Early Development is Foundation for Life
The mission of The Urban Child Institute is to increase understanding of the importance of brain development in the first three years of a child's life.
The mission of The Urban Child Institute is to increase understanding of the importance of brain development in the first three years of a child's life.
Parents often ask us what matters most in the raising of their young children. Our answer: Everything. And the best child-rearing begins before the baby is even born. A lot of parents believe that their children are born hard-wired for life, but the truth is that it's the parents themselves that largely hard-wire their children.
The first three years of life are critically important for a child’s brain development. Experiences during this time can have life-long effects on intellectual, emotional, and social functioning. The months a baby spends in the womb, along with the first 12 months after birth, are arguably the most important time of all. During this period, specialized brain cells called neurons are forming connections with each other, creating the networks that underlie thinking, learning, and feeling.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton recently talked to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam about toxic stress, brain development, and epigenetics. The mayor may not have used those actual words, but in asking for the state's help to fight Memphis' intractable poverty, he was discussing them nonetheless.
One of the first decisions a new mother is called on to make can also be her smartest. It's the decision to breastfeed. A smart decision is to breastfeed for six months. A smarter decision is to breastfeed for a year. The longer a mother breastfeeds, the healthier it is for both the mother and the baby. Fortunately, for Shelby County babies, the number of mothers making the decision to breastfeed is increasing – up 41% overall between 2004 and 2010.
Summer is here! And aside from sun, fun, and endless reasons to consume ice cream, this means that things have slowed down enough that you finally have time sit down with a book (or two). But just one look at the parenting section on Amazon.com and you’re overwhelmed by the endless resources offered. What are the experts recommending? What will be enjoyable to read? What matters for my kids?