Christmas WS's!
We came across an interesting article in the NY Times. It’s written by Sam Wang, associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton and Sandra Aaamodt, former editor in chief of Nature Neuroscience. They’ve just published a book that we believe is a must-read for parents interested in early learning. The book is titled: “Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows From Conception to College.”
Younger Kids Make More Progress in Reading and Math
In the article the authors advice against ‘red-shirting’ children and advocate for children entering kindergarten as early as possible. They point to studies that show that kids young for their year make considerably more progress in reading and math, and that they report more positive social and emotional feelings.
Brain Development Cannot be Put on Pause
Our biggest take-away from this article is quite poignant and I para-phrase: “The first six years of life are a time of tremendous growth and change in the developing brain. Synapses, the connections between brain cells, are undergoing major reorganization. Indeed, a 4-year-old’s brain uses more energy than it ever will again. Brain development cannot be put on pause, so the critical question is how to provide the best possible context to support it.”
