The Myth of the First Three Years : A New Understanding of Early Brain Development and Lifelong Learning

Most Parents Today Have Accepted The Message That The First Three Years Of A Baby's Life Determine Whether Or Not The Child Will Grow Into A Successful, Thinking Person. But Is This Powerful Warning True? Do All The Doors Shut If Baby's Brain Doesn't Get Just The Right Amount Of Stimulation During The First Three Years Of Life? Have Discoveries From The New Brain Science Really Proved That Parents Are Wholly Responsible For Their Child's Intellectual Successes And Failures Alike? Are Parents Losing The Brain Wars? No, Argues National Expert John Bruer. In The Myth Of The First Three Years He Offers Parents New Hope By Debunking Our Most Popular Beliefs About The All-or-nothing Effects Of Early Experience On A Child's Brain And Development. Bruer Agrees That Valid Scientific Studies To Support The Existence Of Critical Periods In Brain Development, But He Painstakingly Shows That These Same Brain Studies Prove That Learning And Cognitive Development Occur Throughout Childhood And, Indeed, One's Entire Life. Making Hard Science Comprehensible For All Readers, Bruer Marshals The Neurological And Psychological Evidence To Show That Children And Adults Have Been Hardwired For Lifelong Learning. Parents Have Been Sold A Bill Of Goods That Is Highly Destructive Because It Overemphasizes Infant And Toddler Nurturing To The Detriment Of Long-term Parental And Educational Responsibilities.--jacket. Through The Prism Of The First Three Years -- The Starting Points -- Neural Connections: Some You Use, Some You Loose -- Be All That You Can Be: Critical Periods -- Club Med Or Solitary: The Importance Of Enriched Environments -- What's A Mother (or The Rest Of Us) To Do? John T. Bruer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 211-235) And Index. Challenging the prevailing belief that the first 3 years of a child's life comprise the most critical period for development, this book maintains that although there is valid scientific evidence for the existence of critical periods, the same research points to learning and development occurring throughout life. The book asserts that too many people have seen the first 3 years as the main opportunity to shape children's futures and that this overemphasis contributes to the detriment of long-term parental and educational responsibilities. Chapter 1 of the book presents the 3-strand theme evident in popular literature on the brain and early child development and discusses how they have been used in policy documents such as "Starting Points" and in the "I Am Your Child" campaign. These three strands are: (1) rapid growth of synapses during infancy and toddlerhood; (2) critical periods in development; and (3) the role of enriched environments in enhancing brain development. Chapter 2 traces the development of infant determinism. Chapter 3 explores what neuroscientists know about rapid synapse development during the early years. Chapter 4 discusses the current neurobiological understanding of critical periods and what critical periods mean for child care and development. Chapter 5 summarizes the research on enriched environments and examines its implications for early childhood education and lifelong learning. Chapter 6 concludes that the "I Am Your Child" movement and related literature oversimplify, misinterpret, and confuse what is known about early brain development. Implications of these problems for child rearing, child care, and public policy are also discussed. Each chapter contains references. (KB) "Most parents today have accepted the message that the first three years of a baby's life determine whether or not the child will grow into a successful, thinking person. But is this powerful warning true? Do all the doors shut if baby's brain doesn't get just the right amount of stimulation during the first three years of life? Have discoveries from the new brain science really proved that parents are wholly responsible for their child's intellectual successes and failures alike? Are parents losing the "brain wars"? No, argues national expert John Bruer. In The Myth of the First Three Years he offers parents new hope by debunking our most popular beliefs about the all-or-nothing effects of early experience on a child's brain and development."--BOOK JACKET. "Bruer agrees that valid scientific studies to support the existence of critical periods in brain development, but he painstakingly shows that these same brain studies prove that learning and cognitive development occur throughout childhood and, indeed, one's entire life. Making hard science comprehensible for all readers, Bruer marshals the neurological and psychological evidence to show that children and adults have been hardwired for lifelong learning. Parents have been sold a bill of goods that is highly destructive because it overemphasizes infant and toddler nurturing to the detriment of long-term parental and educational responsibilities."--BOOK JACKET.