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Our brain is always changing throughout our lives! Through the experiences we have, the events that happen to us, and the actions we take, we can change our brains... which changes us!

All of those experiences and events a child encounters while growing up can greatly effect how prepared they are for school when the time comes. There are many ways to help support our learners as their brains develop and prepare for school.

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Right From the Start: what is going on before starting school?

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Right From the Start: what is going on before starting school?

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Birth to age 2 is often known as a "sensitive" time in development. During the years prior to school, children are developing a multitude of skills needed throughout their lives.

Emotions
Healthy emotional attachments within the first 24 months of life help develop healthy emotional skills for later in life. This is also the time when children learn how to express themselves.

Sensory Motor Development
Visual, motor, and auditory senses develop the most within the first 2 years. Early motor stimulation leads to better attention, listening skills, reading skills, and writing skills.

Auditory Development
By 6 months, infants can discriminate most sounds in their environment. By 24 months, their auditory system matures toward adult levels in range of sound. Language is developed through hearing it, speaking it, and hearing parents speak normally.

Vision
Greatest development within the first year of life therefore, babies need a lot of stimulating inputs.

Nutrition
The brain is going through a lot of development in the early years, healthy foods fuel this development.

Reference:
Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. 2nd ed., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005

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By age 5 our brains have developed many skills and is still growing and changing. Over the next few years the brain will reach 90% of it's final weight.

Around age 5, the brain is constantly filtering out needed and not needed information. Skills that are not being used are forgotten.

The brain during the elementary and middle school years is involved in a lot of exploring and wonderment. The brain is ready to learn new challenges such as  those that come with academics.

During 6 and 7 years old, the brain goes through a growth spurt. During this time the brain is developing reasoning,  cause and effect, and beginning to grasp abstract concepts.

When given a choice, elementary children often choose poor nutritional foods. This can have negative effects on academics. Unbalanced diets can impair cognition.

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With all of this information in mind, we can provide positive supports to help our students develop, grow, and have a positive experience in school.

Academics
Introduce different stories to them, model fluency and reading skills by reading to them regularly. Allow time for exploring on their own. Provide toys that encourage the use of their imagination. Engage in conversations and ask questions.

Emotional and Social Skills
Include a lot of interactions with people (less tv). Include problem-solving activities and games. With younger children explain the process of what you are doing, for example the steps needed to go shopping or doing laundry. Focus on the positives rather than the negative behaviors. Role-model emotional stability and coping skills. Teach positive social interactions with other people including social games.

Nutrition
Provide a variety of healthy foods with the necessary protein, vitamins, and minerals to support a healthy growing brain. Foods like: nuts, lean meats, leafy greens, salmon, sweet potatoes, orange vegetables, and water to name a few! Let children have choices in their food when given several healthy options.

Additional ways to support
Expose your child to different music and new people. Allow them choices in different options of clothing. Support an active lifestyle such as outside exploration. Support new hobbies and interests that pop up.

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Supporting From the Start and Why it is Important

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Supporting From the Start and Why it is Important

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Remember that the experiences we have, the events that happen to us, and the actions we take help shape us! Providing our children with positive experiences will help support them as they grow and continue to develop.

Emotions
Early exposure to stress, neglect, violence, and abuse causes an increase in stress chemicals. These experiences can also cause a child to lose the ability to regulate their emotions. Parents must engage in healthy positive emotional give-and-take with their children.  Teach healthy social habits and coping skills.

Sensory Motor Development
Provide plenty of stimulating activities: tummy time, crawling, rocking, standing, playing with contrasting colors and manipulative toys to help support and develop the senses.

Auditory Development
Problems with auditory development can often cause academic challenges such as learning to read. To support language, talk to your child using normal "grown up talk". Engage in conversations and expose them to a wide range of vocabulary.

Vision
Let your child play with objects of different size, color, shape, and weights. The television does not provide the needed stimulation for healthy development. The visual input received from televisions can cause stressors in the brain.

Nutriton
Provide healthy meals to ensure healthy development! Low blood sugar has negative effects on learning and memory. Provide complex carbohydrates (cereal, pasta) to avoid hypoglycemia. Proteins are important for thinking and working memory. Minerals, iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium provide proper mood regulation, reduces fatigue and improves concentration. Vitamins A, B, C, and E support the brain, vision, and memory. Omega 3 and 6 help development of the brain and eyes.

Reference:
Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. 2nd ed., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005