Let's Use All We Know to Ensure REAL Brain Development is Happening for ALL Children

There seem to be two common and somewhat related issues taking place when it comes to the development and learning of young children.

1. People are looking for a short cut or the "magic" program or device that will develop a child's brain. 

2. There is a major focus on pushing young children to learn more academics at earlier ages.

Of course this is all well intentioned. Everyone's goal is for children to be successful in school and in life. But, if this is the focus and desire for children, it is essential that all the knowledge science is providing for us is used for the bases of the experiences children are having everyday.

I find it amazing that due to technological advances, we now understand the developing brain better than ever before, and in many cases just the opposite of what is needed most is occurring for too many children.

It took too long for it to happen, but I am thrilled that the, Your Baby Can Read program has been shut down. The Federal Trade Commission filed false advertising charges, and the company is no longer in business. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is making headway in these critically needed efforts. Read also about the wonderful TODY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young children) Award for the Vinci Touchscreen Mobile Learning tablet that is marketed as good for helping babies learn. 

This quote from the article from Peggy Sissel-Phelan, Ed. D. (a Brain Insights Advisory Board Member)  is terrific:

“It’s likely to convince parents that they are doing something positive for their babies when that couldn't be farther from the truth. People don’t know that without human attention, babies won't develop normally, much less optimally. They will, however, learn how to push the buttons to make the screen react.  Rats can do that!” 

Additionally, it is wonderful that money is being refunded for purchases of, Baby Einstein videos. All of these products have been marketed to say they are good for early brain development, when these are not the optimal way for a child's brain to develop.

This is precisely why I created, Brain Insights. I have a deep desire to make REAL brain development common knowledge and easily understood. My passion is to share all that really IS best for children. This is also exactly why I created, The Brain Development Series. These unique packets provide the information and ideas for busy adults to be able to provide what their child really needs. I knew the marketing made it confusing for parents to know what is best, so I wanted to help... and wanted to provide the information in an incredibly easy to use format.

When presenting at a conference in Las Vegas, a concerned mother shared her story about her son. The boy had just turned 3 and had started a new preschool. When picking him up at the end of the day the mother noticed his worksheet (I am stressing the word worksheet here!) was not up on the bulletin board with the others. This woman asked the teacher about it. The teacher then held up the paper and stated, "His is not up because it is incomplete." It had in red marker the word, Incomplete and a red :( sad face drawn on it! The paper was one where he was to trace and then freehand write the letter E several times. This is not appropriate learning or expectations for a child of this age. He should be playing and exploring and experimenting rather than sitting still and trying to write on a worksheet.

We need to do all we can to ensure that every child is getting all that is really beneficial for their growing brains. This happens through real interactions with real people and real objects.

At the same conference I met Kathy Gruhn, the enthusiastic creator of My Baby Compass. These wonderful resources help adults know what is appropriate for children at each age, birth through age 7.

We do not expect a newborn to crawl, a 2 month old to ride a bike, or a 6 month old to play the guitar. We do not expect those things because we know babies are not developed enough at those ages for those skills or activities. It is the same for academics and a young brain. We should not be pushing babies to read and 3 year olds to write. These are not the experiences they should be having to support the healthiest brain connections for later learning and life skills. Children need every adult in their life to have appropriate expectations. This can happen through understanding the basics of early brain development.


With heartfelt thanks,
Deborah 

And most especially.... the children thank you!!


The Brain Development Series provides parents with the information and fun ideas children want ALL adults to know!

In English or Spanish

Get Organized Printable for Your Family

 It is wonderful to start the school year with healthy and happy brains....

Back To School and school success happens best with established routines and organization. So Dr.Lynne Kenney , The Family Coach, has created a downloadable printable to help you get organized at home, for a great school year. Dr. Lynne is fabulous and I so enjoy sharing all she does for the benefit of families. I thought you would enjoy becoming aware of and sharing her tips! 

Brain Insight: The brain feels less stress and can focus attention best when there is a lack of chaos!

  
Along with this, I am excited to announce the winners of the Brain Insights Back to School Give Away!  

I am thrilled to share a full set of The Brain Development Series with these dedicated programs that are making a positive difference for young children. 


Cathy - Transitional K Teacher, Long Beach, CA

Sierra - Owner, Preschool Program, Bloomington, IN

Lindsay - Special Ed. Teacher 3-4, Clinton, UT

Denise - Preschool Teacher

Head Start Program - Laredo, TX  (Spanish Brain Packets)

Thank you as always to everyone of you for your part in developing healthy brains! 

