Jathan Maricelli offers today’s guest post.
Why Being Childish is Good for Brain Development
If art is important to humanity, there is no more important artist than the potter who shapes the minds of our children.
In the art form of pottery, clay, during the formation stage is very pliable. So much so that the potter is able to bend it to his wishes with little effort.
As the minutes and hours tick by, however, the clay grows firmer and firmer. Eventually, it hardens into a fixed mold that can no longer be shaped, only shattered.
Our brains are much the same.
The Plasticity of Childhood
At no point is the human brain more malleable than during one’s childhood.
Andrew Meltzoff, co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington says it like this:
“Human babies are special. What makes them special is not that they were born so intelligent but that they are designed to change their minds when faced with data.” (Shenk – The Genius in all of Us)
In other words, babies come into this world with bated breath, just waiting to capitulate to what they hear, see, and experience. They are the most willing of clay, yearning to be shaped by their environment.
This being the case, parents, teachers, and authority figures are on the hot seat. The sacred opportunity of inputting data that sets the very trajectory of a human life rests squarely upon their shoulders.
The purpose of this article is to empower you with a few techniques that will help you do just that.
Therefore, if you are a “child artist” who wants to give every advantage to your magical lump of clay, try cultivating these six research-based positive environmental triggers.
(This list is not my creation, but was curated by David Shenk in his book, The Genius in All of Us.)
Six Positive Child Brain Development Triggers
1. Speaking to children early and often:
This trigger was revealed in Hart and Risley’s incontrovertible study and reinforced by the University of North Carolina’s Abecedarian Project, which provided environmental enrichment to children from birth, with the study subject showing substantial gains compared with a control group.
2. Reading Early and Often:
In 2003, a national study reported the positive influence of early parent-to-child reading, regardless of parental education level. In 2006, a similar study again found the same thing about reading, this time ruling out any effects of race, ethnicity, class, gender, birth order, early education, maternal education, maternal verbal ability, and maternal warmth.
3. Nurturance and Encouragement:
Hart and Risley also found that, in the first four years after birth, the average child from:
- a professional family receives 560,000 more instances of encouraging feedback than discouraging feedback
- a working-class child receives merely 100,000 more encouragements than discouragements
- a welfare child receives 125,000 more discouragements than encouragements
4. Setting High Expectations:
As Sherman and Key found in 1932, “children develop only as the environment demands development.”
5. Embracing Failure:
Coaches, CEO’s, teachers, parents, and psychologists all now recognize the importance of pushing their charges to the limit, and just beyond. Setbacks must be seen as learning tools rather than signs of permanent built-in limitation.
6. Encouraging a “growth mindset.”
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has built her prestigious career on the importance of individuals believing that their own abilities are malleable – not fixed from birth. Many studies show that the more a person believes that abilities can be developed, the greater the success that person will eventually enjoy.
Conclusion
As a classroom teacher who sees both the positive and negative after effects of child brain development every day, I cannot overstate the importance of cultivating proper environments for your children as early on as possible.
While it’s true that the growth of a child is a group effort of schools, churches, communities, and so on, there is no greater influence in a child’s life than that which they receive at home.
With that said, don’t let this list put you on yet another guilt trip for what you didn’t do while your child was at home. Neither let it suggest to you that you are somehow ruining your child if you don’t constantly ping in all of these areas.
Remember, you are neither God nor a passive bystander in who your child ultimately becomes.
Shenk articulates well how you should think about your role in shaping your child’s cognitive processes:
“The potential for creativity is built into the architecture of our brains. All of these are a function of influence and process – far from fully controllable, but also quite the opposite of fixed and predetermined.
The parent’s job, then, is to engage in that process – which has, of course, already started long before birth”.
With these principles in mind, throw your artistic expression into that little lump of clay with the type of urgency that suggests it is hardening by the second.
Because it is.
Read on for more about brains…
Jathan is a writer and English teacher. He lives in New Orleans with his wife and four children. More of his writing can be found at www.jathanmaricelli.com
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Hi Nicole and Jathan,
Not only do I think this is a great article, it is a much-needed article. As you mention in your conclusion, the growth of a child is a ‘group effort of schools, churches, communities, and so on…”, but it should start at home.
