Brain Development in the Early Years (0-5)

Brain development in the early years (0-5) plays an important role in the development of children’s brain structure. Based on what neuroscience tells us, approximately 90 percent of a child’s brain development takes place between 0-5 years old, says the Brain Insights website. As such, a child’s experiences in the early years are critical to their development and growth into adulthood, it states.

The facts are fascinating. Brain Insights says that at birth, babies have more than 100 billion brain cells but few connections. It’s by making these connections that brains grow and develop. To support this, the website says that it’s important to give children lots of beneficial learning opportunities in which to experience the world. The reason for this is that the brain needs stimulation in order to grow. It’s not something that just happens on its own, states Brain Insights.

According to the Urban Child Institute, because children have excess synapses in the first three years is the reason their brains are so responsive to external input. Basically, during this time, the brain grasps experiences more efficiently than it will be able to do later on.

To achieve the highest potential of brain development in the early years (0-5), Daily Montessori believes it’s important to have an enriched environment that includes high levels of social and verbal interaction and activities that challenge the child while stimulating the senses at the same time. It’s this type of support that allows children to be active participants versus passive observers.

Programs like The Latino Family Literacy Project can help stimulate brain growth, language development and reading skills in the early years with children. When parents learn to read, talk and sing to their kids, they develop lifelong patterns for brain development. Teachers can attend a program training at a workshop near them or via an online webinar.