The Initiative is really spreading worldwide!! I can not be more thrilled to know the increasing numbers of people who are sharing and posting the fact each week and are e-mailing to 5 new people each week!
Isn't wonderful to know how many people are coming together to contribute to creating the understanding of early brain development? Our children are benefiting from all of these simple efforts!!
Every child that... receives more loving interactions, has playtime increased everyday, is read to, lives with more routine and predictability, is provided with more nutritious foods, and has the chance to spend time outdoors... THANKS YOU!
Following is the Week #15 BRAIN insight to share:
BRAIN
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #15
Research demonstrates that play and interactive experiences in nature have a very positive impact on healthy brain development and learning.
Let's make this common knowledge!
To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
You can simply post the insight on social network sites
You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
Additionally each week, e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!!
Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain development activity packet
for the age of your choice, in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
The WINNER for WEEK #14:
Aldrich Memorial Nursery School of Rochester, MN
A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of : Lorene Fleming
Congratulations!!
Have you sent in your nomination?
There are many terrific programs and agencies already nominated from all over the world! I invite you to nominate programs, schools, organizations, or agencies that would benefit from a donated brain activity packet in either English or Spanish.
THANK YOU to all that are participating the initiative already! Tell everyone you know about the difference we can make!
Following is a guest post I am anxious to share with you. It is one that provides a wealth of information and valuable links. Those of you that know how passionate I am about creating awareness of the importance of attachment for healthy brain development, will see why I wanted to share this. Hopefully you and all the parents you know will benefit!
This post is shared with permission from the blog, Lion's Whiskers . Once you visit the site, you will want to subscribe!
Bonding with Baby
Posted by Lisa Dungate
"When a child walks in the room, your child or anybody else’s child, do your eyes light up? That’s what they’re looking for."–Toni Morrison
Not long after my husband and I brought our newborn son home from the hospital, I was breastfeeding on the couch watching an “Oprah Winfrey Show” segment on the Nobel Prize-winning poetic genius Toni Morrison. She mentioned the importance of loving connections between parents and children by uttering this quote and parenting challenge.
It was easy for me to gaze upon my newborn boy with loving, lit up eyes in those early days and months. I was, at the time, blissfully unaware of the complicated hormonal soup we were all swimming in together. Instinctively responsive as I was to my son's face shape, button nose, and round captivating eyes, I was unaware of how our intense mutual gazes were actually causing endorphin levels to rise in us both. Endorphin release produces feelings of joy, love, and euphoria associated with ensuring healthy development. My son's eyes rewarded me biochemically and my visual and nurturing motor responses quickly conditioned to his proximity seeking cues (particularly at around eight weeks when visual acuity improves and a critical period of visual cortex development occurs). By three months, my son's gazes and smiles showed me his interest in play, his cries and disengagement of attention his disinterest.
Bonding with my baby seemed intuitive, if not an overwhelming responsibility to do the whole thing “right.” I was not only led by the zeitgeist at the time “attachment parenting,” but sometimes succumbed to the guilt-inducing messages of some of its followers. I stressed about the family bed, how long to breastfeed, and the impact of my frustration with the fact that my son didn’t sleep through the night until he was three! Still, I'm grateful I trusted my gut, imitated what I knew to be true about a healthy mother-infant bond, and followed the attachment parenting advice that fit. It wasn't easy, but nothing as worthwhile and important as bonding ever is.
I learned by trial-and-error that though there are seven identified ways to bond successfully with a baby, love’s resilience forges pathways in the brain and between human beings that we are only just beginning to fully understand. Most of all, I highly underestimated how powerful those loving, awe-inspiring gazes between us all actually promote and sustain our connection as a family for years to come.