*** For a 20% discount on Brain Development Activity Packets you can take advantage of the Promo Code: Back2School ***

 

ALSO

 

 

Back to School Discount on Brain Insights Workshops and Presentations!  

 

If you are looking for an inspiring staff development presentation, workshop for parents, or lunch and learn session at your workplace, I am also offering a Back to School discount on these as well. Contact me by September 30th to get 50% off workshops that are booked in 2012.

 

 www.braininsightsonline.com 

 Have a Very Enjoyable School Year!!

Brainy Benefits for YOU!

Announcing: 
The Brain Insights Back to School Give Away!  

How Could You Use Brain Development Activity Packets To Enhance Your Commitment to Children?

Share your ideas with us and you could be one of 5 Schools, Businesses, Organizations or Agencies that will win a FULL set of The Brain Development Series. This will be a great way for you to kick of the new School Year!

Are you wondering why I would be giving away brain packets?  

Well.....actually if I could I would give them to every parent, grandparent, caregiver, or actually anyone that cares about children! (Giving is actually one of my very favorite things to do!! ) But, since I can not give them to everyone, I am going to give away 5 complete sets (0-5) in the hope that you will find the most ideal way to share these.

When I started doing early brain development presentations it was so extremely exciting to experience the enthusiasm of participants. When audiences gained a better understanding of all that young children need for healthy brains they become so inspired. 

As wonderful as this was (and still is!) I wanted to find an additional way to make this information available in a much broader and practical way.

Understanding that parents and care providers are VERY busy, I had a great desire to find a way to share this information and ideas to use in everyday life in the easiest possible way. That is when I created, The Brain Development Series. How thrilling it is that these are now selling all over the world and are available in both English and Spanish.

But.....NOW, I want to Give 5 sets away!!  How does that sound to you?

You can get more information about the brain packets on the links included here.....but now you just want to know how you can win a set right?

For your chance to receive the Full set (0-5) of Brain Development Activity Packets (Value $72) all you need to do is comment below and state in what way you will use, The Brain Development Series for the benefit of children. 

Details:

1. This Back to School give away is for schools, businesses, early childhood programs, agencies, or organizations. (I will of course want to give more away! So, I will be doing a give away for individuals closer to the holidays)  
2. There will be a drawing for all that enter comments that include, a personal name, the name of the organization, and location. Posted comments that are left as anonymous will not be included. Please specify if you would like your set of packets in English or Spanish.
3. The drawing will take place on August 30th. Winners will be announced in a post during the week of September 3rd and packets will be sent as soon as addresses are obtained. 

What could be better than to start the school year with healthy and happy brains? 

Additional benefits for you! 20% Promo Code

For those of you that would like to order packets prior to the contest deadline, I have something special for you too!  You can get a 20% Back to School discount. This will be available through August 30th.  

The Promo Code for you is: BACK2SCHOOL  Order here

Back to School Discount on Brain Insights Workshops and Presentations!  

If you are looking for an inspiring staff development presentation, workshop for parents, or lunch and learn session at your workplace, I am also offering a Back to School discount on these as well. Contact me by August 30th to get 50% off workshops.

SUPPORTING VALUABLE EFFORTS FOR CHILDREN!

This week has been one of focusing on very positive initiatives that will greatly impact children. There is probably nothing I get excited about more than becoming aware of and supporting wonderful efforts that can make a real difference.

There are 3 that I am sharing here with you now:

#1. Mission Small Business:  Mission: Small Business℠ is an effort by Chase Bank and LivingSocial, to increase awareness of the important role small businesses play in local communities and to help small businesses grow. As a result, Chase will provide 12 grants to small businesses. 

Supporters can get involved by clicking the “Support” button at missionsmallbusiness.com and voting for their favorite registered small businesses. For each pledge of support, Chase will add five dollars to the grant pool, up to $3 million, and businesses must receive at least 250 votes to be considered for a grant by June 30th. 

 I have submitted a proposal for Brain Insights and am so excited to share this and ask if you would be willing to take a moment to vote!

Your support will contribute to benefiting thousands of children. Receiving this grant would lead to finally making early brain development common knowledge and children enjoying all their brain needs most! 

