The Brain and Early Childhood Education

Gail Lindsey, a doctoral student in Mississippi, identifies five recent discoveries made by brain researchers that directly apply to early childhood education. These discoveries are: (1) brain development takes place prenatally and is most rapid in the first years of life; (2) brain development is very vulnerable to environmental influence; (3) environmental influence on brain development is long-lasting; (4) environment affects the way neurons in the brain wire themselves for life, and (5) stress in early life can negatively impact brain function. As a result of this information, Lindsey suggests that all citizens should demand quality child care that provides children with the kinds of environment and instruction that assist in their healthy and strong development.

Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. addresses the question "What should preschoolers learn?" in her book, Your Child's Growing Mind. She is convinced that patterns are the key to intelligence. The following guidelines for parents or caregivers of preschoolers will help children create mental patterns:

• Remind yourself often that the child's job before age six is to learn to make sense out of the world. Encourage exploration.
• Help your child figure out meanings and relationships in daily events. Explain to your child what you are doing and why.
• Because mental patterns are built on networks of sensory connections, call the child's attention to patterns in the sensory world: "What does this taste like?" "Do these look alike?"
• Puzzles and commercial materials can be helpful in visual patterning.
• Encourage auditory patterning with rhymes, tunes, familiar stories, or attention to sounds around the house.
• Motor patterns need to be practiced over and over. Allow time for the child to repeat movements.
• Read aloud frequently and look for patterns in stories. Ask, "What is the same in this story and the story we read before this one?" "What does Baby Bear say each time?"

Sources: Education Literature Review, January 1999. Your Child's Growing Mind, by Jane M. Healy.