Brain Development

One of the most recent developments in our understanding of children has come from brain research. Much of the brain research has focused on the importance of early childhood education, but a lot of what we have learned from brain research is directly applicable to the elementary school years. Pat Wolfe and Ron Brandt, in the article "What Do We Know from Brain Research?" in Educational Leadership (November 1998), have synthesized the practical points educators and parents can glean. This article describes four specific findings: (1) the brain changes as a result of experience; (2) IQ is not fixed; (3) some abilities are acquired during sensitive periods of learning; and (4) emotions have a strong influence on learning.

The brain changes as a result of experience but not just any experience. Children’s brains are innately curious, social, and collaborative. The brain does not progress by taking in meaningless data. It develops best in an enriched environment in which children have opportunities to understand and make sense out of what they are learning. For this reason, certain activities such as memorization and completing worksheets should be limited.

Intelligence is not fixed. The more enriched the environment, the greater the chance a child will increase his or her IQ. But what is an enriched environment? By enriched we don’t simply mean more is better. In fact, many people have been in elementary classrooms in which they felt overwhelmed by all the junk in the room, on the walls, and even hanging from the ceiling. Enrichment is more a qualitative difference than a quantitative one. For example, covering lots of topics on the surface is not enrichment. Going into more depth on fewer topics is enrichment.

The brain is sensitive to particular periods for optimal learning. However, this time frame may be over several years. For example, we know that children are more likely to learn a foreign language well if they begin learning it before the age of 10. After the age of 10, it becomes more and more difficult. The same is true for social skills such as making and keeping friends. Young children who have started making friends in elementary school are more likely to continue developing friendships (at a higher level) than if they did not start making friends during childhood.

Emotions have a strong influence on learning. Emotions play important roles in brain development and student learning. For example, the more passionate a child is about something, the more likely he or she is going to learn it. The more excited a child is about something, the more likely that child is to remember details about it. The brain knows that this is important to the child and will remember and organize it.

Emotions are also related to stress. Just how much stress is important or detrimental to learning? A mild level of stress is sometimes helpful to learning. This often has to do with fair and consistent discipline. Children who know the rules and also know they are expected to follow them are more likely to pay attention and learn if the learning activities are interesting. However, too much stress is detrimental. Too much stress interferes with brain activity. We see this in schools quite often with math phobia or reading difficulties. More recently we have seen an increase in school fears in general because of safety issues. Some children realistically fear for their health and safety in schools where children bring guns, knives, and other weapons. Such a place is not conducive for learning because too much stress influences the brain.

One of the largest issues in brain development is parenting. Parents influence a child’s brain development far more than we previously believed. For example, children who are abused are much more likely to develop a history of arrest, more likely to commit a violent crime. Even if there is not neurological or brain damage from physical abuse, neglect still has a long-term, damaging influence on children. However, there are many things parents can do to enhance brain development. These include reading to children every day. That’s right—even through the elementary school years. Parents who talk, play, and even sing with their children are more likely to enhance their children’s brain power and emotional growth. Parents can also work to provide a safe, healthy environment for their children. Parents who spend time with their children and encourage them are helping their children become what God created them to be.