Building
Foundations
Strong foundations are important to grow a secure and stable human being. The sensitive period to build these
foundations is between birth and 5 years of age. This is known as ‘the window of opportunity’ and occurs in the first
1800 days of life. We look forward to being part of your child’s window of opportunity.
How Our BrainCells Grow
A baby is born with the same number of brain cells or neurons as an adult.
The number of neurons is about 86 billion.
Between birth and age five these neurons try and connect and 90% of the brain is developed by Age 5.
The strength or weakness of our children’s foundations will depend on how many of these brain cells connect together.
Children’s brains are built moment by moment, as they interact with their environments.
In the first five years of life, more than one million neural connections are formed each second – a pace which is never repeated again.
The number of neurons is about 86 billion.
Between birth and age five these neurons try and connect and 90% of the brain is developed by Age 5.
The strength or weakness of our children’s foundations will depend on how many of these brain cells connect together.
Children’s brains are built moment by moment, as they interact with their environments.
In the first five years of life, more than one million neural connections are formed each second – a pace which is never repeated again.
Your Child’s
Brain Connections
At birth the average baby’s brain is a quarter of the size of the average adult brain. Incredibly, it doubles in size in the first year and continues to grow to about 80% of adult size by age 3 and 90% - nearly full grown by age 5.
The connections needed for many important, higher-level abilities like motivation, self-regulation, problem solving, and communication are formed in these early years. It is much harder for these essential brain connections to be formed later in life.
Parents and caregivers who give attention, respond and interact with their child are literally building the child’s brain.
The positive impact of a childs early experiences significantly influences their brain development, establishing robust foundations for lifelong learning, health and behaviour.
The connections needed for many important, higher-level abilities like motivation, self-regulation, problem solving, and communication are formed in these early years. It is much harder for these essential brain connections to be formed later in life.
Parents and caregivers who give attention, respond and interact with their child are literally building the child’s brain.
The positive impact of a childs early experiences significantly influences their brain development, establishing robust foundations for lifelong learning, health and behaviour.
What are the
Developmental
Domains?
Child development refers to how your child grows and changes over time. Experts divide child growth and development into four areas:
• Physical development refers to strength and physical skills.
• Cognitive development involves thinking and problem solving.
• Language development refers to communication and understanding.
• Social-emotional development affects how children interact with others and process feelings.
• Physical development refers to strength and physical skills.
• Cognitive development involves thinking and problem solving.
• Language development refers to communication and understanding.
• Social-emotional development affects how children interact with others and process feelings.
Physical
Development
Motor development means the physical growth and strengthening of a child’s bones, muscles and ability to move and touch their surroundings. A child’s motor development falls into two categories: fine motor and gross motor.
Fine motor skills refer to small movements in the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes, lips and tongue. Gross motor skills involve motor development of muscles that enable babies to hold up their heads, sit and crawl, and eventually walk, run, jump and skip.
Typical motor skill development follows a predictable sequence. It starts from the inner body, including the head, neck, arms and legs, and then moves to the outer body such as hands, feet, fingers and toes. Motor development is important throughout a child’s early life, because physical development is tied to other development areas.
Fine motor skills refer to small movements in the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes, lips and tongue. Gross motor skills involve motor development of muscles that enable babies to hold up their heads, sit and crawl, and eventually walk, run, jump and skip.
Typical motor skill development follows a predictable sequence. It starts from the inner body, including the head, neck, arms and legs, and then moves to the outer body such as hands, feet, fingers and toes. Motor development is important throughout a child’s early life, because physical development is tied to other development areas.
Social & Emotional
Development
Social and emotional development is the change over time of a child’s ability to react to and interact with their social environment.
Social and emotional development is complex and includes many different areas of growth. Each is described in more detail below:
• Temperament: the way a young child acts and responds to different situations, caregivers, and strangers.
• Attachment: the emotional bond between a child and a caregiver
• Social Skills: the ability to get along with other people
• Emotion Regulation: the ability of a child to control his or her emotions and reactions to the environment.
Social and emotional development is complex and includes many different areas of growth. Each is described in more detail below:
• Temperament: the way a young child acts and responds to different situations, caregivers, and strangers.
• Attachment: the emotional bond between a child and a caregiver
• Social Skills: the ability to get along with other people
• Emotion Regulation: the ability of a child to control his or her emotions and reactions to the environment.
Cognitive
Development
Cognitive development in early childhood means how children think, explore and figure things out. It is the development of knowledge, skills, problem solving and dispositions, which help children to think about and understand the world around them. Brain development is part of cognitive development.
Some of the most important cognitive skills for a child are:
• Attention and response.
• Language learning
• Memory
• Thinking
• Information processing
• Problem-solving
• Simple reasoning
• Understanding cause and effect
Some of the most important cognitive skills for a child are:
• Attention and response.
• Language learning
• Memory
• Thinking
• Information processing
• Problem-solving
• Simple reasoning
• Understanding cause and effect
• Pattern recognition
Language
Development
Speech and language development involves four main components:
• Phonetics and phonology: Learning to pronounce speech sounds, as well as understanding the rules about which sound sequences occur in the language.
• Semantics: Learning vocabulary and understanding how concepts map onto words.
• Syntax and morphology: The rules for how to arrange words in sentences and how to change things like tense, voice or number.
• Pragmatics: learning social rules for using language, including adapting your language for who you’re talking to, taking it in turns to speak, and staying on topic.
This also includes learning non-verbal communication – including facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice – and how this interacts with the words we’re saying.
• Phonetics and phonology: Learning to pronounce speech sounds, as well as understanding the rules about which sound sequences occur in the language.
• Semantics: Learning vocabulary and understanding how concepts map onto words.
• Syntax and morphology: The rules for how to arrange words in sentences and how to change things like tense, voice or number.
• Pragmatics: learning social rules for using language, including adapting your language for who you’re talking to, taking it in turns to speak, and staying on topic.
This also includes learning non-verbal communication – including facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice – and how this interacts with the words we’re saying.
Milestones
Milestones are behavioural or physical checkpoints in children’s development as they grow. Developmental milestones are the behaviours that mark stages of typical growth. Children all develop at their own pace. However, most children pass through specific changes at approximately the same time as they get older.
Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move. Children develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when a child will learn a given skill. However, the developmental milestones give a general idea of the changes to expect as a child gets older.
Observing, planning and critical reflection are essential processes for educators. This allows for the implementation of an effective educational program and provides the opportunity for diverse experiences that are provided to children.
Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move. Children develop at their own pace, so it’s impossible to tell exactly when a child will learn a given skill. However, the developmental milestones give a general idea of the changes to expect as a child gets older.
Observing, planning and critical reflection are essential processes for educators. This allows for the implementation of an effective educational program and provides the opportunity for diverse experiences that are provided to children.
