There is a link between brain and behavioral development. In order to understand why a child behaves a particular way, or interprets their surroundings a particular way, professionals who work with children need to study the structure of that child’s brain. Children integrate their brain structures by reinforcing neuronal differentiations and linkage pathways. These pathways are reinforced with a particular state of mind. These states of mind develop “the self.” That child will process their environment using these reinforced pathways. Things that affect these pathways include adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), attachment type, relationships, emotional regulation, and their environment. The early childhood development (ECD) programs offered to children may be the only informed, healthy development a child receives. If more money is poured into ECDs then parents can be informed, responsive caregivers, and children can have more teachers affecting their development and state of mind outside the home (if home is not safe). As professionals who support children and families, it is important to educate society on what is best for healthy development in order to set children up for success.

Beginning with brain development and working towards what this means for early childhood education programs, ten major topics are discussed using research from experts in the field of childhood education.

(Siegel, 2020, p. 32)

Brain Development

• IPNB & Epigenetics
• States of Mind
• Sense of Self
• Information Processing

(Siegel, 2020, p.11)

Environmental & Relational Factors

• Development & Trauma
• Attachment
• Relationships
• Emotional Regulation

Culture & ECD Programs

• Redefining Happiness
• Early Childhood Education

Going into more depth on these 10 topics, 20 new topics are discussed relating to the social self, language and reading development, the mathematical mind, and creating student-centered education.

The Social Self

• Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Intra-natural
• Touch and Alignment
• Romantic Attachment
• Emotional Drive
• The Symbolic Mind

Language and Reading Development

• Discriminating Sounds
• Visualizing Words
• Parental Language Instruction
• How the Brain Works
• Literate vs. Illiterate
• Reading and Graduation
• The Poverty Trifecta

The Mathematical Mind

• Mathematics in the Mind
• Dyscalculia

Student-Centered Education

• The Focus of Education
• Multiple Intelligences
• Is Wrong Really Wrong?
• Altering Education
• Educating Educators
• Educating Caregivers

Interpersonal Neurobiology

Interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) is the balance between neuronal integration within someone and the positive or negative impact interpersonal relationships have on this integration. The integration of neurons creates metastability. A normal human brain expects metastability, which is the balance of differentiation and linkage in the connectome. Reduced metastability leads to reduced cognitive flexibility and processing. Extremes can affect this integrative function. Further differentiating or linking connections can lead to a more integrated brain state, increased self-organization, and increased metastability for adaptive functioning. Test scores may not depend on the task at hand, or the dynamic coupling of one brain area during the test but could be due to entire shifts in the connectivity of the brain. Occupying a specific connectivity has an effect on the executive functions of the brain. The interconnectivity of the connectome is a leading cause of well-being meaning (the more connected the higher the well-being). Differentiation and linkage are balanced with the energy in our environments. The brain is “fully embodied and fully relational,” meaning its functions are impacted by other parts of the body as well as the environment (Siegel, 2020, p. 31).

Epigenesis

Epigenesis is the alteration in gene regulation due to experience. Stressful experiences can have a generational impact on epigenetics. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) region of the brain responds to and regulates stress. Experiences can lead to open receptive states, or reactive states, which affects the overall health of the body. Early experiences affect synaptic growth, regulation of telomere length, and gene expression. Genes can be promoted or muted during gene regulation resulting in different proteins being produced in the body. Experiences impact pathways by strengthening neuronal linkages or creating new pathways. Dr. Siegel says, “where the attention goes, the neural firing flows, and neural connection grows,” in this activity-dependent process (Siegel, 2020, p. 41).

States of Mind

Dr. Siegel says that a “state of mind” is the total pattern of activations in the brain at a particular moment in time. (Siegel, 2020, p. 81). When a certain “state” like an emotion or action is thought it involves many related clusters to create an action or prepare for an activity. There can be varying degrees of blurriness or sharpness and can vary in length. Repeated activation of states of mind leads to a goal-directed, specialized “self."

