I was always fascinated with medicine, neuroscience in particular. I was always thinking how something which weighs on average 1.5 kg (adult brain) can be so amazing, incredible and do so much.
Then I had kids. I get to see on daily basis how their little brain works and functions.
According to University of Denver, Morgridge College of Education, Marsico Institute for Early Learning and Development ‘The period between 0-3 years is the fastest rate of brain development across the entire human life span’. We can observe this on daily basis when a child explores everything, every little thing is fascinating and interesting. Everyone heard the expression that ‘a Child’s brain is like a sponge’, it really does take in everything. They are born talented and fearless, they can achieve everything and anything they want.
My children are being brought up in a multi-language environment (3 languages to be precise). My 2 year old can easily express herself in all 3 language depends on whom she is speaking with. The study also says that ‘All humans are born with ability to learn any language’. In the early stage of development the learning process is natural and easy for them. I observe my daughter and see hoe easy it is to her to say what she wants in all 3 languages. The study also proved that ‘ Learning more than 1 language improves cognitive development’.
In their studies they also found out that ‘Parents who frequently talk to their babies, increase children’s vocabulary by 300 words by the age of 2’. So if you read, talk and play with your child from the birth they will be able to communicate with you easier and (quite possibly) faster. We have such a huge selection of beautiful kids stories to read, so many stories to tell them, why not start now? I have 2 favourite times of the day. One when my older daughter is napping and I get my 9 month old only to myself, I talk to him, read to him and see how much he loves ‘ME time’ with Mommy. The other time is when my daughter is in her pajamas lying on our bed and we read to her her favourite fairy tales and she cuddles with us and repeat as much as she can. Reading also helps ‘to stimulate brain development by 50% of infants and toddlers’ if parents read to them routinely.
I love being at home with my babies. I always instinctively knew that’s the best for me and my children. The research proved my approach ‘A strong parent-child bond in early childhood prepares children to better handle stress throughout life’. Each parent, whether they work inside or outside home can create a strong bond with the children, it takes commitment and time (cleaning, ironing, washing can wait). When the child feels secure and loved he will grow up to be a strong, independent and confident person.
Just as a conclusion to my brain talk today I will quote one more fact from the research.
‘By the time they are 3, children’s brains have formed 1000 trillion connections between neurons.’
Now let’s keep remembering that we are surrounded by little geniuses 🙂
Aga Schnier is a founder of ParentingClub2014, Mother and Law of Attraction Master Practitioner which she currently uses to promote positive parenting techniques.
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