Brain Based Early Learning Programs: Education, Society, and National Policy

A significant element in a child’s life is a relationship with their parent and central to this is the aspect of infant-mother bond (Cook, 1999). Parents play a critical role in modeling the adult lives of their children. A research on early brain development revealed that early intervention of warm and receptive care given to children is critical for their growth. It is vital to encourage and offer optimum care for the young children. The way a child is nurtured is a factor in their early brain development. Positive nurturing care and love towards children in their infanthood up to around 6 years results in a positive brain growth (Tribble, 2012). With both parents working, adverse effects on child development may be experienced. Children

This area of study developed from a 1987 conference between neuroscientists and psychologists, and was named from a book titled Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. As a relatively small and new field, developmental cognitive neuroscience is not a major direct area of study for many scientists, however the scope of the field allows for quite a bit of discovery. Again, new brain mapping technologies play a large role in the advancements and overall practicality of this

*. By repeatedly obtaining brain scans of the same children for up to four years, researchers found that the children’s brains experience undergo dramatic anatomical change between the ages of 3 and 15.

1. Brain Based Research: What does this tell us about young children 's brains and how they best learn? What ideas do teachers of young children need to keep in mind?

Educators who have a background in the neurobiology of learning and memory have a different benefit in their classrooms. They noticed that by following the brain-based teaching principles we can establish an enhanced, brain-compatible environment and successfully work with such existing negative effects as stress, sleep deprivation, and poor nutrition. Ronal Kotulak said” an enriched environment can contribute up to 25% increase in the number of brain connections both early and later in life. Our environments need to allow for active manipulation.” (Kotulak, 1996, p.102). According to brain research, there are at least twelve principles of brain-compatible learning.

Have you ever wondered how the brain develops while we learn? Dr. Rita Smilkstein’s research on The Natural Human Learning Process was interesting. I now know the parts of the brain and how they work. I know now how we learn and how emotions have an impact on how we learn. As college students, we need to understand how our brains work and how emotions can help us learn successfully, since all college students should want to become successful people in their lives during college and throughout their lives.

T., & Freberg, L. A. (2013). Discovering Psychology The Science of Mind. Belmont, CA Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Retrieved from www.betheluniversityonline.net

This gave me my first glimpse into psychology and neuroscience research. I became particularly interested in research surrounding developmental biology, like Gibson and Walk’s infant depth procedure. I started to read neuroscience related articles in publications like Science Daily. Last spring, I happened to have an opportunity to hear a professor at Johns Hopkins University discuss his research involving young children. He showed us a video in which he asked a girl of maybe three or four to count five balls: “One…two…three…four…five…”, she counted easily.

In the article, Rae Ann Hirsh, analyses children that are identified for school failure and explores contemporary neuroscience and learning theory to identify curricular strategies for helping these children and making them successful in their academic future. The neuroscience has remarkable effects in the classrooms of young children and learning theory. The learning is a change in the brain when the child is learning and there is social contact with other people. This would lead to emotional signals that lead to symbols, language, abstract thinking, and social skills. If the emotional context of culture is not changing, then the symbolic thinking will not reach a cognitive milestone in child development. Emotions are the primary contemporary function of the neurons. These are associated with learning and are the foundation to begin the learning process in young children. Along with the chemical structure, emotions play additional roles in the brain growth in the first two years.

These studies resulted in several very interesting cognitive outcomes. Head Start children, especially those who had also participated in Early Head Start, showed significant cognitive improvements while in still in Head Start. Their scores on various developmental tests were above those of the control group, though still below average According to the Third Grade Follow-Up, at the end of the Head Start year, the 4-year-old cohort showed strong improvements in language and literacy skills, compared to the control group, in six different tests:

The brain of a child is grandly pliable. Children can absorb an enormous amount of knowledge because their brains grow so fast. Within two years, children have just as many synapses as adults. By the third year they have double that amount. Synapses help students think and act faster. But there are obstacles that contradict with this study. A lot of synapse are lost throughout the next couple of years because of them not being used. Laura Dee’s article titled “Early Learning News” talks about the mental process as a toddler and how it can affect their future. It informs readers on how new research is being developed and how it could be used more.

Infant learning and brain development is fragile and contingent upon numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most critical time frame for infant brain development is from the second trimester to the first three months of life (Marshall, 2011). During this time, neural pathways are forming, areas of the brain are maturing, and brain development is rapid. From infancy until the age of 3 years, neural pathways are still being formed in response to stimulation and for this reason, it is extremely important for caregivers and parents to be aware of the many factors that can influence brain development in infants (Marshall, 2011).

The education of the young mind is an important step in preparing the child for future learning experiences. The evolution of early childhood education has changed how adults and parents view the importance of offering stimulating and exciting opportunities to the very young. Early childhood Education offers the young child learning experiences that benefit them throughout their educational career. They soon embark on a whole new world of learning. These children are not only experiencing standard brain growth, but verbal and physical skills as well. Early childhood education teachers use a variation of techniques for instructing. They use lesson plans, worksheets, and even teacher resources for these young minds.

Early childhood education has not always been the top priority in the education world. Although, research has proved that it should be the top priority as the benefits of Early Childhood Education are innumerous. Extensive neuroscience research has discovered that the brain is build over time and it is built from the bottom up. Early childhood experiences directly affect the quality brain development. Establishing a sturdy foundation through a high quality early childhood education experience, will dramatically develop child's brain. As a result, they will have a brighter future. In this essay, I will propose a plan for the children of 2020 and how to ensure the best early childhood education experience. I personally believe that racially, culturally, linguistically and developmentally responsive practices parental involvement are critical to the sturdy foundation that is essential to the positive early childhood experience.

Brain –based learning is a comprehensive new approach to teaching by using research that has been conducted on the brain and by using the study of neuroscience. Brain-based learning emphasis how the human brain learns naturally the way it was intended. Brain-based learning is based upon what scientist currently knows about the function and structure of the brain at different developmental stages. Using the most current research and educational techniques that are brain friendly provide a biologically driven framework that will create