A repeated state of mind can contribute to neural firing that alters the neural connectivity. Repeated activation of particular states makes them much more likely to be activated in the future like the activation of shame or despair. This means that states can become individual traits that influence internal and interpersonal aspects. A state of mind combines the simpler regulatory systems of the brain to the more complex abstract thoughts of the brain. These are systems that control the perception, emotion, memory, behavior and mental capacity of our state of mind. Connecting or creating cohesion between these different systems allows us to create a more rigid and secure process. Not having flexibility in our brain system can lead the brain to be overwhelmed when something that is not within this rigid informational processing system is introduced to the brain. This can be traumatizing and overwhelmingly alter the neural connections. Children with disorganized attachments may have a repeated non-cohesive pattern of activation in their state of mind so they go back to dissociation when they are stressed. People who have depressive tendencies reactivate these neural pathways in every system of their state of mind at a lower energy state of mind. A certain event (even if it is small) can trigger someone to go back to that state of mind again and again to reinforce it. Our states of mind are sensitive to external cues and social contexts.

Brain shaping will never occur in an adult like it does in a baby. Practice makes perfect, so as new things are processed, then new connections form, and the unused connections are lost. As babies interact with adults, they learn to respond to facial expressions and language. Their brains come ready to be built and “programmed” and are mostly “programmable” in the first three years of their lives. The executive function is how information is stored so the social, emotional, and cognitive capacitates of the mind can respond appropriately to circumstances. A state of mind also holds all these different facets. A state of mind is influenced by many external, relational, and internal factors. It is crucial that a baby has positive, external influencers and sensitive parenting to build the best self-regulatory executive functions. This all begins with early childhood development (ECD) programs.

Interconnected Web

The interconnected web is made up of activated regions with various inputs and outputs connecting specialized cells with set functions. Experience affects the brain by altering the strengths of synaptic connections. For a child, a particular movement is done with a particular outcome in mind. The more this action is repeated, the stronger the neural connection becomes. Children do not increase to a new “stage,” but rather have more complex interactions with their environment over time through trial and error behaviors.

There are four things children need to develop this "interconnected web": a responsive caregiver, rich language, play that promotes learning, and good nutrition (Brain Matters, 2020, 15:41). This interconnected web contributes to the specialized functions “web” in the brain. A responsive caregiver promotes brain cohesion using rich language and promoting play to build upon the synaptic connections. Play opens up new connections by creating new possibilities that stretch the child’s imagination and further the interconnected web. Good nutrition allows the child to have the energy to consistently use the previous three building blocks. If the brain is tired, it is less creative and less likely to play and grow.

The self is as an internally organized cluster of attitudes, expectations, meanings and feelings. This self is heavily influenced by the relationships and caregivers in a child’s life. The child’s environment determines which of the self’s neural pathways are reinforced and what self the child always goes back to. Looking at adult relationships, children learn how to respond to a situation or a feeling.

Early childhood development (ECD) programs focus on building child skills. They focus on self-control to learn perspective taking, communication, creativity (reassemble the world to see it in news ways), critical thinking (especially in knowing what is real and valid in a world of half-facts), risk taking (try something new), and being a self-directed engaged learner. All of these things grow various parts of the self. As children build relationships where they take someone’s perspective or critically think about how another person may react then they build a self with proper meanings and feelings. Self-regulation is an important part of childhood development. A child who is well regulated is better suited to work through social and behavioral issues. Children who can wait longer at age four are better at managing stress, use drugs less, have fewer self-esteem issues, and get in less fights (Brain Matters, 2020, 35:04).

Children who have ACEs are at a disadvantage because their brains have been structured by unhealthy relationships and improper neural pathway connections to work through their emotions. These children could benefit from programs like ECD or mind up because these programs look out not only for the child, but the parents, caregivers and community surrounding that child. Currently, children are unprepared for learning once they arrive at school. Fifty percent of children are overwhelmed by real life stressors that hinder their learning (Brain Matters, 2020, 38:38). When a child is stressed or in survival mode they are unable to use their full cognitive capacity and the stress hinders their creativity. Children need to learn self-regulation and be shown examples of healthy relationships by teachers, caregivers, and role models. Investing early in young and communities improves the country’s economy by improving the quality of graduates, job quality, lowering the rate of criminal activity, and lowering government expenditures on welfare. (Brain Matters, 2020, 50:04).

