[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
Head Start
CRITICAL CONNECTIONS:
The Interplay of the
Developing Heart and Brain
15th Annual Birth to Three Institute
Presented by: Janet Humphryes, M.A.
Early Childhood Specialist/Manager
Colorado State Training and Technical Assistance Center
A member of the OHS TTA System
CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
2
OBJECTIVES
• Participants will explore how emotional
interactions affect brain development and
learning.
• Participants will review school readiness factors
for infants and toddlers including the
involvement of their families.
• Participants will practice facilitating a solution
discovery process and produce an individualized
action plan for implementing this process with
young children.CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
3CO State TTA Center
• 1304.21(b)(1)(ii)(iii): Encourage trust and emotional security
so that each child can explore the environment according to
his or her developmental level; opportunities for each child
to explore a variety of sensory and motor experiences with
support and stimulation from teachers and family members.
• 1304.21(b)(2)(i)(ii): Support the social and emotional
development of infants and toddlers by encouraging the
development of self awareness, autonomy, and self-
expression, and supporting emerging communication skills.
• 1304.24(a)(1)(iii)(iv): Work with parents on appropriate
responses to children‟s behaviors, and to strengthen
nurturing, supportive environments and relationships in the
home and at the program.
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
BRAIN GYM ®
4
Source: Brain Gym® Teacher’s Edition by Paul E. Dennison, PhD, & Gail E. Dennison ,2010
Photos © Nicole SimpkinsBooz Allen HamiltonCO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
NATURE OR NURTURE
• Nature and nurture
are so interwoven
from the moment of
conception that there
is NO separation.
• Both genes and
brains can be
significantly changed
by environmental
experience.
5CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
NATURE: DEVELOPMENT
• The brain follows a sequence of maturational
cycles with more complex skills building on
previously mastered abilities.
• Timetables for maturation vary with each
individual child.
• Foundations for the brain‟s higher-level abilities
(reasoning/creativity) are solidified with
interesting, challenging, and developmentally
appropriate activities, in environments rich in
relationships.6CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
NURTURE: EPIGENETICS
• New scientific research in a field called
“Epigenetics” is showing that environmental
influences can actually affect whether and how
genes are expressed.
– For example: Stresses caused by bad experiences
can switch genes on or off at the wrong times, forcing
them to build abnormal networks of brain-cell
connections resulting in, for example, an epileptic
seizure instead of a clear signal between cells.
Source: National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/library/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/wp10/
7CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
8CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
WHAT MAKES A BRAIN GROW?
9
Healthy versus neglected brainFrom The Biology of Transcendence by Joseph Chilton Pearce
CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
A nurturing, stress-free environment
• Adult caregivers who are able to provide
attuned, nurturing care, and have a capacity for
joy – Relationships are KEY!
• A prepared, warm, responsive, stimulating
environment
• Long, uninterrupted periods of time for creative
play especially outdoors
• Contributing to the family or group through
meaningful work
10CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
Booz Allen Hamilton
- adult caregivers who are able to provide
..attuned, nurturing care & have a capacity for
..joy Source: Guiding Children’s Potentials by Opening Hearts to Joy, Janet Humphryes & Stone Wolfsong, 2008.
CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
REFLECTION
• Is this the attachment cycle
you have provided for ALL of
the children entrusted to you?
• Who was the attuned,
responsive, joy-full person
who cared for you when
you were very young?
• What response can you
commit to using with the
children in your learning
environment in the future?12
Source: Guiding Children’s Potentials by Opening Hearts to Joy, Janet Humphryes & Stone Wolfsong, 2008.
CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
Young children experience their world as
an environment of relationships,
and these relationships affect
virtually all aspects of their development
– Intellectual
– Social
– Emotional
– Physical
– Behavioral
– Moral
13CO State TTA Center
- healthy relationships
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
14CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
The quality and stability of a child‟s human
relationships in the early years lay the
foundation for a wide range of later
developmental outcomes that really matter to
whether a child is ready for school and life.
– Self-confidence
– Motivation to learn
– Achievement throughout life
– Self-regulation
– Morality
– Capacity for friendships15CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
16CO State TTA Center
©M
ichelle
Sm
ith
FULLY engaging parents
in their child‟s early „school‟ life experiences
enhances the child‟s readiness for school
and success throughout the school years.
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
17CO State TTA Center
© P
atti T
em
plin
- a prepared, warm, responsive, stimulating
environment
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
18CO State TTA Center
© P
atti T
em
plin
- long, uninterrupted periods of time for
creative play, especially outdoors
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
19CO State TTA Center
© J
anet H
um
phry
es
- contributing to the family or group
through meaningful work
© Julie Conly
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
“In order to develop normally, a child requires
progressively more complex joint activity with
one or more adults who have an irrational
emotional relationship with the child.
Somebody‟s got to be crazy about that kid. That‟s number one. First, last, and always.”
20CO State TTA Center
Urie Bronfenbrenner Developmental Psychologist
©S
teve G
aglia
no
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
REFLECTION
• Can you see how much of an influence you have
on each of the children entrusted to you – and
on their entire life?
• In what ways are
you the person
that‟s “crazy about”
each child you
engage with?
21CO State TTA Center
© Janet Humphryes
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
WHAT ELSE MAKES A BRAIN GROW?
22CO State TTA Center
LANGUAGE!
