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Brain growth in early childhood

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:17:07 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: The vast majority of brain growth occurs during the first five years, due to changes in neurons - which grow in response to activity and stimulation. This is why stimulation during the first 5 years of life is so important.

Clip Source: www.zerotothree.org

In spite of the great number of neurons present at birth, brain size itself increases more gradually: a newborn's brain is only about one-quarter the size of an adult's. It grows to about 80 percent of adult size by three years of age and 90 percent by age five. This growth is largely due to changes in individual neurons, which are structured much like trees. Thus, each brain cell begins as a tiny sapling and only gradually sprouts its hundreds of long, branching dendrites. Brain growth (measured as either weight or volume) is largely due to the growth of these dendrites, which serve as the receiving point for synaptic input from other neurons.

Tags: brain, children, parenting

Parents affect brain development

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:11:20 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: Love and affection are critical not only for emotional development - but also cognitive. Importantly, language stimulation (talking, reading, etc.) directly impacts language development, and consequentially, cognitive development.

Clip Source: www.zerotothree.org

What role do parents play in a baby's brain development?

Parents are another important part of the developmental equation.

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.

The one form of stimulation that has been proven to make a difference is language: infants and children who are conversed with, read to, and otherwise engaged in lots of verbal interaction show somewhat more advanced linguistic skills than children who are not as verbally engaged by their caregivers. Because language is fundamental to most of the rest of cognitive development, this simple action—talking and listening to your child—is one of the best ways to make the most of his or her critical brain-building years.

Tags: parenting, brain

Parent interaction predicts child IQ, achievement

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:42:54 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This article, published in 1984, finds that parenting during the first 2 years of life, and in particular variety of stimulation and play materials had the strongest correlation with first-grade achievement.

Clip Source: www.jstor.org

In 2 earlier investigations, we found that scores on the HOME Inventory administered during the first 2 years of life were substantially correlated with intelligence test scores at ages 3 and 4½. In the current investigation, HOME scores in the first 2 years showed similar relations to SRA Achievement Test scores during the first grade. In general, findings from this study were like those from the earlier investigations except that the subscale, "maternal responsivity," showed a weaker relation to achievement than IQ; while the "variety of stimulation" scale showed a stronger relation. Of all the HOME subscales, "play materials" revealed the strongest correlation with first-grade achievement.

Tags: parenting, education

Forces shaping cognitive development

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:21:29 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This article in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry concludes that aspirations, attitudes to learning and styles of interaction indirectly influence cognitive development. In other words, parenting REALLY matters.

Clip Source: www3.interscience.wiley.com

It is concluded that environmental effects on IQ are relatively modest within the normal range of environments, but that the effects of markedly disadvantageous circumstances are very substantial. Cognitive development is influenced both by direct effects on cognition and by indirect effects through alterations in self-concept, aspirations, attitudes to learning and styles of interaction with other people.

Tags: parenting, education

First Years Last a Lifetime

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:13:07 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This Clinical Pediatrics abstract calls pediatricians to consider the long-term impact of early childhood experiences in order to promote "proven best intervention practices."

Clip Source: cpj.sagepub.com

Multiple early childhood intervention programs have been introducedto provide at-risk children with a better start in life. Thisis due to the recognition that early childhood experiences,both positive and negative, can affect the physical, mental,behavioral, and economic well-being of the child. A few of theseprograms have evaluated long-term outcomes and have demonstratedthat the effects of interventions may still be apparent yearsafter the intervention. Pediatricians need to become more awareof the information available about the impact of early childhoodevents and become more active in promoting proven best interventionpractices at the local, state, and national level.

Tags: parenting, health

JAMA article builds case for early intervention

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:06:20 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: The nature of scientific studies makes it difficult to "prove" the positive and persistent changes in human development achieved by early intervention - but this article states that the evidence is mounting.

Clip Source: jama.ama-assn.org

These important studies represent considerableprogress toward establishing proof that early intervention canproduce positive and persistent changes in human developmentand also strengthen the base of knowledge regarding the natureof infant vulnerabilities and the hazards these infants andtheir families face from substandard living environments. Thismounting evidence intersects in a timely way with increasinginterest among policymakers in the effect of early interventionon brain development and suggests specific strategies and policiesto substantially improve the lives of children living in themost disadvantaged circumstances in our nation.

Tags: parenting

Early childhood intervention works in Chicago

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:00:05 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This study of the long-term effects of preschool intervention in 25 Chicago sites and found positive results in years of education completed, rates of juvenile arrest, and violent arrests.

