While parents and educators have long recognized the value of early experiences, neuroscience has now given us hard evidence that there are times when a child's brain is most receptive to certain types of learning. Early learning experiences that take place during the first six years of life form the foundation for learning, behavior and health throughout life.
When children receive warm, responsive care, they are more likely to feel safe and secure with adults who take care of them. Researchers call these strong relationships secure attachments, and they are the basis of all the child's future relationships. We have always known that children thrive when they feel secure; now we know that children's early attachments actually affect the way the brain learns and develops.
Principles of Brain Development
The outside world shapes the brain's wiring.The outside world is experienced through the senses-seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting - enabling the brain to create or modify connections.The brain operates on a "use it or lose it" principle. Relationships with other people early in life are the major source of development of the emotional and social parts of the brain.
