Early Childhood Matters
The Centre for Community Child Health, within the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, released a summary of the evidence on the impact of experiences in the first 1000 days of life (www.rch.org.au/ccch/first-thousand-days). They found that early relationships such as parents and siblings, grandparents and other extended family members, early childhood staff, and neighbours, along with the environment in which the child lives and grows, significantly impacts upon their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. It is the relationships and the environment that help shape the developing brain architecture and affect how genes are ultimately expressed.
How to Enhance Brain Development
Ways to enhance brain development include:
Providing exposure to consistent, predictable nurturing and rich experiences.
Modeling and teaching reciprocal behaviour and communication through 'give and take,' 'serve and return' activities.
Consistently responding with warmth and emotional engagement while encouraging independence.
Providing experiences that are developmentally appropriate.
Giving undivided attention during playtime together.
Creating opportunities for self-directed creative play.
Careful to not rush academic learning (but keep an eye on it).
Repairing ruptures in the parent child relationship in a constructive and timely fashion.
Consistent and predictable parenting so your child knows what to expect.
Thoughtful Developmental Expectations
Having an understanding of what children are capable of at different ages and stages of development is important. This helps to keep expectations of the child's emotional, behavioural, physical and cognitive attainment in perspective. When raising young children, consider the following:
Children can begin to feel sad or fearful from 3 to 5 months of age.
Children are affected by shouting in the home from around 6 months of age.
Share and turn taking occurs between ages three and four.
Impulse control is not able to be mastered until 3.5 years of age.
Ability to control a tantrum is not developed until 3.5 to 4 years of age. Be patient and consistent.
Note, impulse control and the ability to control a tantrum is developed around 3-4 years. If your older child continues to have difficulty in these areas consult your GP or psychologist for supportive ideas.
Cavanagh, S. (2017). Early Childhood Matters. In Psych: The Bulletin of the Australian Psychological Society Limited, Vol 39 (6).
Negri, L. (2017). Shaping Children's Development Across the Ages. In Psych: The Bulletin of the Australian Psychological Society Limited, Vol 39 (6).
Strong Foundations: Getting it Right in the First 1000 Days. Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. (https://www.rch.org.au/ccch/first-thousand-days/).