The Lantern and the Flashlight

Adults have a purposeful, focused approach to solving problems. Their brain acts like a flashlight to highlight the part of the brain best-suited to solve the problem. Babies have more of a lantern approach where they take in large amounts of information from different sources and don’t narrow down one thing to pay attention to. When adults are put in new situations, they are taking in many new streams of consciousness, so their brains act more like they used to when they were babies.

Chicken and Crows

The experiment compared crows, birds as smart as chimpanzees, and chickens, one of the most unintelligent species of birds. Baby crows depend on their moms for two years, while chickens are mature in a couple of months. The longer childhood of the crows (compared to the chickens) helps the birds become more intelligent. Humans, like crows, can survive in different environments, are flexible, and their babies depend on them for a long period of time. The negative side is that human babies are helpless until they complete this learning stage. Humans have a long, protected learning stage where they build their brains in order to use these brains to solve problems as adults.

Broccoli and Goldfish crackers

In this experiment, each child was given crackers and raw broccoli. All of the children liked the crackers over the raw broccoli. The experimenter would agree with the children half of the time and the other half of the time the experimenter would pretend she liked the broccoli over the crackers. She would ask the child to give her some food, and the child had to decide whether they were going to give the experimenter what the experimenter liked or what the child liked. This was tested on 18-month-olds and 15-month-olds. The 18-month-old would give the experimenter what the experimenter liked, while the 15-month-old would give the experimenter what the 15-month-old liked. This showed that the 18-month-old could take the experimenter's perspective. Within a three-month time span, the children learned this profound lesson about human nature (TED, 2011, 3:36).

“Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that cause toxic levels of stress or trauma before the age of 18 are linked to poor physical health, mental health, chronic disease, lower educational achievement, lower economic success, and impaired social success in adulthood” (Baum & Peterson-Hickey, 2013, p. 3). Over half of Minnesotans have experienced at least one ACE, 60 percent have two or more ACEs, and 15 percent have five or more ACEs (Baum & Peterson-Hickey, 2013, p. 3). ACEs compound on one another, and someone who has experienced one ACE is likely to report other ACEs.

Children who have experienced trauma have significantly impaired cortical functioning. Each year, nearly one-third of children attending U.S. public schools will have significantly impaired cortical functioning due to abuse, neglect, domestic violence, poverty, and other adversities (Perry, 2016). Understanding the effects of trauma on a child's brain, and how these effects alter the ability to learn is essential to improving our public education system.

When a child has emotional and social support they develop a well-regulated stress response in order to learn and grow positively. When poverty or stress impacts a child, this leads to emotional and behavioral learning problems. The brain shuts down areas that control impulse in the neocortex, so children have a hard time learning cognitive content in school.

Children who have experienced trauma are in a constant state of alarm that keeps them from focusing on content in school. Teachers need to adopt a regulatory practice for those students. Traumatized children learn at a slower rate, are usually disengage from the material, and every year they fall behind (Perry, 2016). Teachers who understand trauma can address these behavioral problems in the classroom. Creating safe, trauma informed education practices can help all students in the classroom (especially students with ACEs). More trauma sensitive programs should be developed in schools to provide education to all of the students not just the ones higher on the achievement gap.

Attachment establishes an interpersonal relationship that helps the immature embodied brain to use the mature functions of the parent’s body and brain to organize its own processes (Siegel, 2020, p. 167). Uncomfortable emotions such as fear anxiety or sadness are things a child is not able to process with their immature embodied brain, but parents on the other hand have already processed these uncomfortable emotions and can use their mature brain to soothe a child. Attachment can be either asymmetric developmental attachment or romantic attachment. Either way, a relationship helps bring a sense of comfort and relieves stress.

Attachment style can be traced back to its origin with the parents. When parents have mindfulness, are coherent within themselves, and possess mindsight (see themselves and others) then this translates to a more secure attachment with their children. Instead of reacting to a behavior, parents with mindsight can interpret the child’s behavior and teach their child to be attuned to their own needs. The children are able to better regulate their bodies, attune to others, and balance emotions (PsychAlive, 2011, 0:20).

