Can Your Baby’s Brain Be 90% Wired At The Age of 3?
Ok, I was recently at a seminar on child brain development. Yes I know, but It’s just the kind of thing I like to do on weekends. Is that weird?
Anyways, there was a great presentation showing us a bunch of recent research showing that a child’s brain is 75% wired by age one. Yeah, I know, I was a little surprised myself. By age 3 it is 90%. One of the key messages of the whole presentation was that the earlier the brain achieves development the better. So what does that mean to you?
Here’s just one example. One critical aspect of development and a key to learning later in school (and life for that matter) is Attention. The brain’s ability to use its energy to pay attention can be developed as early as one year old. This ability is influenced by the brain’s capacity to be both relaxed and alert at the same time.
So, how as parents can we encourage the development of attention? If there were just one thing you did in a child’s first year it would be to give them ample ‘face time’. Something as simple as letting your child gaze into your eyes while you communicate (talk, smile, laugh, etc) is extremely beneficial and also critical to the development of their attention ability.
Now, I know every parent talks and plays with there kids (to some degree anyways). But if you only knew to what extent it was benefiting your child, you would be doing it every chance you had. Seriously, it’s that big of a deal. It will wire-in the skills your baby needs to listen when he is older and it really matters. So go now, quit reading this, get off the computer and go talk to your baby. You won’t regret it.
Best,
Jeff
