It may seem basic, but it bears repeating here. Kids are not little adults. Children’s developing brains go through stages of maturation. So, parents who expect their children to think and act like adults should learn the science.
Brain activity in children is different than in adults. A newborn’s brain has billions of neurons, but there is little transmission between them because there are few neural connections. From birth onwards, the child’s neural connections are rapidly formed as a direct result of actual sensory experiences. The impact of the environment on the structure and functioning of the brain is life-long, but is most extremely intense during the first three years of life. The child’s early experiences are literally hard-wired into the brain. In addition, the child’s brain development is strongly influenced by genetics as well as the child’s stage of the developmental maturation. Until age 25, the child’s brain has still not fully developed. The pre-frontal cortex, the center for intellect, logic, reasoning and impulse control, is the last area of the brain to fully mature. The latter is the reason that teens and young adults are often known to have difficulty fully understanding the consequences of their actions and exercising sound judgment.
What are the implications of this information? Here are a few. The young child, in the process of building their neural connections, requires a rich sensory environment for feeding all the senses. Time and space is needed for the child to process the information in her own way. Children have an inborn drive to explore their environments, using whatever tools are available to overcome deficits in their “programming”. They are little scientists, whose emphasis is as much on the process of discovery as on drawing their own cause-and-effect conclusions. For physical and cognitive skills, practice is the key to mastery. Thus, parental patience and encouragement during the child’s endless repetitions of a new task is very important. Parents who purposely do not interfere with natural children’s messiness and clumsiness are supporting their children’s need for experiential learning. (Overlooking messes does not mean cleaning them up. Children learn from cleaning up their own “work” environments.)
Aside from physical and cognitive development, the emotional development of the child is also a brain function. Through dedicated time spent together with parents and other significant adults, the child develops healthy attachments, and learns about himself and his ability to relate to other people. Healthy attachment with loving adults creates a feeling of safety in an otherwise overwhelming world. This secure feeling enhances the child’s brain’s ability to focus on the development of higher intellectual function. Without this feeling of safety, the child must be vigilant and focus on more basic survival needs. Survival needs are processed in lower parts of the brain Throughout childhood, the brain functions best when there are clear, consistent, predictable expectations, positive, calm, and responsive verbal interactions, and a stable, loving care-giving environment.
In the context of normal human brain development, designating one-on-one time with your child and creating predictable boundaries for her behaviors will support both her cognitive and emotional development. The family that consciously structures itself around the very real needs of its growing children is applying the results of brain research and using those results towards their highest possible purpose.
© by Debbie Katz. All rights reserved
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