Brain Development of Kids – All You Need to Know

In this post, we will be giving you a detailed information about the brain development of kids and we will also give you some tips using which you can help your kid during this phase.

Have you ever wondered why we all think and behave differently? Even siblings and twins are often very different in so many ways. The reason for this is how an individual’s brain develops. There are a plethora of factors that decide how a brain is going to be wired and this process is far more complicated than anything we could imagine.

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Let’s dive deeper into this subject now.

Brain Development Process

Our brain is made up of millions of brain cells that we call neurons, these neurons make connections(synapses) and thus form circuits and networks that results in our overall personality. These synaptic connections are what decides our way of thinking, behavior, and preferences.

Astoundingly, a baby is born with brain cells and circuits that is a lot more than what they will ever require. What matters the most is to keep in mind that the kid’s brain changes according to the situations, relationships, environment and anything new that comes to their awareness.

As what we have talked about how the synaptic connections are formed, years of research works have proven that the most important factor which determines this process is the environment in which a kid grows. Right from the beginning which means even before a baby is born the process of brain cell making connections begin and it continues at a great speed during their childhood.

These neurons and synapses do not remain the same as the child grows, depending on the life experiences of the kid new connections are formed and the old ones that are unused get eliminated. Also, the new connections strengthen due to the rapid use of these sections.

Role of Parents and Authority Figures in the Brain Development Process

Considering what we have discussed in the above paragraph, it becomes very obvious that the shaping of a child’s brain and behavior entirely depends upon how they are raised and what kind of circumstances they are frequently facing.

The mindset and behavior of the people around whom a child grows greatly affects the wiring of their brain cells and thus results in their unique way of thinking. Children learn directly and indirectly by observing how the people in their environment conduct themselves.

For example, if the authority figure or parent give them a lot of love and care then their”affection and love” brain cell connections are strengthened whereas on the other hand if they are raised using stringent methods that involves a lot of scolding or punishing then their brain forms an unhealthy type of connection which leads to various emotional problems in kids.

Sometimes the indirect unloving behavior of parents like not giving much time to the kids or fighting in their presence also negatively impacts this process. Children also intuitively pick up the emotional states of people who are close to them.

One of the main problems that people often have to face in their lives is related to how they form their relationships with people, the roots of their tendency to trust others and have healthy relationships come from the quality of the bond they had with their loved ones during their childhood and this has a direct impact on the self-esteem of children.

The 4 Cognitive Stages of Development

The famous psychologist Jean Piaget has given some great insights into the cognitive development which tells us a lot about the initial development stages of the brain which are illustrated as the following 4 points:-

1 – Sensorimotor Stage

The initial perception of a kid is entirely based on their senses, for about 2 years kids make use of their five senses to formulate the image of the world and understand their surroundings.

2 – Preoperational Stage

As we have seen in the above point children engage themselves in exploring the world around them using their senses but due to the underdeveloped parts of the brain which are responsible for memory and creativity, they don’t make much sense of reality in that early stage. This is why we hardly remember anything that happened before we were about 2 years old.

From 2-7 years kids develop memory and imagination power which allows them to understand the world from an entirely new perspective.

3 – Concrete Operational Stage

From age 7-11 children start to come out of their shells and understand that there exists a world beyond their own life bubble. This is the stage where they start to take interest in the happenings of the society and they begin to understand the thoughts and feelings of others.

4 – Formal Operational Stage

Once the kid’s brain has reached to the state where they can understand the world from a proper perspective it begins to develop the logical part using which the child learns to perform various intellectual functions related to problem-solving.

 

Considering the above points, we can conclude that every person has certain cognitive weakness and strengths based on how their brain synapses form connections in each of the above stages.

In the child development process, you can contribute in many ways among which 2 main areas are how you support them emotionally and how you help them to strengthen their creative, logical and other skills.

In our future posts we will discuss in detail on how you can help your kid using various techniques and tools, please do visit our site again for new updates.

Here’s a product recommendation that will help you to build a healthy mindset for kids, it is a law of attraction based program for children. Even if you don’t believe in concepts like that, these books will help you to raise happy kids and develop their personality by teaching them the right attitude to be successful in life – 4LifeHappyKids

You can check out this Youtube video which describes how a baby’s brain develops in its early stage:-

 

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