is joining with Microsoft and Windows 10 in their #UpgradeYourWorld movement to tell their stories.

Stories of preschool teachers like Sung Thi Kim, who teaches in a remote Vietnamese farming village where most families live without electricity or running water. She goes out of her way—visiting her students at home to help with homework and turning rice and corn into teaching tools when school supplies are scarce—to ensure that children like Mai, 5, don’t miss out on early learning opportunities. You can read Ms. Kim’s story here.

With the support of amazing individuals like Ms. Kim doing great things in their communities to promote early learning, we can help all children reach their dreams. When we invest in children like William and Mai, we transform the way their future unfolds.

Adapted from a blog that originally ran in the Huffington Post.