Early Child Development
What is Early Child development and why is it so important
From birth to 3 years old is the 'critical period' for learning.
When you baby is born he has amongst 2,000 and more neurons in his brain. Neurons linking together is what enables messaging within our brain to make our emotions, thoughts, learning ability, and self-.control. The neurons are all there, but they need to link to each other and a child needs to be held, touched, caressed, talked to, sung to, hugged, kissed and all things sugar and spice to develop these essential links.
From the time he is born, he will never make more neurons. This is what he is born with, but he will link them if he receives all he needs. The more neurons he links together, the more stable and self confident he will become. If he is not stimulated enough, if we do not answer his needs, he cannot link them. All neurons that are not linked will die.
Basically, a baby is at its full potential when he is born, but he needs stability, love and affection to become the best he can be.
(Video of a child /parent snuggling, touching, cooing to each other)
(Video of a baby playing with ? or starting to crawl/walk.)
How to assess your child's development
When attending your child's Well Baby Clinic appointment, at daycare or at HeadStart, someone will assess some points of your baby's development.
But did you know you can do that yourself?
There are tools available to assist you. You can choose to do it alone while playing with your child or you can request the support from a trained worker to do it with.