Identify two key ideas about brain development in early childhood…

Question Answered step-by-step Identify two key ideas about brain development in early childhood… Identify two key ideas about brain development in early childhood development.  What implications does this have for your practice?  Please also use citations    Rerefence Material to use for the questions. 1.1 Development and LearningDevelopment is age-related change that results from an interaction between biological maturation and a physical and/or social experience.  It is a continuous process with a predictable sequence, yet having a unique course for every child.  It does not progress at the same rate and each stage is affected by the preceding developmental experiences.Occurs as children grow, adapt and change in response to various experiencesRefers to how a child becomes able to do more complex things as they get olderAn example is language development. Biology plays a role as babies all over world produce similar sounds around a certain age but language development requires more than maturation. Babies need adults and older children to talk to them. As they grow physically and are able to get around on their own, infants and toddlers will encounter more examples of language interaction and their speech will start to take off around age 2. Learning is a change in knowledge or skill that results from experience or instruction.Sometimes development leads to learning, e.g., when a baby develops the ability to grasp objects and put them in her mouth, she learns there are objects in the world.Children’s developmental level can also put limitations on what they are capable of learning, e.g., preschoolers can do some abstract thinking but they won’t fully understand complex abstract concepts such as chronological time until they are olderLearning can also drive development, e.g., with more experiences, children come to understand more complex concepts which affects their cognitive development Because experience plays a role in both development and learning, there is a close connection between the two processes – especially in early years of life when children are growing and changing so rapidly.  However, learning and development are not the same thing, although they affect each other. Bredekamp, Sue. Effective Practices in Early Childhood Education: Building a Foundation. Merrill, 2011. The Science of Early Childhood Development Brains are built over time, from the bottom up.The basic architecture of the brain (Links to an external site.) is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood. Early experiences affect the quality of that architecture by establishing either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the learning, health and behavior that follow. The interactive influences of genes and experience shape the developing brain.Young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at them. In the absence of such responses—or if the responses are unreliable or inappropriate—the brain’s architecture does not form as expected, which can lead to disparities in learning and behavior.The brain’s capacity for change decreases with age.The brain is most flexible, or “plastic,” early in life to accommodate a wide range of environments and interactions, but as the maturing brain becomes more specialized to assume more complex functions, it is less capable of reorganizing and adapting to new or unexpected challenges. Early plasticity means it’s easier and more effective to influence a baby’s developing brain architecture than to rewire parts of its circuitry in the adult years.Cognitive, emotional, and social capacities are inextricably intertwined throughout the life course.The emotional and physical health, social skills, and cognitive-linguistic capacities that emerge in the early years are all important prerequisites for success in school and later in the workplace and community.Toxic stress damages developing brain architecture, which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health.Scientists now know that chronic, unrelenting stress (Links to an external site.) in early childhood, caused by extreme poverty, repeated abuse, or severe maternal depression, for example, can be toxic to the developing brain.  Watch the video below from the Center of the Developing Child that provides additional details about the science of early childhood development.  As you listen to the video, consider what these big ideas mean for your own understanding and for your own practice when working with young children.InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development (Links to an external site.) Source: C.A. Nelson (2000). Credit: Center on the Developing Child https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/ (Links to an external site.)  Eight Things to Remember about Child Development1. Even infants and young children are affected adversely when significant stresses threaten their family and caregiving environments.Adverse fetal and early childhood experiences (Links to an external site.) can lead to physical and chemical disruptions in the brain that can last a lifetime. 2. Development is a highly interactive process, and life outcomes are not determined solely by genes.The environment in which one develops before and soon after birth provides powerful experiences that chemically modify certain genes (Links to an external site.) in ways that then define how much and when they are expressed. Thus, while genetic factors exert potent influences on human development, environmental factors have the ability to alter family inheritance.  3. While attachments to their parents are primary, young children can also benefit significantly from relationships with other responsive caregivers (Links to an external site.) both within and outside the family.Close relationships with other nurturing and reliably available adults (Links to an external site.) do not interfere with the strength of a young child’s primary relationship with his or her parents. In fact, multiple caregivers can promote young children’s social and emotional development.  (Links to an external site.) 4. A great deal of brain architecture (Links to an external site.) is shaped during the first three years after birth, but the window of opportunity for its development does not close on a child’s third birthday.Basic aspects of brain function, such as the ability to see and hear effectively, do depend critically on very early experiences as do some aspects of emotional development.  5. Severe neglect appears to be at least as great a threat to health and development as physical abuse—possibly even greater.When compared with children who have been victimized by overt physical maltreatment, young children who experienced prolonged periods of neglect (Links to an external site.) exhibit more serious cognitive impairments, attention problems, language deficits, academic difficulties, withdrawn behavior, and problems with peer interaction as they get older.  (Links to an external site.) 6. Young children who have been exposed to adversity or violence do not invariably develop stress-related disorders or grow up to be violent adults.Although children who have these experiences clearly are at greater risk for adverse impacts on brain development and later problems with aggression, they are not doomed to poor outcomes. Indeed, they can be helped substantially if reliable and nurturing relationships with supportive caregivers (Links to an external site.) are established as soon as possible and appropriate treatments are provided as needed. 7. Simply removing a child from a dangerous environment will not automatically reverse the negative impacts of that experience.Children who have been traumatized need to be in environments that restore their sense of safety, control, and predictability, and they typically require therapeutic, supportive care to facilitate their recovery. 8. Resilience requires relationships, not rugged individualism.The capacity to adapt and thrive despite adversity (Links to an external site.) develops through the interaction of supportive relationships, biological systems, and gene expression.  Read this article (Links to an external site.) from the Center on the Developing Child for additional information.   Developmental MilestonesMilestones are physical or behavioral signs of development that demonstrate things most children can do by a certain age.  Skills such as taking a rolling over, crawling, walking and talking are considered developmental milestones and provide important information regarding a child’s early development.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides resources for families on important milestones at different ages.  Click on the age of a child below to see the milestones:  https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/checklists/Checklists-with-Tips_Reader_508.pdf  Social Science Psychology EDUCATION 625 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)