Taking advantage of early brain development, can increase child's chances of academic success

Oakland Effect: Home visitation programs

By Scott Johnson Oakland Tribune

Posted:   03/20/2013 03:14:02 PM PDT

Updated:   03/20/2013 05:18:59 PM PDT

The first five years of a child's life are far and away the most important in terms of long-term development prospects. Ninety percent of brain growth occurs during those first years. The brains of small children are also much more flexible and malleable, prone to being shaped by things like care and nurturing, but also by violence, stress and abuse. What happens in those first five years, it turns out, can have dramatic consequences in a variety of ways -- socially, cognitively and even financially.

Scientists call this state of heightened adaptability in the developing brain "plasticity" and it is what it sounds like -- a time when the brain, and thus the person to whom it is attached, can be molded and shaped to reflect the environment in which that person lives. 

Researchers say the financial benefits in offering quality preventive care at an early age can translate into huge savings down the line. It is much harder to stage effective interventions with teens, and much more expensive. For one thing, their brains are less "plastic" which means interventions take longer, have lower success rates and can be harder to keep consistent. 

http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22833772/oakland-effect-home-visitation-programs-can-increase-childs

語言操作糸統

人的一生由腦部操作，腦有近千兆神經末稍。末稍在外界刺激下連線，成為記憶。腦是懂得自動運作的龐大記憶體，育兒成材，必須了解腦細胞發育。腦需要建立自己的操作糸統，處理龐大的資料，並需要在該功能全面運作前(嬰幼期)建立。三歲定八十！

語言操作糸統，是一套辨音糸統，出生首九個月建立，和語言細胞的發育期同步，在開聲前三個月完成。這期間聽到任何國家的語言，『過耳不忘』。一歲的孩子，對語音特別感興趣，辨音糸統不斷進行微調。單語長大的孩子，音域只限於母語。多語長大孩子，音域闊，辨音能力強，發音準，學什麼話，像什麼話，包括英語。

人類四百萬年的進化，為初生兒的腦袋，建立了一套全自動超高效能的學習糸統。全職工作的父母，缺乏時間和嬰兒聊天、嬉戲。為了建立腦操作糸統，幼兒每天需要大量互動語言接觸和遊戲。每星期應安排孩子起碼有四天參加外語遊戲組！

Abecedarian Project (1972-2007)和『東山資優兒培訓計劃』証明，嬰幼期密集式語言訓練，提升智商。外語遊戲創造了情景和語言溝通的需要，孩子在學習語言，同時在訓練觀察、比較、思維、專注、記憶，強化思維的操作糸統！每次活動，都不會浪費。

McKinney early education programs focus on second-language learning

By Ann J. Mena and Rafael Mena, PhD, from McKiney, Texas

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:59 AM CST

Special to the Courier-Gazette

An ever increasing mountain of evidence suggests that learning a second language at an early age has a positive effect on intellectual growth.

Language learning is a cognitive problem-solving activity, not just a linguistic activity. It's this cognitive challenge while learning a second language that enriches and enhances a child's mental development.

A recent study at Cornell University found that children who begin learning a second language early are able to better focus on tasks and dismiss distractions compared with children exposed only to their native language.

The benefits progress into their later years, as shown by an independent study of third- and fifth-graders in Louisiana public schools. This study of 13,200 students revealed that, regardless of race, gender or academic level, children enrolled in foreign language classes did better on the Louisiana Basic Skills Test than those not enrolled.

Studies have shown that early language acquisition is best achieved when the child is immersed in the second language. Such programs enable the child to naturally acquire the second language by enabling them to participate in daily interactive and educational activities. 

An additional benefit of learning a second language at an early age comes in the form of children having a better understanding of their native language. According to Dr. Bialystok who led a study from Canada's York University, "The knowledge of two languages is greater than the sum of its parts." In other words, learning a second language also aids in learning one's native language.

The advantages provided by learning a second language at an early age, such as a better understanding of their native language, intellectual growth and enhanced mental development, create a sustainable advantage for children.

http://www.scntx.com/articles/2012/11/29/mckinney_courier-gazette/news/8876.txt

Sam: Join the 4-Languages Diploma Program, all in immersion with top native teachers.

This Scandinavian Model is by far the most effective language acquisition program in the world.

Find out more in the Briefing Session on coming Saturday at 

10:30 a.m. in TST, 2376 1808. or

12 noon in CWB, 2881 7810 

Participants enjoy 5% discount on first payment.

Responsiveness shapes the brain

Five things to know about early childhood brain development

By Jennifer Guerra

Enlarge image

Credit Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University / http://developingchild.harvard.edu

A baby forms 700 neural connections per second in the first years of life

 There has been an explosion of research over the past decade that shows how important the first few years of a child’s life are in terms of brain development. To help us make sense of how those early experience can shape a child’s brain, we called up Dr. Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
1. And you thought you were busy...
"I think what’s most important for people to understand is that a newborn at birth has most of the brain cells that we will have for our entire life, but relatively little of the connections, the circuits among the different cells," explains Shonkoff.
"What happens very, very rapidly is that the brain is building connections, it’s building synapses," says Shonkoff. How many connections? Glad you asked. A baby forms 700 new neural connections per second in the first years of life. "This process of building the architecture of the brain," says Shonkoff "is dramatically influence by life experiences. It is not genetically hardwired. Literally our environment shapes the architecture of our brain in the first year of life."
2. Serve and return interactions
Shonkoff says an infant's brain is dependent on responsiveness from adults. So all those adorable things that babies do right from the beginning -- coos, gurgles, sounds and smiles -- how an adult responds to those coos and gurgles help shape the brain circuitry. Shonkoff calls these moments "Serve and Return interactions." The baby does something, the adult responds back. Vice versa. "And it's the back and forth, the responsiveness, that shapes the brain circuits."
http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/five-things-know-about-early-childhood-brain-development

Language Acquisition

The Linguistic Society of America
How do children acquire language? Do parents teach their children to talk?

No. Children acquire language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not.

Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role
by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language. And the language
must be used for interaction with the child; for example, a child who regularly hears language on the TV or
radio but nowhere else will not learn to talk.

Children acquire language through interaction — not only with their parents and other adults, but also with
other children. All normal children who grow up in normal households, surrounded by conversation, will
acquire the language that is being used around them.

And it is just as easy for a child to acquire two or more languages at the same time, as long as they are regularly interacting with speakers of those languages.


It's far easier for a child to acquire language as an infant and toddler than it will be for the same child to
learn, say, French in a college classroom 18 years later.

http://www.linguisticsociety.org/files/Language_Acquisition.pdf

Language environment in learning English

According to the most recent research, English Language Learners need ample opportunities to interact with those beyond their own level of proficiency, as well as to hear and participate in language and cognitive activities within (context).
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2012/10/04/20121004states-education-english-inadequate.html?nclick_check=1

死偏心

Good start

The School Foundation fundraises for and helps support Florence 1, and director Debbie Hyler said early childhood education is one of the organization’s top priorities because there is such a need in the community and it yields better results for students down the road.

“When they start off behind, they stay behind and require remediation later,” Hyler said. “It is critical when you hear that children of poverty have heard 30 million fewer words by the time they’re 4 and that’s difficult to compensate for later on because that’s the time when brains develop and neurons are connecting.”

http://www2.scnow.com/news/pee-dee/2012/oct/03/early-childhood-education-under-microscope-florenc-ar-4680382/