Showcase of Innovative Practice

Windows of Opportunity in Early Learning

In the 1990s, what was known about infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and the early school years of young children took a huge leap forward. Since then, educators have attempted to integrate this new knowledge into early childhood education programs, publications and workshops for teachers, and public campaigns, such as I Am Your Child. Information is still being refined and reflected upon to determine how it is best to improve opportunities for very young children.

Let's take another look at what researchers have found. Some investigators have been looking into measuring the learning strategies of infants and toddlers. New technologies, such as the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans, have allowed others to study brain development of very young children. The EEG (electro-encephalogram) can detect brain waves under different environmental conditions. At the 1996 national conference, Brain Development in Young Children: New Frontiers for Research, Policy and Practice, the leading scientists, child development researchers, and early childhood experts released proceedings which included these key findings (Shore, 1997):

1. Human development hinges on the interplay between nature and nurture.
2. Early care and nurture have a decisive and long-lasting impact on how people develop, their ability to learn, and their capacity to regulate their emotions.
3. The human brain has a remarkable capacity to change, but timing is crucial.
4. There are times when negative experiences or the absence of appropriate stimulation are more likely to have serious and sustained effects.
5. Substantial evidence amassed by neuroscientists and child development experts over the last decade points to the wisdom and efficacy of prevention and early intervention. These findings have implications for teachers, parents, and children in family literacy programs. Many of the critical times and timing issues of developmental opportunities referred to are centered on the first three years, before children even enter preschool. A child at age three has a brain that is two and a half times more active than the brain of an adult. The developing brain will remain that active during the childhood years.

Now, let's consider each of the points with family literacy in mind. Throughout history, children have been perceived in dramatically different ways: from miniature adults to blank slates to being dependent only on the genes they were born with. Today, we realize that genes and the nurturing environment around a child interact to determine how that child will develop (finding #1). This interaction or "interplay" is hard-wiring the developing brain. At birth, the infant's brain is not finished developing. However, by age two, the toddler will have 1,000 trillion connections or "synapses." This is twice as many as her parent. By late adolescence, half of the synapses will have been eliminated or pruned. The developing brain produces and eliminates synapses throughout life. The major point is how dramatically important the first ten, and especially the first three years, are. During the first three years, the production of synapses or connections in the brain is greater than at any other time in life. For the rest of childhood, production and elimination of synapses is more balanced. Elimination takes a priority after adolescence. Adults in a learning situation can produce new synapses and modifications that are driven by experience. Brain development is best characterized as "use it or lose it."

How does the developing brain establish and keep the synapses or connections? This is where the importance of early experiences to the infant and toddler cannot be emphasized enough. Family literacy can play an overwhelmingly positive role in permanently impacting the development and later school and life success of a child. The developing brain must have stimulating early experiences to activate the neural pathways that the synapses are on. Creating a strong attachment to the infant with daily talking to, singing to, and reading to in a loving, nurturing way allows the infant's developing brain to activate the pathways. Repeated stimulating experiences reinforce the pathways. At some point a threshold of pathway strength lets the synapses become permanent. That connection will not be eliminated. The child's brain is permanently changed (finding #2).

In addition, researchers have been able to recognize that each area of the brain develops at differing times - there are sensitive or prime times for certain types of learning. Windows of opportunity exist for various types of learning, such as, language acquisition in the early years. During a window, well-timed experiences create a situation for many connections to be established (finding #3). For example, having a literacy-rich environment and meaningful, nurturing parent/child interactions can increase a child's vocabulary. The framework for that type of knowledge or skill is more quickly and efficiently developed in this period. Understanding that an infant is, from birth, learning and experiencing the world through all of her or his senses is significant for parents and caregivers. An enriched environment and optimum stimulation of a developing brain facilitates the wiring of synapses, which can determine how successful the child may be in school and in learning to read. During childhood, the prime times are important, but not inflexible. Some experiences are more dependent on sensitive periods, while others cover a wider time frame (Bransford, 2000). The brain has some plasticity in that it has the capacity to recover from an injury or a medical problem more easily than an older person.

Having access to and using good parenting information to strengthen family and child attachments and productive parent and child-together time right from the start is extremely important to the developing child and, by extension, to family home life. A good home life circles back again by providing a comforting environment for the young child. Quality child care during the early years is important in more than just safe and sound issues. Daily interactions must be stimulating and nurturing. The lack of such interactions can be very negative. Not only can brain development be compromised, but the child's ability to learn self-regulating emotional skills can be impaired. Responsive care in the first year of life helps a child learn self-calming skills; those pathways and connections are reinforced. This is especially good for children with highly sensitive temperaments. Children without skills in place for emotional self-regulation in stressful situations have a difficult time attending to learning activities in early childhood programs and later in school. School success becomes elusive. Responsive, warm, consistent care results in a more resilient child.

Researchers suggest that early exposure to repeated stress and violence can result in the brain's development being changed to accommodate an increased alertness state. Stress and fear produce a chemical in the brain that can destroy brain cells (Logue, 2000). This chemical has been linked to aggression and impulsiveness. Logue's Even Start report indicates that a parent's ability to manage stress while caring for her/his infant is crucial (finding #4).

The knowledge we have about the developing child continues to grow as more answers are found about how critical each window of opportunity is. Educators realize that the whole environment the child interacts with in the first three years of life can impact her or his capacity for learning, literacy, and school readiness. The Rethinking the Brain proceedings conclude with the principle, "first, do no harm." While a young child's brain development remains somewhat flexible, maximizing opportunities for early learning must be strived for. Implications for family literacy programs are to integrate these findings in ways to increase developmentally appropriate opportunities for the early learning of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (finding #5). Early childhood educators have recognized the importance of safe play/learning experiences, verbal interactions, routines, good nutrition, limiting television, using discipline to teach, responding to each child's temperament and cues, bonding and attachment, and parent engagement in the child's life, including school life. Family literacy programs have the ability to provide educational information on many levels. Establishing links to strengthen families, improve the quality of child care and early childhood education are continuing goals.

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. eds. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Logue, M. (2000). Implications of Brain Development Research for Even Start Family Literacy Programs. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

Shore, R. (1997). Rethinking the Brain: New Insights into Early Development. New York, NY: Families and Work Institute.

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