Within the first seven months of an infant's life they will choose one or two people to become very closely attached with and will develop attachment expectations. Repeated scenarios where parents show secure attachment become stored in a child's memories as expectations where the child creates a schematic of how these interactions will go. People form mental models of caregivers and can pull these mental models up when they need comfort. People can also form mental model scripts of how they believe a scenario will play out based on past experiences. (Siegel, 2020, p. 186) These things are reversible using therapy, new caregivers with secure attachments, and romantic relationship partners. Attachment is important for determining the way a child emotionally regulates themselves and neuronally develops so it is important to take it seriously.

There are four main types of attachment: secure attachment, ambivalent attachment, avoidant attachment and disorganized attachment. Secure attachment involves a child feeling secure, confident, and connected to their environment, so they seek comfort from their responsive caregiver. This type of attachment develops trusting relationships, good self-esteem, and the child seeks social support. In ambivalent attachment, the child receives unresponsive care, so the child is distant, aggressive, and lacks empathy. This child has problems with intimacy, and emotionally investing in relationships. In avoidant attachment, the caregiver has poor availability, so the child is easily distressed, and is not comforted by their caregiver. This child has trouble getting close to others, and worries about not being loved. In disorganized attachment, the parent is threatening. This child is confused, anxious, and apprehensive, so they act as the caregiver to their siblings. This child takes on the role of the parent, and has an inability to form attachments. “Environmental factors, such as a stressful socioeconomic conditions, may increase the probability of disorganized attachment” (Siegel, 2020, p. 179). Secure attachment is the attachment type that helps a child to be the most successful and healthy, but these other attachment types are the reality for many children. (Harney, 2020)

"Children have fewer emotional, social, and cognitive interactions with fewer people in the “modern” life" (Perry, 2015, 9:27). Bruce Perry terms the current relational state of humans a “poverty of relationships,” where people are deprived of social and emotional opportunity (Perry, 2015, 9:52). This is far worse than the poverty of material things because relationships physically build the brain we use. As people grow and develop through relationships they are able to build a brain to self-regulate stress and cope with changes. As people interact they physiologically change who they are. This is “use-dependent” development where a fequently activated neural system is continually activated (Perry, 2015, 11:10). Currently children are not relating with people as much as they need to be in order to build a healthy, regulated brain.

In order to fully express all of the pathways to be a humane human, people must “unlock” these characteristics and personalities. You have to be shown love and compassion in order to show love and compassion to someone else. In a world of relational poverty, people are not biologically creating the pathways for these traits, and as a result are more susceptible to diseases of the mind. These children struggle to differentiate between right and wrong, and regulate emotions.

There are five main characteristics to emotional health: recognizing our own emotions, managing our own emotions, recognizing the emotions of others, self-motivation and self-regulation, and learning to handle relationships. Understanding emotions like frustration, and agitation helps children learn the words to the emotions that they feel. When children are taught that emotions are unacceptable, they either throw a tantrum to grab the attention of any caregiver, or they suppress their emotions which can be dangerous to their emotional well-being. Caregivers and teachers who can explain the context of an emotion when children are overwhelmed, help a child learn to recognize their emotions. After children recognize their emotions, they are able to manage their emotions. Instead of biting a friend or throwing a tantrum, a child learns to use their vocabulary to express their emotions. When a child can regulate themselves, they are able to recognize the emotions of others. A child can interpret the emotions of someone else and realize where they fit into that emotion. No child is able to reach this level of self-regulation and self-motivation on their own. They need responsive caregivers every step of the way. Being able to self-regulate allows children and adults to listen and accept differences in relationships. Emotional maturity occurs over time, so even as adults, emotions are still being recognized, and managed (Harney, 2020).

Emotion is at the heart of many regulatory and complex, abstract systems in the brain. “The emotional centers of the brain are involved in every thought, every decision, and have different principles of learning” (Densley, 2015, 0:43). Both women and men develop emotionally, but each is better at certain characteristics of emotional development. Women are better on average at empathy, while men are better on average at managing anxiety, anger, self-confidence, and motivation (Densley, 2015, 2:00). Daniel Goleman highlights that companies in search of employees look at an applicant’s cognitive ability (IQ), technical expertise, and emotional intelligence (Densley, 2015,3:57). Someone who is emotionally well-regulated can recognize the emotions of others, and better “manage people.”