This will happen through:

• At least 20 Creating Great Connections presentations taking place for entire communities through out the country. (In fact let me know if you would want your community to be considered for one of the locations!)
• Promotions to hospitals to give a, Love Your Baby brain packet to all new parents! (This is something numerous people want to see happen as soon as possible!)
• The development of a new series of brain packets called, Healthy Brain Insights. This will be designed for healthy and learning brains of all ages. (Packets for all brains has been a frequent request!) 
• This could also lead to the development of a whole new and unique product to really make brain development easy for busy parents!  (Can't wait to have this happen and share this one with you also!)

Thank you so very much for your on going support and sharing in the passion to inspire the healthy development of ALL young children!!   

(I need to reach 250 votes to qualify by the Deadline : Saturday June 30th!)  

  

Vote at Mission Small Business

Log in with a Facebook account and enter: Brain Insights push SEARCH and then Vote!

I do not usually ask for help like this, but my great desire to be able to make this positive impact drives me to ask for your support!  

You can vote for more than one company... so you will also want to support Play Math!

#2. Dr. Lynne Kenney has also submitted for a grant through Mission Small Business. Lynne is also very dedicated to creating awareness and understanding of what is best for children's brains and she coaches families. She is the author of, The Family Coaching Method and is providing a new program called, Play Math. 

Lynne has shared the following:

"Play Math is a hit! In our simple motor math program, Play Math, we teach meaningful math using soccer, kick and tennis balls, along with polyspots, marker boards, markers, cards and base ten blocks to play math motorically.  We see math, say math, play math, write math and build math so that the children begin to develop the ability to THINK mathematically.

We are really pleased, because when we teach math, engaging both gross and fine motor skills, kids who were losing their math facts with symbolic visual learning can remember them.

I am not much for voting but we could use $250,000 to purchase math blocks and produce animated training videos. So if you are on Facebook, please sign-in and write Play Math in the business search and VOTE."

Doesn't this sound wonderful? This is how the brain learns best! Kudos Lynne!!

#3.  Plan UK will launch their new Education for Girls Facebook App on June 29^th, it highlights the importance of reading in education and allows users to select how many out of 50 top children’s books they’ve read and then buy their own virtual book by donating to Plan UK.

The book will go into Plan UK’s virtual library; users can then view the library and see how their donation helped towards improving education for girls around the world.

All donations from the App go towards helping to fund girl’s education. 

Here is what you do:  (I found it fun!)

To help Plan UK send some of the poorest girls to school in developing countries. Select how many out of 50 children’s books have you read, then donate and purchase a virtual book. All donations help education for girls http://bit.ly/LvybFp

Enjoy reflecting on and sharing your favorite book!!

It is always so extremely heart warming when people support each other in ways that are so positive!

Have a beautiful day! 

Astonishing Communication with a Baby Beginning at Birth

                  

An infant cries in an attempt to communicate a need. A parent or caregiver then attempts to figure out what the need is. This happens repeatedly throughout each day and can be frustrating and stressful for both the parent … and the baby. This is often one of the most difficult aspects of parenting in the early months and years of a baby’s life. I am thrilled to say, this no longer needs to be the scenario in the parent child relationship! 

It is extremely exciting to help the world know about a ground breaking book. The BlossomMethod™, to put it simply, will make a remarkable difference.  This inspiring guide provides parents with a very easy to use method that will lead to greater parent confidence and a happier baby. What could be better than this?

There are numerous other books of course that I get enthused about, but none compares to the level of excitement I have for sharing this book. It is truly a desire of mine that EVERY parent reads this book.  It provides knowledge every baby will want their parents to have. 

To give you an idea of why this book is so extraordinary, a selection from the introduction follows:

“A baby starts talking from the moment she takes her first breath. A child’s instinct for survival and human interaction drives her to communicate with her caregivers using unique movements, facial expressions, sounds, and mouth, lip and tongue shapes. Many of these go unnoticed in the early days of parenthood as everything focuses on providing the newborn with nourishment and comfort. After years of research involving parents and their children, I have mapped the behaviour of the babies I have worked with, including my own, and discovered a phenomenon that has never before been recognised.”

Vivien Sabel is the author of, The Blossom Method™. Vivien’s experiences growing up with a deaf mother provided her the ability to learn to read body language and gestures beyond those in which most of us are aware. Due to this gift, Vivien has created this easy guide to help every parent understand and develop this ability as well. The only sad thing is this book was not available sooner.  It would have filled my heart with joy to be able to establish this significant communication with my daughters as infants.  

Since it is something in which I feel very strongly about, I frequently write and do speaking engagements about the important and incredible difference early relationships have on early brain development. Due to this, I feel enormously honored to have contributed awareness of this impact as a small portion of this valuable book. 

