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Babies Are So Clever!
One of the most exciting advances in child development has been the discovery that babies actually learn before they are born. Even more amazing is the fact that during the first year, babies learn more than at any other time in their lives. By the first birthday, the baby’s brain has doubled in volume as a direct result of the trillions of connections made between the brain cells. This is why it is so important to introduce a rich variety of sensory experiences at every possible opportunity.
Brain Development and Learning
From the moment of conception, the foetal brain undergoes rapid change. Every minute 250,000 new brain cells are formed. By the seventh month the process of brain formation is complete and the baby possesses a staggering 100 to 200 billion brain cells! The brain is continuously working, growing and preparing the baby for life in the outside world. It’s amazing to think that the newborn baby has already acquired an incredible store of knowledge gained from a range of experiences inside the womb. The newborn’s brain already functions better and faster than the most sophisticated computer. If each layer of the brain was unfolded, it would probably cover the area of a football pitch! Billions of brain cells (neurons) fire several hundred times per second sending electrical impulses from one neuron to the next, like a huge international information exchange system receiving and sending signals. Over time, the brain progressively fine tunes some of the electrical pathways, with primitive reflexes such as the rooting and startle reflex being dispensed with and the pathways that govern speech and motor coordination being retained.
However, it is during the first year of life that the brain constructs the foundations of the baby’s intellectual future. This is the period when the baby actually structures her own brain as a result of the multitude of experiences she encounters. Every time the baby hears, sees, smells, tastes or feels something new, neural connections form between the brain cells at a remarkable rate. No wonder babies spend so much of their time sleeping!
Breakthrough research has revealed the extraordinary abilities of babies. It has also shown that experiences during pregnancy and the first year of life profoundly influence intelligence, creativity, language, memory, reasoning, problem- solving, and incredibly, later reading and math skills. Everything the baby experiences will affect the growth and development of the brain and form the foundation for all future learning. That’s why it is so important to provide the best conditions for learning from conception to the end of the first year of life!
By Dr Lin Day. Contact Clare Wilson, Baby Sensory Email
hemel@babysensory.co.uk
Editor, Helen McClorry, Babies on board Magazine. FIRST CLASS FREE WITH THIS MAGAZINE
Most babies learn best when they see, hear, feel, touch, taste and smell.
Sneak a peek, it’s all amazing!
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