Brainwave Seminar

I was lucky enough to attend a Seminar by the Brainwave Trust on Normal Brain Development in Infants and how to Grow Great Brains ...
The Big Idea was that consistency, responsiveness and loving care grows children's brains.
Although I knew that the human brain does a huge amount of growing and connecting up in the first 3 years I was astounded to learn that an adult brain weighs 1400g, at the age of 1 a child's brain is already 1 kg and at 3 a child's brain weighs 1200g. Great food for thought in terms of those early years and the importance of opportunities     

I was particularly interested in the power of play and the ability of the brain to make connections through repetition and that play to a child is work - great to keep thinking about how this applies to the development of a Reception Class.

The other big ideas that resonated were around 'attachment' and that it is the 'umbrella' under which all other development occurs.

Along with that the discussion around resilience ...Children are born adaptable but not resilient - we all too often talk about children’s resilience but they are not born resilient.

Ngā mihi ki nga kaiako o Pt England Kindy for hosting us, a great night of thinking and learning.