In my practice as a child/family therapist and parenting coach I continue to learn more about the importance and benefits associated with healthy bonding between parent and child. I also have the benefit of witnessing the exceptional variety of bonding experiences possible between a primary attachment figure and a child, and the resiliency associated with those bonds promoted through eye contact, touch, smile, movement, feeding, heart connection, and offering comfort during distress. As a parenting coach I pay close attention to the way parents speak about their first days and months with their newborn. Not to mention the first experiences as an adoptive parent meeting his/her child, the first family visits as a new step-parent, or the first days as a foster parent. Most importantly, we focus on the quality of the relationship today and how to promote positive communication, trust, mutual respect, and care for one another.
I witness the benefits everyday with my children—as our love for them provides the “secure base” (Bowlby, 1988) from which they confidently and courageously venture out to discover the world...excitedly returning with reports of their discoveries! Parental love also provides the “safe haven” of comfort and support to weather less successful voyages of discovery, and a place to celebrate curiosity with joy and acceptance (Johnson, 2002).
These days, bonding in our family looks more like watching our kids do their various extracurricular activities, watching movies together, or spotting them as we climb an indoor rock wall together. I still frequently hear “Watch me, Mom!” as I now sit on the sidelines of their lives. I also do my best to stop what I'm doing when they storm through the door at the end of their day, lift my gaze to meet theirs, and listen as they eagerly share the news of their day.
We all bond in unique ways...the important thing is that we bond! In upcoming posts you will have the opportunity to read about other parent-child bonding stories. Please continue to post your comments about how you bond, promote courage, and continue to connect with your child/ren!
I’ll leave it to Dr. William Sears and his wife, Martha, authors of The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (1992, 2003), to summarize the seven basics (or B’s) of attachment parenting which I subscribed to as a new parent (though I'm glad to see they've added “Balance” to the list!):
THE BABY B'S
1. Birth bonding
The way baby and parents get started with one another helps the early attachment unfold. The days and weeks after birth are a sensitive period in which mothers and babies are uniquely primed to want to be close to one another. A close attachment after birth and beyond allows the natural, biological attachment-promoting behaviors of the infant and the intuitive, biological, caregiving qualities of the mother to come together. Both members of this biological pair get off to the right start at a time when the infant is most needy and the mother is most ready to nurture.
"What if something happens to prevent our immediate bonding?"
Sometimes medical complications keep you and your baby apart for a while, but then catch-up bonding is what happens, starting as soon as possible. When the concept of bonding was first delivered onto the parenting scene twenty years ago, some people got it out of balance. The concept of human bonding being an absolute "critical period" or a "now-or-never" relationship was never intended. Birth bonding is not like instant glue that cements the mother-child relationship together forever. Bonding is a series of steps in your lifelong growing together with your child. Immediate bonding simply gives the parent- infant relationship a headstart.
2. Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is an exercise in babyreading. Breastfeeding helps you read your baby's cues, her body language, which is the first step in getting to know your baby. Breastfeeding gives baby and mother a smart start in life. Breastmilk contains unique brain-building nutrients that cannot be manufactured or bought. Breastfeeding promotes the right chemistry between mother and baby by stimulating your body to produce prolactin and oxytocin, hormones that give your mothering a boost.
3. Babywearing
A baby learns a lot in the arms of a busy caregiver. Carried babies fuss less and spend more time in the state of quiet alertness, the behavior state in which babies learn most about their environment. Babywearing improves the sensitivity of the parents. Because your baby is so close to you, you get to know baby better. Closeness promotes familiarity.
4. Bedding close to baby
Wherever all family members get the best night's sleep is the right arrangement for your individual family. Co-sleeping adds a nighttime touch that helps busy daytime parents reconnect with their infant at night. Since nighttime is scary time for little people, sleeping within close touching and nursing distance minimizes nighttime separation anxiety and helps baby learn that sleep is a pleasant state to enter and a fearless state to remain in.
5. Belief in the language value of your baby's cry
A baby's cry is a signal designed for the survival of the baby and the development of the parents. Responding sensitively to your baby's cries builds trust. Babies trust that their caregivers will be responsive to their needs. Parents gradually learn to trust in their ability to appropriately meet their baby's needs. This raises the parent-child communication level up a notch. Tiny babies cry to communicate, not to manipulate.
