Thursday, March 26, 2009

Zero to Three FAQ

Zero to Three FAQ

57 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to be honest but i didn't know that our brain was always cleaning and removing unwanted items. To think that if this didn't happen our little ones or us wouldn't be able to do the things that we do.Crazy to think about!
Carolyn

Joey said...

I was very interested in the roles that genetics, nutrition and experience play in brain developement.

Unknown said...

so basical I see every teacher in my center as a huge important role for small children. Because of the way the brain develops and so rapidly the first three years I belive our jobs are hugely important for society.

Unknown said...

i see that a babies first line of learning is threw the parents and what they do with them, my son for instance was walking by 7 months old and talking prety well by 1 year, he was raised by myself not his mother and the differences between him and his brother are huge. i also see the need to have the nuerologists revise there opinions about girls being better then boys as my son out performs even the girls that are 1 to 2 years older them him.

CR Petersen said...

You can't make a concrete comparison with only one child. It has to be on average across a representative sample.

Anonymous said...

This was amazing information! This really makes me want to move forward and speak to daycare parents about the importance of brain development and what an important role the environment plays. Does anyone out there talk to daycare parents about this and if so how does one go about doing this without being intrusive? Giving them more information will only better help the children.
Shannon T

Anonymous said...

I am loving these articles. So informative and so interesting. The pruning of neural circuits show how important it is to create positive, uplifting and encouraging experiences for children. Thats why its so important when a child falls off his/her bike to encourage them to get back on and ride to create a strong connection of perseverance and confidence. Something else I found interesting is the critical period for language-learning. Why on earth do they start kids on second languages in High School when they nearing the end stage at puberty. They should start learning languages way earlier. I also found the difference between female and male brains interesting as it just brings a wider perspective on their differences with communication and play.

Anonymous said...

Another question I have is besides the language one is - why are we not educating the parents? Society would be so much more grounded and people would be far more secure if educators and parents harnessed their learning potential from young, if parents took the extra 10 minutes of time to strengthen the strenghts amd value that children need.

CR Petersen said...

You are right. Please encourage parents to review the information on this and other good sites as well.

sharon s said...

I did not know about the pruning of things the child has learned. Sometimes I like the idea since somethings they learn you would rather they did not, and maybe they will forget them. For instance I do not like somethings a daughterlaw teaches her young children, so maybe they will lose that memory if it stops if the teaching is stopped soon enough. I have heard it is easier for a person that had a little bit of learning problems in highschool to learn better when they are older, is this a possible?

CR Petersen said...

Sometimes but it depends on a lot of things.

Ronda said...

I was reading about the roles of genetics and the environment and this information about language interested me, "...the particular language each child masters, the size of his vocabulary, and the exact dialect and accent with which he speaks are determined by the social environment in which he is raised--that is, the thousands of hours he has spent (beginning even before birth) listening and speaking to others." Does this mean a child that hears one language while in the womb, and then is adopted into another culture at birth may be a bit behind in language development?

CR Petersen said...

When given the opportunity children learn language at an incredible rate regardless.

Ronda said...

I loved reading that parents are perfectly equipped to nurture our newborns with the natural over-flowing love we feel for them. It was also helpful to know that the one thing we could do better is in our use of language--reading, singing, and chattering away to our babies. New parents are often eager to know what more they can do, and a list of wonderful read-alouds and interactive songs is something daycare providers can easily give.

l terry said...

It's a brilliant page to read, i learnt so much about the brain connections and pruing. Also how and why the brain develops based on nutrition. I also love the nature vs nurture discussion.

Anonymous said...

Great article to read. So true that each child develops and absorbs so many different things. Teachers are so important to the nurturing of the children.

Dove Roberts said...

What I found most interesting is that while children have more synaptic connections, their processing speed is slower in the brain - this means that they are little sensory geniuses. Everything that they feel, see, touch, smell, or hear is amplified. Much more than adults. They also process it slower. Interesting, yes?

Amber said...

The article that I just read was very interesting. The brain works in amazing ways. I feel very sorry for the children in orphanages. There are so many of them and not enough people to give each child the individual attention that they need and deserve. Do you think people from orphanages have a harder time developing relationships then people who grow up with families?