Children who lack the stimulation, models,
or opportunities to absorb and practice
lots of human language with human models
enter school with lower high-level language skills
(intelligent listening, understanding,
using complex grammar [syntax] to
formulate sentences, a wide vocabulary,
and social conventions of language).
This leads to more learning and behavior problems.
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
• Only language experienced through HUMAN
INTERACTION is absorbed by young children!
• Screen time/electronic voices fail to improve
language use and have been found to retard
overall development of language, attention, and
related learning skills related to executive
function (self-regulation) - the strongest predictor
of school achievement and lifetime success.
Source: Dr. Patricia Kuhl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcb8nT0QC6o
23CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
WHAT ELSE MAKES A BRAIN GROW?
• Varied, multi-sensory, challenging experiences
with intellectually valid content that engage the
child‟s body, mind, and active curiosity.
• Enriched curriculum focused on expanding and
strengthening the skills and habits of mind that
will support the child in lifetime intellectual
endeavors.
24CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
SENSITIVE PERIODS
• Specific experiences affect specific brain circuits
during specific developmental states.
– Order, Movement, Language
• The quality of a child‟s early environment and
the availability of appropriate experiences at the
right states of development are crucial in
determining the strength or weakness of the
brain‟s architecture, which, in turn, determines
how well he or she will be able to think and to
regulate emotions.
25CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
WINDOW FOR: WIRING
WINDOW:
GREATEST LEARNING
ENHANCEMENT OP:
Emotional Intelligence
Trust
Impulse Control
Birth – 48 months
0 – 14 months
16 – 48 months
4 years – Puberty
Social Development
Attachment
Independence
Cooperation
Birth – 48 months
0 – 12 months
18 – 36 months
24 – 48 months
4 years – Puberty
Motor Development Birth – 24 months 2 years – Puberty
Vision Birth – 24 months 2 years – Puberty
Language Skills
Early Sounds/Sentence Structure
Vocabulary/Speaking/Reading
Second Language
Birth – 24 months
4 – 8 months
Birth – 24 months
Birth – 24 months
2 years – Puberty
8 months – Puberty
2 – 5 years
2 years to puberty
Thinking Skills
Cause and Effect
Problem Solving
Birth – 48 months
Birth – 16 months
16 – 48 months
4 years – Puberty
Music Birth – 36 months 3 years – Puberty
Source: Pam Schiller, PhDCO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
“…during the first year of life the brain is set to
wire for trust (the basis of emotional intelligence).
If the baby‟s experiences are positive
(attuned & synchronous), the brain will wire for trust.
If those experiences are negative,
the brain will still wire, but it will wire for mistrust.
Rewiring is possible in most cases,
with the exception of vision,
but it becomes more difficult with every passing day
because the wiring strengthens
as experiences are repeated.”
Pam Schiller, Ph.D.27CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
REFLECTION
• What does this information about enriched
experiences in developmentally appropriate
environments, attuned relationships, human
language, sensitive periods and brain wiring
inspire you to do with the children?
• How might you better prepare yourself to be the
brain/heart engineer children count on you to
be?
28CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
WHAT ELSE MAKES THE BRAIN GROW?
Responsive Communication Skills:
• Take time to be
fully present with
and converse with
children
• Trust in the child‟s
ability to discover
solutions to their
challenges!29CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
SOLUTION DISCOVERY PROCESS
• SITUATION: Alique hits Philippe. Philippe cries.
• Adult attends to any injury needing immediate attention and
brings both children together to resolve the conflict together.
• Adult sits at eye level with both children and asks what
happened.
• Adult says to the identified victim, Philippe, “Make a serious
face and tell Alique that you don‟t like it when she hits you.”
• Adult says to Alique, “You need to ask Philippe what will
help make him feel better.”
• Adult offers suggestions for the victim to identify what will
make him feel better and then express this to the aggressor.
• Adult assures the aggressor follows through with the
restitution requested.30CO State TTA Center
Source: Guiding Children’s Potentials by Opening Hearts to Joy, Janet Humphryes & Stone Wolfsong, 2008.
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
ACTION PLAN
• What is your plan for how you might implement the
Solution Discovery Process with children
experiencing conflict?
• What strategies will you incorporate into your daily
practices that will create and support children‟s
„critical connections‟?
• How will you help parents understand how they can
support these „critical connections‟?
• How can you plan to use more reflective practices
during your time with children in your early
childhood setting? 31CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
RESOURCES/REFERENCES
32
• Dennison, Paul E. and Gail E. Dennison. Brain Gym Teacher’s
Edition. Ventura, CA: Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc. 1989.
• Humphryes, Janet and Stone Wolfsong. Guiding Children’s
Potentials by Opening Hearts to Joy. Lakewood, CO: Joy-
FullConnections, LLC. 2008.
• Patricia Kuhl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcb8nT0QC6o
• Lipton, Bruce. The Biology of Belief. Santa Rosa, CA: Mountain of
Love/Elite Books. 2005.
• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/council/
• Siegel, Daniel J. The Mindful Brain. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &
Company, Inc. 2007.
CO State TTA Center
[contractor]A member of the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network
CONTACT INFORMATION
JANET HUMPHRYES, M.A.
Early Childhood Specialist/Manager
Colorado Head Start Training & Technical Assistance Center
Booz Allen Hamilton contractor for
DHHS/ACF/Office of Head Start Region VIII
(Office) 303-985-4246
(Cell) 303-912-0540
33CO State TTA Center
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