The statement about early learning is not a pathetic expression. It is a result that American scientists from Virginia and Pennsylvania have come to. They have been studying children's brains for 40 years and have found that developmental activities with children affect the size of the brain and the intelligence of children.
112 children under 3 months of age from single-parent and poor families were selected to participate in the experiment. They lived in families, had full medical care and were well fed.
The first group of children were read books, shown pictures, given educational toys and socialized 5 days a week. As they grew older, the program became more complicated. In the second group, children grew up in normal conditions, without intensive education.
Scientists observed their lives for 40 years and then made final conclusions. It turns out that up to the age of 21, the participants of the first group studied better, passed intellectual tests more successfully, were more self-confident and communicative. Career, family, science and commerce also formed and developed better in the participants of the first group.
Why is this happening
If we explain how it works from the point of view of neurobiology, a layman will fall asleep at the second second. Let's try to explain the process with a simple example. It does not give the exact wording, but it explains the meaning.
Children's brains initially have more neurons than they need. It's as if they are built to last. Neurons need to form synapses (connections). Every second, about 700 new neuronal connections are formed in a child's brain. Some neurons are programmed to operate the heart, breathing, and so on. But some of the neurons sit and wait for their tasks. As soon as a child has a new experience, a neuron is assigned a function. The more experiences, the more neurons will be occupied.
If a child does not study new information, does not get new experience, then neurons die off for uselessness, they are not in demand. If a child is constantly learning something, reading books, solving complex problems, learning languages, learning poems, practicing memory, developing attention, then neurons do not die off.
What to do?
It is not enough to give neurons new functions - we need to keep the synapses active. And that means continuing to learn and develop, enriching the child with new experiences. If a connection in the brain is not used regularly, the brain removes such a connection like a weed.
The older a child is, the more their brain is formed and the more difficult it is to learn new knowledge. That's why we recruit children from 4 to 14 years old to unlock their potential and help them become successful adults.
It's like a tree. A young tree is flexible. We can shape it, direct its growth in the direction we want. But if we want to shape an already big tree, we will have little success.