Nicole Tabales said...

It was very neat to be introduced to the many different ways our brains can develop depending on nutrition, genetics and experiences. I can only wonder if there is a deficiency in one can the other areas over compensate so the effects aren't that major?

**anna** said...

**anna**
my son was 13 months when he started walking and his sister was 13 months and 2 weeks when she started walking we're not comparing then but it's funny how close they are in their developmental milestones. it's nice to know that breast feeding is the best source of nurichement as i breast fed both of my children and have even been critizied for doing so but i now feel proud that i did. finding and reading about how quick their brains develop is facinating and knowing where some problems may lie as my son has autism and aspergers syndrom he finds things diffcult but also finds other thing relativley easy we don't know if our daughter has as shes not old enough to be tested. reading to both of my children is really important to me and it strenghtens our bond but also my son reading to his sister is nice as that is development in a bond between then

**anna** said...

**anna**
having two children i've always read to them and have breast fed them both to the displesure of other people knowing that by doing this and playing games , puzzels and many other activities it has helped with their development.

CR Petersen said...

Good for you Anna

Unknown said...

Brain development is very much activity dependent and a child's brain adapts to meet the challenges of his/her environment. the older they get the less likely to be able to reverse synaptic learning. I didn't know that a human brain is never really done developing! Prenatal care plays a huge role on the make up of your child's brain along with the genetic make up as well. boy brains are wired a little differently then girls brains but nonetheless parents are a very important role in the brain development of their children. this is all wonderful info I didn't even know about!

Is it possible to over stimulate the brain with to much positive stuff?

CR Petersen said...

No, not really.

Gwenevere said...

I'm really glad our brains are all cluttered up with synapses & neurons that we don't need. I'm also amazed at how many things can go wrong and glad that we've come so far to prevent some devasting conditions.

sheri W said...

Can to much negative stimulation cause mental illness?

CR Petersen said...

You have to be careful with the word "cause." Can it be a variable and have an impact on someone becoming mentally ill? Yes.

Anonymous said...

wow that was really cool to learn that the brain is always cleaning and removing stuff...It acts like a computer. I can se how a baby and infant learn so much and so fast

Tammy Barden said...

I did not know that the brain did so much cleaning and moving. It is very important that you use nice words and action when dealing with kids.

Unknown said...

It is easier for a child(as young as prenatal care of three weeks conception) to learn than for an adult to learn. The brain has a possitive and negative side

Unknown said...

It is easier for a child(as young as 3weeks conception) to learn than adults. The brain has a possitive and neggative side also.


La'Tessa Chryar

Anonymous said...

This is where our jobs as childcare providers really counts. When nurture has so much to do with brain development. I also had no idea that our brains purged unused or unwanted information. That is just amazing to me.

Steph Hudson said...

I am always interested to learn about how nutrition effects development. It is amazing how vital healthy fats are to developing healthy brains. I wonder what the effects of poor nutrition are on the brain after the age of two...

Cristina Lejardi said...

It's fascinating to learn how both genetics and environmental factors work hand-in-hand in a baby's brain development. I find it interesting that "critical periods" of learning seem to be quite clear in some areas like visual and language development, yet unknown or unclear in many other areas of development. It will be interesting to see what other critical periods of development will be identified in the future after continual research and study.

I also found the brain development differences between males and females to be particularly interesting. I realize that these are not concrete and vary from one child to another... but it does give valuable insight into why women can be stereotyped as "talkers" and men as "problem-solvers".

Unknown said...

Is it possible to over stimulate the brain with to much positive stuff? I have always wondered how nutritional diets affect the brain. its obvious how it affect you physically and visually but what about the brain.

Anonymous said...

I never thought of nutrition making an impact in brain development but it makes sense.

Unknown said...

I grew up being told that eating healthy helps in a child's development. But i didn't realize how much it effects a child's brain development as well that was so interesting to me and i will make sure to implement that in everything i do.

Anonymous said...

It is amazing to me at how much the brain of a child "changes" in such a small period of time.

Anonymous said...

Catalina Rodríguez said:

Wow, I am surprised with the video of Emilio Arredondo, MS. because I did not know that the brain has 100- 150 billions of cells. It is amazing!!!

