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2.21.2024

Early Childhood Brain Development

5 Keys to Understanding and Supporting Brain Development

What is Early Childhood Brain Development?

Babies are born ready to learn. Researchers have discovered that between the ages of 0-5 years of age a child’s brain growth is occurring at a rapid rate and completes at least 90% of its growth during this period*.  Not surprisingly the spotlight is now focused on children’s growth and development during this period in preparing children for school and life-long success.   

1. What is Happening in My Child’s Brain?

• • Development of Senses – Children’s senses develop, including their ability to have clear and coordinated eyesight, hearing, and sense of touch. The correct development of the senses of sight, touch, taste, and smell are the groundwork for other brain processes.
  • Development of Language and Communication Skills – Children’s ability to learn language is developed from birth when adults talk and read to them. Just because children cannot talk, doesn’t mean they are not developing language and the ability to communicate. It is a long process and every day is important!
  • Development of Social and Emotional Skills – Children develop social attachments to the people in their lives and learn to trust, feel safe, and have control over their emotions. This is the groundwork for the ability to be caring towards others.

2. What Can Parents Do to Support Brain Development?

• • Feed Them a Variety of Nutritious Foods – With your doctor’s supervision, introduce good nutritional foods to support developing bodies and brains. Some nutritious foods include formula or breast milk, vegetables, fruits and grains.
  • Hold Your Child Often – Every time you touch, hold, have eye contact, and embrace your child, you are helping to build connections in the brain.
  • Talk with Your Child - Language is the most natural way to connect with your child. Sing, have conversations, or play peek-a-boo with your child often. Even though we may think that babies are not listening or do not understand, the act of verbally interacting with them sets the stage for language development and builds healthy and positive connections in your baby’s brain. Take the time to have conversations with toddlers. Ask questions, give them one-step directions such as “open your book” and help them by modeling the behavior. Just relax and have fun with them whenever possible. 
  • Read to Your Child – Do this early and often. Babies learn to read and write from hearing language over and over. There are many books to read to infants and ones that are safe for them to chew on and handle. Make reading a part of your and your toddler’s daily routine. Ask questions like “what do you think will happen next” or ask them to find a character on the page. Reading just 15 minutes a day can make a big difference in healthy brain development and literacy skills. 
  • Respond to Their Communication – When your baby cries or coos, he is trying to get your attention. When your baby cries, respond to him. Maybe it is diaper changing time, maybe he is hungry or maybe he just wants some time with you. Spoiling a baby during the infancy stage is not a concern. When we respond to our children at this age it assures them that someone is there that they can rely on to take care of their needs. Building trust creates a strong foundation for children to express empathy and caring towards others in the future. 
  • Give Them Consistency – Being consistent in the daily care of your child helps to build their trust. From this they gain a sense of security, which encourages them to explore their environment, growing and learning along the way. 
  • Move with Them and Have Fun – Movement helps build body awareness and make connections in the brain, as well. Have fun with toddlers by marching or dancing to music. Play with homemade or inexpensive instruments (pie tins filled with beans, plastic bottles filled with rice—glue on the cap with non-toxic glue). 
  • Involve Them in More Activities - Let your children help you out with simple chores, such as putting socks in one pile. Do some easy and safe cooking activities such as making cookies, setting the table, helping to wash dishes.
  • Let Them Explore – Touching, tasting, hearing sounds and experiencing different smells all play a part in your baby’s brain development. Set the stage by providing them with many opportunities to explore in a safe supportive environment. This will build their brain and help them gain an interest in the world around them. 

3. What Can Parents Do to Continue to Support When Their Child Enters School?

• • Talk With Your Child – For all the same reasons we talk to each other, talk with your child - to share information, to find out what they know, to see how they are feeling and to build their language skills. As your child becomes a preschooler and school-ager, you can ask them more open-ended questions to stretch their thinking beyond yes and no and to encourage them to express what they know. 
  • Surround Your Child with Reading Materials and Writing Tools – Art materials, magazines, new or old books both fantasy and non-fiction, all provide children with proof that spoken words are connected to written words on a page. They will learn letters by sight, sound and learn to put them together in words simply by making the connection through seeing and hearing them. Reading is a great tool for brain development and is also the cornerstone for school success.
  • Help Them Make Friends – Children learn to make friends at an early age. As we all know this takes a great deal of thinking and planning to get it right. Help children interact with siblings or other children on a regular basis. Play dates, family occasions and visits to the park are some venues where building friendships can be practiced. 

4. What Resources are Available to Support Early Childhood Brain Development?

• • Vroom!

Vroom is a ground-breaking program that helps parents nurture their child's brain development during the crucial first five years of life. It's founded on the principle that key activities for brain growth, such as talking and playing, are simple and cost-free. Vroom collaborates with scientists, researchers, and parents to transform scientific insights into practical, everyday activities for caregivers. 

With more than 1,000 engaging Vroom Tips™ and Brainy Backgrounds™ available in both English and Spanish, Vroom is accessible, free, and user-friendly. Whether it's through its app, text service, or interactive Alexa skill, Vroom equips parents with the knowledge and tools to convert routine moments into opportunities for enhancing their child’s learning.

• • Parent Education Programs

There are several parent education programs in Nevada, offering classes both in person and online, to assist parents in learning skills and strategies for supporting brain development.

• Clark County – The Parenting Project 
• Washoe County School District – Parent University 

• • Statewide – The Children’s Cabinet Parent Education Classes 

• • Home-Visiting Programs

Home-Visiting Programs help parents learn appropriate ways to interact with their children, learn about how a child develops, and gain parenting skills and techniques to help prepare their child for kindergarten. Programs are available throughout the state, but families must apply and meet certain eligibility criteria to receive services. Click here [link to eligibility portal] to see if you are eligible and to find a program near you.

School District Family Engagement Offices

Each school district in Nevada has a Family Engagement Office to support teamwork between students, parents, schools and communities to ensure academic success. Many of these programs offer resources and activities for families with young children (prior to official school entry) to support early childhood brain development and school readiness. Click on the link below for your school district to learn more about their programs and services.

• Carson City School District
• Churchill County School District
• Clark County School District
• Douglas County School District
• Elko County School District
• Esmeralda County School District
• Eureka County School District
• Humboldt County School District
• Lander County School District
• Lincoln County School District
• Lyon County School District
• Mineral County School District
• Nye County School District
• Pershing County School District
• Storey County School District
• Washoe County School District
• White Pine County School District
• State Charter Schools

• Nevada Department of Education – Parental Involvement & Family Engagement

The Office of Parental Involvement and Family Engagement actively promotes and supports the participation and engagement of families and communities in a child’s education. Family engagement is a shared responsibility between schools, families, and communities where all receive equitable access to tools and supports to successfully work together toward the development of children and youth for college, career, and lifelong learning. The Office supports the Advisory Council for Family Engagement, issues a monthly newsletter with family engagement news, activities and events, and oversees the Nevada Family Engagement Framework, including early childhood.

* Reference- The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies NACCRRA, (2012). Helping Your Child Make Connections: Making the Most of the Brain Gain. Arlington, VA: Author