6. Beware of baby trainers
Attachment parenting teaches you how to be discerning of advice, especially those rigid and extreme parenting styles that teach you to watch a clock or a schedule instead of your baby; you know, the cry-it-out crowd. This "convenience" parenting is a short-term gain, but a long-term loss, and is not a wise investment. These more restrained styles of parenting create a distance between you and your baby and keep you from becoming an expert in your child.
7. Balance
In your zeal to give so much to your baby, it's easy to neglect the needs of yourself and your marriage. As you will learn the key to putting balance in your parenting is being appropriately responsive to your baby – knowing when to say "yes" and when to say "no," and having the wisdom to say "yes" to yourself when you need help.
Johnson, S. (2003). Introduction to attachment: A therapist’s guide to primary relationships and their renewal.
In Johnson, S. & Whiffen, V. (Eds.)., Attachment Processes in Couple and Family Therapy. NY:
The Guilford Press. (pp. 5-17).
Schore, A. (2001). Effects of a secure attachment relationship on right brain development, affect regulation,
and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22, (1-2),
7-66. http://www.allanschore.com/pdf/SchoreIMHJAttachment.pdf
Do you feel momentum? From the comments I receive, it sounds like we are making an impact!! Numerous people are posting the fact each week and are e-mailing to 5 new people each week!
Isn't wonderful to know how we can so easily contribute to creating this needed awareness? The kids are benefiting from our efforts!!
Every child that... receives more loving interactions, has playtime increased everyday, is read to, lives with more routine and predictability, is provided with more nutritious foods, and has the chance to spend time outdoors... THANKS YOU!
Following is the Week #14 BRAIN insight to share:
BRAIN
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #14
A growing brain benefits greatly from a variety of experiences. It needs a combination of varied music, movement, language, imaginative, and nature play opportunities.
Let's make this common knowledge!
To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
You can simply post the insight on social network sites
You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
Additionally each week, e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!!
Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain development activity packet
for the age of your choice, in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
The WINNER for WEEK #12:
Tulare County WIC program
A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of : Linda Sward
Congratulations!!
Have you sent in your nomination?
There are many terrific programs and agencies already nominated from all over the world! I invite you to nominate programs, schools, organizations, or agencies that would benefit from a donated brain activity packet in either English or Spanish.
THANK YOU to all that are participating the initiative already! Tell everyone you know about the difference we can make!
MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH WEEK IS May 1-7
Focus for 2011: BRAININSIGHTS: REAL Brain Development
with Fun and Loving Activities
The following list of activities are from braininsights activity packets. They were carefully chosen and put together as this valuable calendar by Nancy DeWitt, BS, FSP, Preparing Mentor. Nancy is a wonderful woman I met while working with the community of Rhinelander, WI. This community is working together to create awareness and put in place services to support the optimal development of children's brains. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute to these important efforts. This calendar is something Nancy is hoping you will share with families in the hopes that parents will use these easy and practical ideas to promote mental health for all children.
BRAININSIGHTS: REAL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
WITH FUN AND LOVING ACTIVITIES
LOVE YOUR BABY: (May 1-12) 1. While changing my clothes or diapers, take a minute and warmly and gently rub my back, arms and legs. Let me feel your warmth. 3. Notice what I like and respond to me. Try to tune in to the level of o activity I seem to need. When I am more active, do a playful activity. When I seem calm, read a story or sing a lullaby to me. 6. Make up a song using my name to sing to me while you feed me. 8. While you are cooking or doing dishes, let me explore safe items you use. For example, a rubber spatula, a wooden spoon, a plastic container, measuring spoons, etc 9. Realize how I love when you show excitement for my achievements.
FUN WHILE I’M ONE: (May 13-15) 13. While we are interacting throughout the day, give me kisses and loving hugs. 14. When I am lonely, scared or bored. I will let you know by crying. I need you to comfort me. I don’t know how to handle it on my own. 16. Create a winding down, calming bedtime routine for me. Things like taking a warm bath, reading a story to me and cuddling with me will help soothe me.