I do know that are some toxins in utero that affects the brain of the baby produced by drinking, smoking, drugs; however, I did not know the mother's stress affects the baby. We should work helping mothers be conscious of this!!!

Thanks,

Catalina

Anonymous said...

Catalina Rodriguez said:

Hello!!!

It was really interesting to find that brain can change its structure because the it is activity-dependent. Also, that our brains are continually re-shaping themselves!!!

Thanks,

Catalina

Source: Article Zero to Three, from: http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_brainFAQ#role

Unknown said...

This whole article was very interesting and makes a lot of sense. The brain is amazing. Children are constantly learning up to the age of 5 and after, but to know up to 5 they are learning from how to walk, eat, talk, share, and much more. Its great to know what I do with the children each day is teaching them knew things. How is that a lot of people forget a lot from their childhood? Is it pruning? Do people just tend to forget about things cause they might not be interested?

Rachel Madsen said...

I think this information is so helpful in understanding what key part we play in children's growth of the brain. That by being aware of this constantly throughout the day, we can help children to learn and grow. We can get a more hands on approach in teaching them things when they are little.

kristie said...

I love learning about the nature vs nurture debates. I believe one is not more important than the other as the article states that genes form the brain but environment/experiences fine tune the brain connections. I found it interesting that our brains remove items to make room for new and the brain is always changing even into adulthood. I could not believe that the first synapses of the brain develop as early as the 5th week after conception!

Anonymous said...

These articles are amazing full of information I personally think more parents should read this so they know what an important role they play in the first years.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. I found it interesting that fat was important in an infant diet for the growth of the brain. I know of a child who was put on the diet by a doctor as an infant because the child was very chunky. Now I question if an infant should ever be put on a diet.
Yvonne

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. I found it interesting that fat was important in an infant diet for the growth of the brain. I know of a child who was put on the diet by a doctor as an infant because the child was very chunky. Now I question if an infant should ever be put on a diet.
Yvonne

Unknown said...

I didn't know that maternal stress can cause learning disabilities in children

Unknown said...

This is incredible information that every childcare worker should be required to read before they start working. Many children spend more waking hours in a child care center than at home; thus making it imperative that childcare workers understand how much influence they have over the development of a child's brain.
I agree with another poster who said that we need to take more time educationing the parents as we'll.

Unknown said...

As a childcare provider we have such a huge role in the childrens life. Since children spend a majority of their time with us it is our job to make sure we are doing a more hands on approach with helping them learn and grow.

Anonymous said...

I really learned more than expected

Andrea R said...

All this information is so interesting to me. Its amazing to me that by the time the baby is born its breathing,has a heartbeat,has circulation, knows how to sleep,can suck, and can swallow.

James Hudlin said...

This was very in-depth and a joy to read. I did have some questions going into the reading of this site Such as how Brain development differ between boys and girls, and what exactly the "Pruning" of info in the brain was all about. But this answered it. It is kind of scary to know the Brain can do that though. What if it just went hay-wire and just started deleting random things. Is that Alzheimer's? -James Hudlin

Unknown said...

Very interesting to learn that its not just genetics but also experiences that play a role in brain development.

Unknown said...

I'm adding a second comment:
My favorite quote is BRAIN DEVELOPMENT is ACTIVITY DEPENDANT

Raichael Nelson said...

"In spite of all the recent hype about "making your baby smarter," scientists have not discovered any special tricks for enhancing the natural wiring phase in children's brain development. Normal, loving, responsive caregiving seems to provide babies with the ideal environment for encouraging their own exploration, which is always the best route to learning."

See, you don't need Baby Einstein at one month old, you just need to hold and talk to your baby.

Trisha K. said...

It is comforting to understand that much of what is best for the baby are also common sense and instinctive to most parents such as: the desire to cuddle, talk to, love, and hold babies; as well as feeding him/her breast milk and getting proper nutrition while pregnant.

Mytch Gaddi said...

This FAQ on brain development is not only helpful to families but also for us who are teaching these little ones in preschool. It gives us teachers a new perspective in preparing lessons that will help some of these synaptic connections to stick well early on in their lives.