A measure of self-regulation was the marshmallow experiment. They followed the children in the experiment for 18 years and the ones who were able to wait for the second marshmallow scored higher on happiness, success, adjustment, and popularity (MindPositiveParent, 2011, 1:00). When children are challenged, frustrated, or disappointed, they learn the meaning of “no.”

Our culture defines a fulfilled, happy life as one where we are rich and famous. When millennials were asked what their important life goals were, over 80% responded to get rich, and 50% of these people said another goal was to become famous (Waldinger, 2015, 0:25). The “modern” culture values working harder and more frequently to achieve job satisfaction. In the longest study on adult development, 724 men were followed in a Harvard study over the course of seventy-five years. Two different groups were studied: sophomores attending Harvard University and boys from one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Boston. The study collected medical records, blood samples, and brain scans while interviewing the men, their wives, and their children.

This study concluded that after seventy-five years these men were happiest and healthiest when they were socially connected. People who are lonely and lack meaningful relationships are unhappy, unhealthy, live short lives, and their cognitive functions decline faster (Waldinger, 2015, 6:40). More than one in five Americans report that they are lonely (Waldinger, 2015, 7:01). This is the sad reality of the “modern” culture. It does not matter the quantity of the relationships that a person holds, but rather the quality and depth of those relationships. Just by studying the quality of the relationships that these men held, the researchers were able to predict how happy they were going to be as they grew old. The real definition of a happy life is not a life full of wealth and fame, but a life full of meaningful relationships with people we love.

Currently, there is a “quiet crisis” in early childhood development. Children have inadequate prenatal care, isolated parents, substandard childcare, live in poverty, and have insufficient attention from caregivers ("Starting Points: meeting the needs of our youngest children," p. 2). In the “modern” age, our livelihood has shifted as more mothers are in the workforce. Parents feel they have two work shifts: one shift at their daily job, and one shift teaching their children at night. Currently, the provided American childcare system is not reaching the standards of care that children so desperately need. To quote the quiet crisis article, “The lack of quality childcare not only deprives children of attention and undermines healthy development; it can also greatly intensify the strain on parents, especially mothers” ("Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children," 1994, p. 4-5). The quality of child development stems from the quality of a parent’s development. As a society, we need to alter the strain on parents so they can give their children the time and attention the current ECD programs do not provide. The other option is to make childcare more affordable and accessible for more families. Right now, the American school system is too focused on classroom learning, and not focused enough on interaction. Children need early childcare that allows them to explore, get outside, interact with multiple objects and people in order to increase their vocabulary and regulation skills. These types of ECD programs are costly which is the reason this continues to be a "quiet crisis." Children cannot stand up for themselves, so educators need to inform the nation about the poor quality and accessibility of American ECD programs.

Not only does this shift need to take place in early childcare, but also in schools. Teachers need trauma-informed educational practices in their classrooms. If a child is being difficult there is a possibility that child has non-secure attachment in their home life. The worst thing to do is to isolate that child, and reaffirm their belief that they do not deserve unconditional love. The best thing to do is build a relationship with that child and shown them they deserve unconditional love. (Therapist Uncensored Podcast & Community, 2018, 10:20).

The brain is most malleable as a baby, yet society spends very few dollars on early childhood education. This money ends up being spent on mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and juvenile justice. If this money is reallocated to early childhood education, then society can build a more inventive, biologically respectful education system that alters children's brains for success (Perry, 2015, 16:13).

Humans are both interpersonal and intra-natural, with the individual as the “inter” and nature as the “intra” (Siegel, 2020, 371). Neural development and social development need to coexist in order for us to survive and thrive. Our social brain is not hardwired by genetics but developed over time. The interpersonal intra-natural parts of who we are shape our identity. As part of the interpersonal and intra-natural body, interacting with others gives us a sense of how the world works. If shame has played a large role in repeated actions with caregivers then we sense ourselves as having something innately bad about us. We filter things through this lens of shame so who we are and what we do are always affected by shame.