MORE TO DO WHILE I'M TWO: (MAY 17 -20) 17. At a grocery store point to items: or while in a waiting room point to pictures in magazines. Ask me to name them. 18. Turn on the radio, sing a song or play a CD. Tell me to move to the music stops. Have me stop until the music starts again. 19. While dressing me, ask me what piece of clothing to put on next. Example, “Should I put on your jacket or shoes next?”
PLAY WITH ME WHILE I’M THREE: (May 21-24) 21. While grocery shopping, have me help you find the items you need. Example: Ask me to pick out the biggest or smallest item on the shelf. 23. Starting with breakfast everyday, develop daily routines for meals, naps, bath and bedtime. It is very important to have order in my life. I learn what to expect through a regular pattern which helps make me calmer. 24. While you are cooking, ask me to close my eyes and guess what you are doing by the sounds I hear. (Breaking eggs, pouring milk, running water, opening the microwave, and so on.
LETS LEARN MORE WHILE I’M FOUR: (May 25-28) 25. Find or save things for me to pretend with. Save food containers to play grocery store; line up chairs for a train or bus; set up combs or brushes, etc for a barber or beauty shop;, books and index cards to play library etc. 26. Make a game of putting laundry away. Give directions to follow. For example: Say, “Put the towels on the middle shelf in the closet and hop back.” Use words like: under, below, on top and so on to help me learn where things belong. 27. Take me on a “listening walk”. While we are out walking have me listen and talk about all the sounds I hear. Ask, “Do you hear a bird, the wind, a car horn…..?
HELP ME THRIVE WHEN I’M FIVE: (May 29-31) 29. While folding the laundry tell me to try not to laugh as you do silly things. See if you can get me to laugh. Just start laughing. See how long it takes me to join in. It is contagious. 30. While playing catch with me outdoors, change the way we pass the ball. Count to 10 while we pass it. Now have me think of a new way to pass it 10 times. Take turns thinking of new ways to pass the ball. 31. Create a “giving jug”. Provide an empty milk container and a supply of pennies. Every time I do something nice or thoughtful for someone else, I get to add a penny. When the jug is full, help me use the money to donate to a cause we decide we want to support or help.
WOW.... Week #12 of the BRAIN Initiative -- Are we making progress? From the excitement I hear in the e-mails I receive it sounds like we are!! Are you posting the fact each week? Are you e-mailing to 5 new people each week? The kids are counting on us... and appreciate the efforts you are making!!
In honor of Screen Free Week and Earth Day I have posted a brain fact on the positive difference playing outdoors can make! If you would like a wealth of information on the importance of play, Carol Torgan, Ph.D has put together a extremely valuable listof over 200 resources related to play. You can enjoy it here.
Have you sent in your nomination?
There are many terrific programs and agencies already nominated from all over the world! I invite you to nominate programs, schools, organizations, or agencies that would benefit from a donated brain activity packet in either English or Spanish.
The winner for the donation from Week #11 is below!
Following is the Week #12 BRAIN insight to share:
BRAIN
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #12
Physical play, imaginative play, and exploration are essential to developing all areas of the brain.
Let's make this common knowledge!
To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
You can simply post the insight on social network sites
You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
Additionally each week, e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!!
Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain activity packet
in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
The WINNER for WEEK #11:
Uganda Youth Development program in Kampala
A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of :
Mary K. Winters
Congratulations!!
THANK YOU to all that are participating the initiative already! Tell everyone you know about the difference we can make!
"Investing in young children 0-5 is something we can and should do." ~ Dr. James Heckman
It is critical to not only our young children that the real information about brain development is known and understood. It is also essential to our society to support and understand the value of investing in the early years. There are growing numbers of people working to create awareness and share the critical need for investing in optimal learning and healthy development. You know this and it is the reason you are supporting the BRAIN Initiative.
