So every time I see my parents throw their children to the "nanny" of mobile TV, I feel particularly sad. Such precious development time is wasted and the loss is immeasurable!
There's an old saying in China that "you look big at the age of three". Let's share it from the perspective of brain science knowledge this time. Why is there the phrase "look big at three years old"?
Human babies generally need to be pregnant for ten months before they can be called full-term babies, but what many parents don't know is that human beings are actually "premature". This so-called premature birth is relative to animals. Animals come into this world with mature brains, so we can see that the newborn wildebeest can stand up unsteadily in one minute, 10 minutes later, it can walk with its mother. In contrast, human children need six years to develop their brains.
Because of this "premature birth", the child's brain is highly plastic before the age of 6, especially before the age of 3. During this period, the brain absorbs information like a sponge, forming the basis of personality, ability and habits in the future.
The first secret of the brain
IQ can be changed after birth.
People used to think that genes determine IQ, that is, IQ is determined by the day after tomorrow, and IQ cannot be changed by hard work the day after tomorrow. Now, with the development of brain science and corresponding technology, we can already know that children's IQ is not fixed at birth, but there is a floating space of 20~30 points, which mainly comes from the good or bad parenting environment in the first three years.
About how the acquired environment changes the "fate" determined by innate genes, there is a story of rhesus monkeys that can inspire us.
These rhesus monkeys were born with genetic mutations. If they lack interaction with their mothers in infancy, they will become extremely aggressive when they grow up.
However, if we can form a safe interactive relationship with our mother when we are young, monkeys will not be so aggressive when they grow up, which shows that the living environment of animals in the early days can really affect gene expression. And those monkeys who feel safer will raise their children in the same way in the future. This is very enlightening to our human education: our children will learn our parenting style and pass it on to the next generation.
Therefore, the classic debate about whether innate genes or nurture determine children's IQ and personality has finally come to an end-they are closely related and influence each other.
The second secret of the brain
Someone said just now that human beings are all "premature babies"
Compared with other organs, such as lung, liver and heart. The child has developed well since birth and can be used normally, but it is still in a relatively immature state.
But this is not the case with the brain. The brain of a baby leaving the uterus is only a "semi-finished product", which is only 1/4 of that of an adult in weight. Therefore, it can be understood that the human brain does not have as complete and normal functions as the heart and kidneys in infancy.
Then the process from a "semi-finished product" to a "finished product" partly comes from the gradual expression of genes; The other part comes from the influence of living environment.
When children receive abundant stimulus information from sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and body movement, neurons in the brain begin to connect.
The newborn's brain is like many landline phones, but it can't transmit signals because there is no telephone line connection. When it receives an external stimulus, the telephone line starts to connect and the signal starts to transmit. This lays a model for children's movements, thinking, memory and feelings.
Every day, every waking moment, every sound, image and action stimulus from parents, brothers and sisters and other relatives make the baby form new neuronal connections, which are being processed into a "finished brain".
The third secret of the brain
The way the brain is used will affect its growth pattern.
A child's brain has a magical power-the ability to adapt to different environments.
No matter what country or cultural environment a child is in, he can form connections between brain cells according to the environment.
Any daily activities of children, such as eating, bathing, touching and playing, will strengthen specific brain synapses, and those brain cells that are not strengthened will eventually disappear. This process is called neural network pruning.
It is hard for us to imagine that a 2-year-old child has more than twice as many brain cell connections as adults, so the child has extraordinary imitation ability and learning ability. But without good stimulation, it is easy to miss the golden period of brain development.
What does this mean for children?
Which neural pathways will be formed and which will eventually remain depend on one's early experience.
Whether to remain willing to explore, not to give up, to focus on independence or to resist exploration, to give up easily and to rely on easily depends on one's early experience.
The key factors are repetition, regular behavior and reinforcement.
The fourth secret of the brain
Early brain cell connections are difficult to change.
What are the earliest nervous systems formed by a child?
For example, the nervous system that regulates blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature, of course, we don't want to change easily over time.
In addition to these, the brain structure related to dealing with emotions is also stereotyped from an early age. Some children are easy to escape in the face of unfamiliar environment, and some children are difficult to appease. Once these are formed in the early stage, it is difficult to change.
The earlier the nervous system is formed, the more difficult it is to be changed. That is to say, if positive emotional development is formed in the early stage, then this function can be sustained, and the child's resistance to frustration and pressure is stronger, and the harm brought to the child is also difficult to eliminate.
This positive and effective emotional response system depends on
The fifth secret of the brain
It is not too late.
Many parents will feel very sorry and anxious after understanding the importance of their children's early development. Here I must first say an encouraging word-the brain has plasticity and growth for life.
For example, if an adult is accidentally blind, his hearing will become more and more acute, because after blindness, people will rely more on hearing, and the brain will change the auditory nerve pathway to make it more acute.
The age of 0-3 is really the most crucial three years, and its value mainly lies in prevention, but if it has exceeded or exceeded, don't be deeply anxious. If we do it from now on, it will also make great changes.