Child Crafting

“The brain is wider then the sky” - Emily Dickinson

Latest research seems to indicate that babies have brains as sophisticated as the most powerful supercomputer, and have the ability to absorb an unbelievable amount of knowledge. New research also concludes that a substantial amount of brain development continues to occur during the earliest months of life.

An embryo’s neural tubes start to develop as early as four weeks. From then billions of neurons or brain cells form throughout the pregnancy. During the nine months of gestation, the connections between these cells called synapses also multiply rapidly thus forming the physical framework which allows for learning to take place.

“We’ve found that by the time a child is about 13 months old, she can remember certain events for at least eight months after they occur and some current data suggests that they remember even up to a year later,” said Patricia Bauer, PhD, associate professor at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis. William Greenough, PhD professor at the University of Illinois acknowledges that ‘the actual physical wiring of the brain is susceptible to experience’.

For babies, the first year of life is the crucial period that has a tremendous impact on brain development. It is during the first few months that the brain’s wiring is fine-tuned, and excess cells and synapses - typically those that have never been used - are eliminated. Thus, children brought up in a less challenging envrironment actually have less synapses than those reared in highly stimulating envrionments.

-Excerpt from a special feature of Motherhood magazine

 What does this mean for parents?
Everything you do, from holding, singing, talking, cuddling and playing is registered in your child’s young mind. You play a pivotal role in creating an environment that enables your child’s brain to develop to its maximum potential. Breakthrough research has shown how experiences during the first years of life profoundly influence intelligence, creativity, language development-and even later reading and math skills. So what can you do?

A baby’s brain can absorb information efficiently, but the child must be ready for it. You must be cautious not to trouble a child by pressuring him/her to do what is unachievable at their current developmental stage. Do not be too worried about your child’s performance as he/she will perfect it at their own pace.

Here are a few things you can do

Read and sing to your child - Babies responds easily to sounds and rhythms. This fosters reading readiness.

Imitative games and activities - Babies love to imitate those around them.

Initiate bedtime conversations - Build your child’s memory and sense of personal history.

Develop “Baby Signs” - Help your toddler communicate before he or she can talk.

Introduce toys - Nurture your child’s creativity and problem solving skills 

Tags: activities, baby, brain

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 7:34 pm and is filed under Baby Brain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.