With this information, parents can feel secure that TheBlossom Method™ not only helps create calmer and less stressful interactions with their baby, it also has a positive and long lasting impact on a child’s over all development.  The following excerpt explains:

“Research has shown that consistently responding to the needs of a baby can have an impact on her ability to form healthy relationships with others, to problem-solve, to have empathy for others, to tolerate the frustration of failure, to have more patience, to calm down from excitement. A baby whose needs are consistently met may also have a longer attention span, be able to better manage physical reactions to emotions, have greater skills in communicating emotions in healthy ways, feel less anxiety, exhibit fewer behavioural problems, have more confidence and a positive self-perception, be less fearful and have more willingness to explore and learn through challenges.”

With the passion I have to promote the healthy development of all children, I am so delighted to contribute to creating awareness of this book.  I am especially anxious to see the positive difference the Blossom Method™ will make in the world once parents use this to support the optimal development of young children from the start. 

I invite you to learn more about this wonderful method directly from Vivien in this brief, informational and heartwarming clip.

You will truly be amazed at all your baby is communicating. To begin simply order The Blossom Method here.  ENJOY!! 

I hope you will share awareness of this book with all the parents you know!!

Lifting the Burden off Children and Schools

Have you heard about this yet?........

Back Pack Free Friday 

WHO? Children, Schools and Families around the planet.

WHAT? Have children leave backpacks at home this day.

WHEN? Friday, May 4th. 2012

WHERE? Everywhere!

WHY? To literally lift the burden off children and schools.

Lifting the Burden off Children and Schools

Every day millions of children go to school tired, dehydrated, and many times also hungry. Back Pack Free Friday focuses public awareness on the very real burdens lack of appreciation for children’s foundational health places on children and schools.  Back Pack Free Friday is sponsored by an international consciousness movement called Parenting 2.0 (P20), the top ranked parenting group on LinkedIn with nearly 1700 members in more than 40 countries, P20 advocates a more proactive educational process for non-academic Life Skills.

P20 defines Life Skills as all the non-academic, foundational skills children learn to thrive and commune optimally with others. Life Skills include but are not limited to: personal care, safety, finance, organizational, interpersonal communication and social skills.

As stated in their group description on LinkedIn,  

“Parenting 2.0 supports parents, professionals, and other primary caregivers in their role as Life Skills Educators. Our goal is that, one day, children's LSA (Life Skills Average) will receive the same appreciation as children's GPA (Grade Point Average.)

P20 invites everyone to support Back Pack Free Friday and Stand Up for the welfare of children everywhere by doing the following on Friday May 4^th, 2012.

•  Leave back packs at home this day.
• Prioritize sleep, hydration, nutrition, and exercise.
• Find creative ways to underscore the importance of water, sleep, nutrition and exercise, for all aspects of children’s performance.
• Shine light upon professionals who can speak to the importance of prioritizing personal care.
• Share the concept of the Life Skills Report Card.

 Check out all of the additional info available at http://parenting2pt0.org/  

INVESTING IN CHILDREN

 

As you know the reason I created, braininsights, is because as I do brain presentations and communicate with others throughout the country, I have found that most adults do not yet know all that is best for developing brains. My goal is to change this, and make early brain development common knowledge. So in this issue of the January Issue of the Brain Insights Newsletter, I have asked the following question.. 

 

Why is this the case? Why is it that we have more knowledge than ever before about what is best for children's brain development ... and yet this IS NOT what is what most children are experiencing?

My concern is ... How can we get EVERYONE to understand the importance and the impact of the early years? ~ We know more than ever about all that children need most for optimal development, but too frequently children are experiencing just the opposite. Too many children are not getting the healthy foods they need, are pushed toward academics too early, are spending time with screens instead of learning in the way the brain learns best, are living in harsh or chaotic environments and/or over scheduled lives.
 The wonderful thing is that there are numerous and wonderful individuals, organizations and companies working and sharing to create the understanding that children need safe, predictable, nurturing relationships, healthy environments and nutrition. They also promote, how children need opportunities to play, move, experience nature and learn through exploring. I am very anxious for this to be common knowledge... but even more important... common practice!! 

  Read more about this perplexing question in the January Newsletter. 
You will also find a variety of articles and sources of information contributing to finally make this happen. 

Let's invest in our young children and have this occur in 2012!

Enjoy all of the great articles and resource links!!