Multiple intelligence defines the interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of how we are shaped. Interpersonal involves understanding and interacting with others. People who possess interpersonal skills have many friends, and empathy for others. They can be taught through group activities, and seminars. They are great with tools like telephones, email, and writing (Lane, n.d., para 6). Intrapersonal is understanding one's own interests, and goals. These people tend to be shy, but are in tune with their feelings, are motivated, and confident. They teach themselves independently using books, creative materials, and write in diaries to establish their thoughts (Lane, n.d., para 7). Those who have a strong relationship with a caregiver who shows them how to interact with others allows them to have a stronger sense of who they are. People who interact with others are able to understand others and have empathy along with many friends. People who have a strong inner self are able to meet others where they're at emotionally since they can self-organize and regulate their emotions well.

Touch is an extremely important part of parent child relationships because it helps directly shape the electrical activity of an individual’s brain (Siegel, 2020, p. 370). We communicate verbally and nonverbally with other people and in a sense this relational aspect helps us become who we are. Internal emotional states are externally communicated with others as part of the way the brain develops. This communication is referred to as attunement (Siegel, 2020, p. 386). Alignment is altering your own mental state in order to understand the mental state of another person (Siegel, 2020, p. 386). Part of successful parenting is meeting a child where they're at and bringing them to the state you are at, so they learn how to regulate emotion around others. Relationships help us to have empathy and meet people where they are at by altering the state that we are in.

In romantic attachments individuals “interlock” their states of mind. Interlocking means that each individual has a repeated pattern of a “modeled relationship” and when they begin a relationship together, these histories affect their own relationship. Dysregulated interlocking states can be traced back to a poor attachment model for each individual in that relationship (Siegel, 2020, p.397). In order to form a healthy romantic attachment, both of these individuals must find a balance between flexibility and continuity as they form more complex states of mind together. Couples therapy is a fantastic solution to help couples alter these distressing interlocking states of mind (Siegel, 2020, p. 397).

In past relationships, if there was a negative or poor attachment these individuals may not understand what a healthy relationship looks like. Past attachments may have shown a person abandonment, isolation, disconnection and rejection, but healthy relationships are supporting one another through these times as an individual works towards internal regulation and connection (Siegel, 2020, p. 398). Nurturing positive attachments where a romantic couple supports one another and reflects together can be a positive of couple’s therapy.

The brainstem and limbic areas are the source of emotion and motivation in people (Siegel, 2020, p. 389). Emotion and cognition are two systems that work hand in hand in the body. There are eight specialized circuits or systems in the body that show this linkage: seeking/desire, fear/anxiety, rage/anger, lust/sex, care/maternal nurturance, panic/separation, distress/grief, and playfulness/ physical social engagement (Siegel, 2020, p. 389). These emotional systems drive many of our motivations as human beings. Systems like these are affected by attachment and drive our behavior as well as the behavior of others around us. As children develop an attachment style with a caregiver, their limbic region of the brain matures (Siegel, 2020, p. 390). “The more intricate our social environments, the more complex our cortical structures, perspective-taking ability, and memory capacity” (Siegel, 2020, p. 390). This makes sense because as children receive more care, they react and respond to their environment in a trial and error capacity. This allows children to explore and learn more than they would if they were exposed to fewer social environments.

The brain creates symbols whose action are themselves symbolic - they carry information" (Siegel, 2020, p. 275). Symbols are re-presenting the world, so they are representations (Siegel, 2020, p. 272). A mental symbol is a pattern of neural group activation that contains information (Siegel, 2020, p. 275). When our mind hears a word or sees an object, there is a neural circuit that lights up in the brain to re-present that symbol to us. In this way this information is an energy flow. This symbol is re-presenting reality in your brain and is not actual reality. Processing symbols, and information processing with categories, and concepts is the cognitive process. The mind codes objects, words, and complex things in its own language. These can be represented as sensory-perceptual, conceptual, and linguistic (Siegel, 2020, p. 281). It is unique that information is energy “in-formation.” The patterns of energy relate to states of a person. We construct our experiences of what we see in reality in this subjective flow of energy that creates information.