To help in this effort, this week I have included a brief clip from Dr. James Heckman, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, entitled Skills Beget Skills - How Early Childhood Investment Pays Off. I have provided this as an additional way to help get this information well known. So, in addition to the BRAIN Insight to share this week, you can also share this clip with those that need to hear the message.
The BRAIN Insight to share this week is again very simple.... but is very important for creating the much needed awareness.
Have you sent in your nomination?
There are many terrific programs and agencies already nominated from all over the world! I invite you to nominate programs, schools, organizations, or agencies that would benefit from a donated brain activity packet in either English or Spanish.
The winner for the donation from Week #10 is below!
Following is the Week #11 BRAIN insight to share:
BRAIN
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #10
The experiences children receive in the early years of life are crucial to learning
and overall development.
Let's make this common knowledge!
To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
You can simply post the insight on social network sites
You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
Additionally each week, e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!!
Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain activity packet
in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
The WINNER for WEEK #10:
South Shore Educational Collaborative Hingham,Massachusetts
A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of :
Daphne Knudson
Congratulations!!
THANK YOU to all that are participating the initiative already! Tell everyone you know about the difference we can make!
Isn’t it wonderful when you get simple information that can make a big difference? Sometimes the concept of brain development can seem too complicated or overwhelming. However, optimal brain development can occur very easily through every day experiences. It is essential to ensure that every adult realizes the importance of the early years and how we can support a long lasting and dramatic impact.
It is really exciting to have technology providing the study of the brain, like we've never seen before. On going scientific research demonstrates that a child's early development is determined by the environment and experiences, rather than genetics alone. For us to provide the best for children, we must understand how a child's brain develops.
Early Experiences Wire a Brain
The experiences children receive in the early years of life are crucial to overall brain development. When a child has an experience, connections are formed between brain cells. The cells are dependent on experience to create these connections. After eight months a child exposed to a nurturing and stimulating environment may already have 1,000 trillion connections created. These connections physically grow and develop the brain. It is primarily the early experiences that largely determine the basic strength and function of the brain's wiring system. It is that simple! Warm and consistent parents, who cuddle and talk to their children and provide fun learning experiences, promote healthy brain development for their children. It is so refreshing for many parents to learn that beyond meeting a child’s basic needs for safety, sleep, and providing good nutrition, all that a developing brain needs most is loving interaction and play. The Brain Adapts to Any Environment
Because the brain develops based on experience, a young child’s brain will adapt to a negative environment just as easily as it will adapt to a positive environment.
Prolonged, severe, or unpredictable stress-including abuse and neglect-during a child's early years can result in negative impacts on the child's physical, cognitive, emotional, and social growth. Babies who do not receive consistent and caring responses to their cries, and those whose cries are met with abuse, develop brain connections to prepare them to cope in that environment. As a result their ability to learn and respond to nurturing and kindness may be impaired.
It is Repetition That Makes Strong Connections.
The brain organizes through a "use it or lose it" process. The brain eliminates and strengthens connections in an effort to become more efficient. So, experiences that are repeated frequently lead to brain connections that are retained. Connections that are not used often due to lack of repeated experience are eliminated. This is how a child’s brain adapts to the experiences in daily life.
Consistency is key. The brain feels comfortable when it knows what to expect. When children learn through repetition, that a parent (or care provider) will be there for them when needed, they can relax and feel safe. Providing loving interaction, adequate amounts of sleep, healthy nutrition, time playing outdoors, physical activity, lots of creative play, and exploration contributes to a child with a healthy brain.
Through understanding how quality experiences impact brain development we can make a REAL difference. This is what children want all of the adults in their lives to know!
It is critical that this becomes common knowledge. We can ALL play an important role in making this happen for ALL children. Start now! Tell everyone you know that we can make a dramatic, long lasting and positive impact through providing quality experiences in the early years!
The reason I created, The Brain Devlopment Series is to make it easy to develop healthy brains even during busy everyday life. For further information for interaction activity ideas go to www.braininsightsonline.com
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