I contacted Brittany Kees, a Program Manager and IEP Coordinator, for a knowledgeable discussion on the importance of child brain development. Ms. Kees is proficient in the field, working with a non-profit organization that provides educational resources for adolescences and teenagers with mental and learning disabilities. I felt Ms. Kees would be a great fit for my interview because she constructs learning plans for individuals who were neglected an educational environment at an early age. Ms. Kees is experienced in early childhood development and has worked consistently with individuals that lack basic knowledge. In our interview she expressed the importance of early childhood brain development, how families of low income can provide educational experiences, and why nutritional foods play a large role in a child’s everyday life. To evaluate the approaches used to enhance child brain development, I asked Ms. Kees, “Why do you feel it is important to enhance a child 's brain development?” Ms. Kees answered “It is important to enhance a child 's brain development due to the fact that it affects every aspect of their life. If a student 's brain is not enhanced properly, deficits such as reading, writing, and math abilities are affected. Brain development is important for everyday living skills, such as telling time, counting money and being able to purchase products from the store. Trauma early in life also affects brain development and that is what my students suffer from
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
My professional and academic interest in child development and neuroscience began in earnest with a field experience at the Mrs. Chris Play & Learn during my junior year of high school. I was fortunate to work with infants to pre-K ages children. During my time, I was able to observe their interactions with other children and adults, particularly their developmental changes. This experience greatly impacted me because my life devotion became to create equality in early childhood education. My education and experience over the past decade has prepared me for a career in educational neuroscience utilizing early childhood interventions to address learning discrepancies in different socioeconomic statuses. I attended Morehouse School of Medicine
When children experience a traumatic event, not only does it affect their emotions but it can affect many areas of development if not all of them. Equally, health and learning difficulties can also have a less desirable effect on holistic development. By looking at how such factors can affect child development, we can work towards finding a suitable learning method and helping children overcome and recover from their experiences.
It impacts the maturation of specific brain areas at particular ages, the physiological and neuro-endocrinological responses as well as impacting the ability to coordinate cognitions, behaviours and emotional regulation. Therefore, the effect of trauma is different in different developmental stages. Ornitz (1996) has listed critical periods of major structural changes in brain development in accordance with Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. This includes the periods between early childhood (1.5-4 years), late childhood (6-10 years), puberty and mid-adolescence. This ensures that there are widespread implications of trauma in childhood especially in terms of the age at which exposure to trauma occurs as well as the areas of the brain affected. For example, the volume of the brain shows a rapid increase in first two years (Matsuzawa et al., 2001), a time when the development of attachment also takes place. Moreover, this growth is more experience- dependent (Schore, 2001). Children below the age of two also show a greater right brain than left brain
The purpose of this paper is to conduct library research on early childhood trauma and its effects on brain development. This paper will discuss the consequences of early childhood trauma, specifically the manner in which it impacts brain development. Included will be a discussion of What tends to happen to people who experience early childhood trauma. Within the paper will be a description of the consequences of this type of trauma for the urban individual, family, community, or culture. This paper will then identify two of the most effective, evidenced based practice treatment models utilized for survivors of this form of trauma.
& Li, 2001). With the brain developing at its fastest rate in childhood, it is especially
According to the article, infants and young children are on the duration of experiencing some form of maltreatment that impacts their cognitive, social, physical, and emotional development. This maltreatment is the outcome of unsupportive family environments, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and abuse. Since the first few years of a child’s life are the most crucial in development, their lives are strongly impacted when they experience such inflicted harm. This was a developmental study examining young children with TBI and those without TBI and their cognitive and social development (Landry, Swank, Stuebing, Prasad, & Ewing-Cobbs, 2004).
Trauma exposure in childhood links with forms of psychotherapy (McLaughlin & Lambert, 2017). When children experience exposure to a traumatic event during childhood, it alters their affective and neurobiological development, to improving their ability to identify possible threats in the environment and amplifyies emotional responses to those threats (McLaughlin & Lambert, 2017). Traumatic events during childhood can negatively impact academic and social development through various pathways, including brain development (Layne et al.,
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).
Technological advances in the past decade have allowed scientists to study the brain in ways that have led to new understanding about how young children develop. There is a new understanding of both the capabilities and the vulnerabilities of infants and young children and that understanding is has influenced the work of caregivers and teachers. During pregnancy, the basic architecture of the brain is formed. Although, certain experiences do influence the developing brain during pregnancy, such as maternal health and stress, intake of drugs and/or alcohol, and quality of maternal nutrition.
This paper is going to carry out a literature review on cognitive development in infants. The paper will review cognitive development in infants at different stages. Effects of early experience on mental development in infants will also be discussed. The research question and the hypothesis of the research will also be given.
There are many different things that shape the cognitive development of children. To begin with cognitive development is when a child develops how to process, solve problems, and start making decisions. Once they have learned this they take everything they have learned into their adolescence. An example, of what can shape the cognitive development of a child can be an educational game. Educational games can be very useful in shaping a child’s development because they are having fun while learning at the same time and what kid doesn’t like to play games, the fact that it is even educational makes it even better for them. Not only are they having fun but there are many different games that help in different categories of development in
Phillips, R. (2010). How Firm is Our Foundation? Current Play Therapy research. International Journal of PLay Therapy, 19(1), 13-25.
Brain development in the first two years is the most important and critical. Maria Montessori referred to this time as of the "absorbent mind" Early brain development is the frame work for the road ahead. When and how the brain develops in the first two years will play a critical role into adulthood. At birth, the brain is the only incomplete organ. The brain will continue to grow through childhood and adolescents.
Child development is complex because it is influenced by a wide range of factors such as culture. A child’s culture begins to influence them long before they are born. Parents from around the world hold different beliefs and raise their children in unique ways. Cultural norms can greatly affect which values parents consider important and how they share those values with children (Christensen, 2013). The timing of the development of certain skills and characteristics in children, depends on the importance the culture places on them (Buechner, 2015). For example, a good deal of value is placed on academics in many Eastern cultures, and so children spend many hours each day on math and science activities from the time they are very young. But, in the United States children are given a great deal more freedom to express themselves and experiment with things, because we as a society place value on creativity and innovation (O’Sullivan, 2016). In the U.S., the nuclear family is considered the ideal structure for raising children, but in countries like Japan and India, extended family and community members take a much larger role in child care and parenting (Christensen, 2013). Because each child is unique, caregivers need to form partnerships with families in order to meet the developmental and educational needs of their students. According to Copple and Bredekamp (2009) by understanding a child’s culture, early childhood professionals can “make classroom decisions that are