Patricia Kuhl studied babies and sound development at a young age. She found that adults are “culture bound listeners” (TED, 2011, 2:54) and babies can discriminate all of the sounds from different languages in the 6-8-month time period (TED, 2011, 3:31). Babies are able to develop as many languages as they want when they are little because they understand the sounds, but they just need an adult to show them how to turn the sounds into words and sentences. From the 8 to 10 month time period, the critical period of language development, the babies diverge in research to their respective languages. Some languages, like Japanese, have a certain letter sound different from English. Babies take statistics on these sounds to develop the sounds that appear more frequently in their language (TED, 2011, 4:46).

In the left hemisphere of the brain there is a region dedicated to recognizing visual words (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 2013, 2:25). This region does not complete the task of reading, which requires a brain circuit, but specializes in the accumulation of words (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies , 2013, 2:30). In illiterate people, this cortical region is used for facial and object recognition instead of word recognition (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 2013, 3:10). This cortical region is “neuronally-recycled” for a new function (Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 2013, 3:22). After babies recognize sounds they must learn to form words, and after forming words, an entire brain interaction takes place to form languages.

Parents need to work on a child’s language development at younger ages since language drastically declines after the age of 7 (TED, 2011, 1:27). Parents cannot wait till their child is in school to start language development because by that age the child has already missed most of “the critical period.” It is important that babies are exposed to new languages with human being interaction. When babies interact with television sets or audio recordings they do not absorb the language sounds they hear like they do in person (TED, 2011, 7:41). This is important for parents to realize that putting on television show, or a children’s podcast will not improve their child’s learning like human interaction. Parents should have their children communicate with toddlers and adults from different cultures (TED, 2011, 7:02). If these children communicate with adults and toddlers with a different statistical frequency of sounds in their language then the baby will develop the ability to discriminate these sounds better.

The temporal lobe is responsible for discriminating sounds, phonological awareness, and decoding words (Fast ForWord Reading Program, 2008, 1:47). The frontal lobe is responsible for speech production, reading fluency, and grammatical comprehension (Fast ForWord Reading Program, 2008, 2:20). The angular gyrus is a reading integrator that links visual input to audio output (Fast ForWord Reading Program, 2008, 2:38). All three of these parts of the brain contribute to a child’s ability to read. As one part of the brain is strengthened, the rest of the brain is in turn strengthened. Dopamine and acetylcholine strengthen these pathways between brain regions.

In the left hemisphere of the brain, brain imaging techniques allow researchers to watch the neuronal movement through the brain as a child reads one word. The brain’s processing moves from the back at the occipital lobe to the front (Wise Channel, 2013, 3:55). The brain first recognizes the letters, then combines them into words, and finally connects the words through areas of the brain for speech sounds and meaning (Wise Channel, 2013, 5:49).

Imaging and studying the brains of people from all over the world ranging from illiterate to literate at varying reading levels allowed Dehaene to understand how the brain changes in response to reading. First, the brain’s letterbox is activated at varying degrees depending on a person’s reading level (Wise Channel, 2013, 9:50). The brain connection between letters and sounds is reinforced for people who have learned to read. Illiterate people recognize objects using their letterbox and as someone learns to read, their letterbox shifts to recognizing letters, and this previous function for objects and faces is moved to the right hemisphere (Wise Channel, 2013, 10:10). Literate and illiterate people have different regions specialized to recognize either letters or faces.

Educators understand the importance of a child mastering reading by the end of third grade and most students who do not reach this milestone do not receive a high school diploma (Hernandez, 2011, p. 3). These children who do not master reading by third grade are four times more likely to not receive a high school diploma (Hernandez, 2011, p. 3). For three fifths of the people who do not receive a high school diploma, they can account that failing to not mastering reading by third grade (Hernandez, 2011, p. 3). These rates are different in schools with high levels of poverty. Twenty-two percent of children living in poverty do not graduate as compared to six percent who are not in poverty. This statistic raises to 32 percent for students spending over half of their childhood in poverty (Hernandez, 2011, p. 4).