Clip Source: jama.ama-assn.org

Relative to the preschool comparison group andadjusted for several covariates, children who participated inthe preschool intervention for 1 or 2 years had a higher rateof high school completion (49.7 % vs 38.5%; P = .01); more yearsof completed education (10.6 vs 10.2; P = .03); and lower ratesof juvenile arrest (16.9% vs 25.1%; P = .003), violent arrests(9.0% vs 15.3%; P = .002), and school dropout (46.7% vs 55.0%;P = .047).

Conclusions Participation in an established early childhoodintervention for low-income children was associated with bettereducational and social outcomes up to age 20 years.

Tags: education

Early intervention works

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:54:06 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This study, out of UNC, found that early intervention BEFORE children reached school age had impact well beyond the first years of school.

Clip Source: www.jstor.org

Positive effects of preschool treatment on intellectual development and academic achievement were maintained through age 12. School-age treatment alone was less effective.

Tags: education

Mothering impacts children's social-emotional competence

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:55:43 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This Child Development Journal article indicates that a mothers actions effectively predict a child's social-emotional competence in preschool, which is in turn, important for classroom learning.

Clip Source: www3.interscience.wiley.com

The impact of mother-child interaction on preschoolers' social-emotional competence was evaluated.

Results indicated that specific maternal interaction aggregates coherently predicted the children's Positive Social Behavior, Assertiveness, and Sadness in the preschool setting.

Tags: parenting

Parenting impacts children's learning

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:38:09 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This Child Development Journal reports on an ongoing study of the impact of parenting practices (correlated with SES).

Clip Source: www3.interscience.wiley.com

In a prior study of family interactional variables associated with language learning, major differences in parenting (i.e., time, attention, and talking) were found to be associated with differences in child productive vocabulary between 7 to 36 months of age, and child IQ, favoring higher-SES parents.

Lower-SES children were exposed less often than higher-SES children to diverse vocabulary through their parents' attention and talking, and they were prohibited from talking more often.

Tags: parenting

Discussing, modeling and providing books

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:31:25 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This stat from Harvard is why "Reach Out and Read" has such a tremendous impact.

Clip Source: www.hfrp.org

Pediatric studies have demonstrated that discussing, modeling, and providing books within primary health care settings can increase family literacy activities and development for infants and toddlers from a variety of language backgrounds

Tags: parenting

Parents impact social and cognitive development

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:27:37 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: This Harvard study is helpful because it finds that parents' frequency of language and literacy engagement has a developmental impact "for all children, across cultural, social and ethnic groups."

Clip Source: www.hfrp.org

Children's cognitive and motor development skills in the first year of life are associated with parents' reports of the frequency of their language and literacy activities with their children, as well as with observations of parents' responsiveness to their children's emotional cues. In other words, children whose parents read and talk with them more and are emotionally responsive have more developed cognitive and motor competencies. These two types of parenting behaviors—frequency of language and literacy engagement and parental emotional responsiveness—are important parenting behaviors that influence development for all children, across cultural, social, and ethnic groups

Tags: parenting

Home resources predict early literacy skills

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:03:20 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: The way to educational reform is through parents BEFORE children reach school age.

Clip Source: www.hfrp.org

Among the five parent involvement composites, school involvement was significantly associated with early literacy (reading, math, and general knowledge) for almost all children (except for Asian children's reading achievement). Next were home resources, which predicted almost all kindergartners' early literacy skills, except for Asian children's reading and math. The third was extracurricular activities, which were positively associated with the early literacy achievement for whites, Hispanics, and above-poverty-level children, and for the achievement of Asian children in reading and math; however, it was not significant for African-American and low-income children in early literacy, and for Asian children in math.

Tags: parenting

Earlier intervention is more potent

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:21:51 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: If parent education begins when a child reaches school age, it is remediation. Engaging parents before birth and in the early years pays the highest dividends in children's achievement, attitudes and behavior

Clip Source: www.nwrel.org

The research also shows that the earlier in a child's educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects will be. Educators frequently point out the critical role of the home and family environment in determining children's school success, and it appears that the earlier this influence is "harnessed," the greater the likelihood of higher student achievement.

All the research studies which address these areas found that parent involvement has positive effects on student attitudes and social behavior.

Tags: parenting

Parents are the key to educational reform

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:28:01 GMT

clipped by: nycscharf
clipper's remarks: Harvard's finding is a tall order, but is the only way to sustainable educational change.

Clip Source: www.hfrp.org

Although this is a tall order, our study adds to an increasing body of evidence that family educational involvement is vital for promoting the life chances of low-income children and provides exceptional benefits for the very same low-income children who face exceptional challenges.

Tags: parenting