What You Should Know About How Kids Learn

Child Development Basics That You Need to Know

Don’t you know that children develop skills the way builders build a house? How do they do it? They start with the foundation. They build on that foundation at different stages of development which determines what the house will look like and how to get from room to room. In comparison, here are eight key things that you should know about how kids learn and build on their different skills.

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The Child’s Brain Wiring System – How Is It Built?

Each brain cell (neuron) in your child looks like a young tree. As children take in information about their immediate environment, their neurons reach, branch out and create connections with each other. Called neural pathways, these connections are like an electrical wiring system. Each neuron can have multiple inter-connections with other neurons.

The “wires” don’t touch. Instead, they pass information at the gaps between neurons—the “electrical boxes” known as synapses. Brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) help power the system to get these messages through.

The Neural Pathways – How It Work

Each of these neural pathways is a circuit. When a stimulus goes through the circuit, it triggers a response. Consider an electrical circuit for example, when you flip a light switch, a light comes on. There are some brain circuits that are already developed at birth like the ones for breathing and circulation.

Other circuits in the brain are “activity-dependent.” They need input to work, and the more input they get, the better they work. These input come from all the experiences kids have. Sounds, sights, tastes, smells, the way things feel and emotions all help the brain to release neurotransmitters and power those brain circuits.

The Neural Pathways – It Also Get Pruned

The neural pathways that are used more often get stronger. Circuits that are not used weaken and disappear over time through a process known as “pruning.” Children have more circuits than they need. Pruning happens all the way through childhood and adolescence. That means kids’ brains are flexible enough to work continuously to build new circuits and refine commonly used neural pathways. This is known as “plasticity.”

Taking Advantage of the Plasticity of the Neural Pathways

For kids who have learning and attention issues, plasticity takes a very important role. Their brains process information differently compared to other children, and they don’t always use brain chemicals effectively. These brain differences make it harder to create or strengthen some neural pathways. Intervention to teach kids alternative ways to process information consider the brain’s plasticity and takes advantage of it. It helps neurons build new pathways. The information may have to take a detour and take a little longer to get where it needs to go, but it can still get there.

Your Child Learn Through the Senses

Kids don’t think about developing neural pathways. It happens naturally to them as they explore and learn about the world. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget came up with a famous theory about how children develop cognitive or thinking skills. The first stage is when babies use their senses—sight, sound, touch, taste and smell—to start to make connections. They taste, shake and throw objects. They also start to roll and reach for things and, eventually, crawl and walk.

As they do all these activities, they build neural pathways that control their movement, vision, language development, and others. For example, babies keep making sounds that get them attention they need. They keep putting things that taste good into their mouths, and they keep moving to places they want to see. As they do these things, the brain strengthens those circuits and helps make the activities easier.

Your Child Learn Through Language

Language development takes off between ages 2 and 7 years as kids learn more words, use more complex sentences and even read a little. This is the best time to provide children with a language-rich environment because the more words and ideas they’re exposed to, the more neural pathways they’ll develop.

At this time, you might see your child use a big stick as a horse or turn a box into a rocket ship. Kids now use objects to play more imaginatively. Social skills develop slowly at this age because kids aren’t ready to understand logic, reasoning and other people’s perspectives. They often have difficulty putting themselves in other people’s shoes and can be critical of other children’s choices and behavior.

Your Child Learn Through Logic

Kids start thinking more logically from 7 years old to about middle school. At this stage, they are more able to make connections between things. They become “detectives” who are able to see clues and put them together. Kids develop the ability to take turns, put themselves in other people’s shoes, and understand that actions have consequences. The circuits that process emotion and feelings strengthen and mature. In this stage, adults can support children by helping them reflect on things like cause and effect.

Your Child Learn Through Reasoning

As they become teens, kids start thinking more abstractly and with more complexity. They consider the “what ifs” of situations to figure out possible outcomes. In terms of school, this means they’re able to do more complicated math and understand characters and plots in deeper ways when they read.

Socially, these new skills help them see that other people’s reactions are sometimes based on different perspectives and experiences. Physically, it means they’re able to put different types of skills together to do more complicated things like driving. The wiring system of the brain becomes much more complex and intricate, with neural networks intertwining with other circuits to allow all of those skills to work together.

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