I appreciate the fact that you don’t want to guilt-trip anybody in your article, but it is sad to see how many people want to shift all the responsibilities of the development of children on these organizations. We are quick to complain about the discipline at school or what our children get taught, but what do we as parents do? The responsibility should start with the parents, then it should branch out as a group effort with the help of the above-mentioned organizations.
Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, but let’s learn from those mistakes. Let’s read more articles such as these and educate ourselves. Our children are the most precious gifts we will ever receive, let’s do the best we can by taking responsibility.
Thank you for sharing this great information with us!
Have a great day,
Jaco.
Hello, Jaco! Thanks for sharing a thought provoking response. As you pointed out, it is easy to blame someone or some institution, or we can work together to better each other.
Parents and teachers working together can provide a growth atmosphere second to none that can open doors to a greater learning environment.
When we work together to foster a team/win-win atmosphere everyone wins, most especially the students who we are trying to help most.
Thanks for adding your thoughts here! Have a great day!
Jaco,
Thanks for you reply! I see it everyday. The parent has soooooo much influence, for good or for ill in the lives of the students who enter my classroom. There comes to be a point where we teachers cannot influence limitations sometimes imposed upon children by negative home environments.
A parent simply cannot farm out the nurturing of children…hard and perplexing (yet rewarding) work though it may be.
Jathan
Jathan… this is a great post! Totally enjoyed reading it! , I’ve taken a look at your website and look forward to reading some of your content there!
I especially like the “Six child brain development triggers list.” 😀
Hello, Cori! So glad Jathan shared from his experience as a teacher about how brains grow and develop. He did a fantastic job presenting it. The triggers are good ones for everyone to note.
Cori,
Thanks so much. We can control so little in this world. But we can have a huge influence on the type of environment in which our children inhabit in their most formative years.
Jathan
HI Jathan,
To continue to develop creativity in a child is the most important thing for long term growth and learning. To stifle it by pushing a child when he is not ready is a travesty.
The parent’s job, then, is to engage in that process – which has, of course, already started long before birth”. Yes and not only a parent’s job but a teacher’s job too. Engage, encourage, watch and be aware of each student’s interests.
And in the early years let them play and explore – that’s how they will learn.
Blessings
Janis
Hello, Janis! Thanks for stopping by! Didn’t Jathan do a great job in writing this piece? When parents and teachers partner together they give children the best foundation for brain development. As a young child play is learning, as a child grows he/she develops traits necessary for life. It is an awe inspiring experience to watch and foster such growth.
Janis,
Well said. I see a lot of both extremes. On the one hand there is often apathy toward one’s role in influencing a child On the other hand there exists a driving force bent on forging a child in a particular direction whether they like it or not. The most well-developed kids by the time they reach junior high are raised by parents and guardians who’ve made sure to just spend time being interested in their children. Talking, exlporing, teaching social skills, etc.
These children seem to have more of a balance, creativity, and peace about them.
I loved this article and I am one of the lucky ones seeing it played out. My grandchildren were read to and consequently have such a desire to read and they are highly creative. They are intelligent little beings that come up with insightful things whenever engaged in conversation. Their creativity has been carefully tended and I have no doubt they will thrive with each and every passing year. And this is not just a proud grandma talking. It is someone who in in awe of how our creativity can be stifled, and how it can be ignited, just by treating it tenderly in those beginning years. Great article.
Hi, Anne! Glad you shared this perspective! I am hearing time and time again that children who read early excel in life, academics, creativity and so much more. They are pliable and adaptable to things that get thrown at a person in life. When cultivated, good things grow.
Anne,
It must give you great joy to see you own children cultivating creative learning environments for their children. It really is a vicious cycle…a positive one that can be amplified in each subsequent generation. You must have done something to spark that in your own children.
Jathan
So enjoyed the article Jathan –
How thought provoking those stats are on encouraging/discouraging responses on different levels of families.
Just to think – an encouraging word – positive feedback – costs us NOTHING.
Jathan is encouraging and thought provoking! Isn’t it great that some of the best things in life are still free? 😉
Thanks Mom. 😉
And thanks for creating positive learning envinroments when I was growing up under your care.
I still draw from them every day.
Jathan
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on pugilist etymology. Regards