By Allison Almando-Williams

Hello everyone. How’s your reading been going? Last week I just touched on a few of the simpler strategies for brain-based teaching and learning. As this is largely about neuroscience, it goes a lot further. This is just a taste.

I’d like to provide a little more understanding on the level of brain development as it applies to age. But first a quick story.

Allison Almando-Williams

When Albert Einstein was a child, no-one anticipated the wonderful and remarkable contributions he would make to science. He had a language development delay and those around him feared he would never learn, and yet he became Einstein! ‘How?’ I hope you’re asking.

His parents! Einstein received two gifts from his parents at the age of five. At one time when he was ill and in bed, his father gave him a compass. This mysterious device sparked his curiosity in science. Shortly after, his mother, who was a pianist, gave him a violin. These two gifts, presented at the right time, challenged Einstein’s brain in distinctive ways and thus began the journey to who he would become.

Parents, as the first teachers observing your child, possess the power to furnish the adult mind from age eight and beyond. During this period, a child’s mind toward the capacity for adult thinking is one of the most dynamic aspects of brain development. I’m going to ad-lib on one of Dr Jane Healy’s thoughts, (author, Different Learners). Imagine if your child were a house: the framework is nature, and the child, parents, and school complete the walls. Next, the inside of the house needs decorating. Your child’s mind is that house and you need 20 years of filling mental furnishings as each stage of development comes along. Wouldn’t you want to know what is going on in their minds at each time? Their brains develop connections faster in the first five years than at any other time in their lives.

Quick Take

A critical period of brain development happens between the ages of two and concludes around the age of seven. It provides a pivotal opportunity to lay the foundation for a holistic education for children. Although the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25 years old, most of what influences development happens between two and seven. It’s safe to say that these years are critical to the formation of the child.

During the Primary School years (ages five – ten) the child develops motor skills, visual-motor coordination, reasoning, language, social understanding, and memory. This is a busy brain.

Middle School brain development (ages 11-13) which is second only to the first five years, is a period of rapid brain development, which includes, social emotional learning and empathy maturity.

With teenagers, it’s the most fascinating. There is more significant growth and grooming taking place to get them ready for the adult world, for decision-making and learning to use the brain more efficiently.

Have you ever noticed that at times their thinking can be so lucid and mature, then other times they behave so irrationally, impulsive, and emotionally?

The Environment

With so much happening at these different age levels, and each child’s brain is unique, I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to be actively involved in our children’s choices of activities and experiences. Environment influences the way our children act.

I’d like to share this quote from Dr. Jane Healy. “Environments can shape brains into more efficient learning patterns, but they can also make an existing tendency worse or even create a problem.”

“At all levels of the economic spectrum, children’s daily lives allow and even promote habits that can severely disrupt the developing networks in the brain and the chemistry that makes them work.

According to her, there are so many children being labeled as educationally, socially, and emotionally “sick”.

When I hear this, I think of all that is happening in our schools.

Yes, parents have a powerful role in shaping a child’s learning abilities, but these articles are about collaboration. As parents have the power, so do we as teachers. We help shape the environment that helps determine how talents, skills… and yes, problems develop.

I refer to my earlier comment that we have a crisis in childhood. We are in this together and the purpose of my writing is to educate and not find fault. The most important asset is the developing mind. Hopefully, there can be an understanding and improvement of your child’s or student’s learning. We will continue to explore the latest research on the brain and the ways in which we can apply them to our teaching.

Related articles:
A Culture of Collaboration in Education PT I