The poverty trifecta is influenced by three factors: impoverished children have less language exposure, poverty changes the way the brain matures, and impoverished children experience high levels of stress (Vasconcelos, 2017). There is a 32 million word gap between children from impoverished families and children from higher income homes (Vasconcelos, 2017). Impoverished children have less developed frontal lobes resulting in reduced self-control and listening, reduced memory capacity and ability to listen and formulate thoughts for reading comprehension, and a different occipital lobe structure (Vasconcelos, 2017). Toxic stress can lead to children who have overdeveloped fear and anxiety pathways and underdeveloped learning and reasoning pathways. Teachers who understand the poverty trifecta can target vocabulary and cognitive skills in the classroom to help bridge this gap or use neuroscience-based instruction methods to improve reading and cognition skills (Vasconcelos, 2017).

Mathematics is the science of patterns (Sousa, 2012). Mathematics makes the invisible and visible patterns in the world understandable by simplifying these problems into variables that are easy to manipulate and then expand into the bigger picture. Students are turned away from mathematics, because the simple number concepts and counting skills are monotonous compared with the exciting variable manipulation and problem solving. Children who struggle with harder math problems have a mathematical disorder stemming from the basics (Sousa, 2012). Children need to see the bigger picture and realize that mathematics can be useful in many different facets of life to make sense of problems that are invisible or nonexistent. Mathematics is manipulating the unseen into a statistic to predict what could be.

Dyscalculia is like dyslexia for numbers (Numberphile, 2012 ,1:15). Dyslexia is due to an inability to analyze the sounds of language (Numberphile, 2012, 1:27). This can be especially difficult for people who are trying to combine English letters to its sounds since these are not as consistent as other languages. People with dyscalculia have a difficult time recalling telephone numbers, reading time, and shopping (Numberphile, 2012, 2:43). Dyscalculics have abnormal brain structure due to their genetics particularly in the X-chromosomes (Numberphile, 2012, 5:00). Highly intelligent people can still be dyscalculics. Dyscalculia links a difficulty in mathematics and numbers to genetics rather than intelligence. It is important to be aware of chromosomal mutations outside of our own personal genetics to understand others.

As Ken Robinson commented, public education is structured with the end goal being to produce University Professors (TED, 2007, 9:56). This is a fair point because all the creative subjects are a low priority compared to mathematics and logic. Ken’s point that academic ability has come to dominate our view of intelligence is correct (TED, 2007, 11:59). I think people look at grades in school and labeled you as intelligent based on a standardized test score. More people worldwide will be graduating through education than ever before in history around the time of this TED talk in 2007 (TED, 2007, 12:28). There is a level of academic inflation now more than ever (TED, 2007, 13:03). People who used to get a degree and have a job are now going back home because they really need more education to get a good job. Education has spiked and the structure of education is rigid and standardized. The focus of education no longer seems to be the students, but rathser how quickly they can be “stamped and shipped into the workforce” so to speak. There needs to be a shift towards student-centered education.

Howard Gardner of Harvard identified seven different intelligences that he termed multiple intelligences. Children process information and apply this information in various formats. It is important for caregivers, parents, coworkers, employees , teachers, and students to understand that everyone thinks about problems using different intelligences. Educational systems assume all children think and process similarly so it is possible to standardize learning, but Gardner tells us this is not the case. The seven intelligences include visual- spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and logical-mathematical (Lane, n.d., para 3). Visual-spatial people are very aware of the physical space like architects and sailors. These people are best taught through drawings and physical imagery (Lane, n.d., para 3). Bodily-kinesthetic people are very aware of their body and communicate through body language like dancers and surgeons. These people are best taught through physical activity and hands-on learning(Lane, n.d., para 4). Musical people work with rhythm and sound and can be taught through rhythmic speaking and musical lyrics (Lane, n.d., para 5). Interpersonal people understand through interacting with others while intrapersonal people understand their own interests very well (Lane, n.d., para 6). Linguistic people are good with words and are taught through reading books and audiobooks (Lane, n.d., para 8). Logical-mathematical People are good at reasoning and calculating and can be taught through logical games and mysteries. These people tend to focus on detail (Lane, n.d., para 9). Everyone has a different multiple intelligence and some people have more than one multiple intelligence that explain their learning style.

Is a wrong answer always wrong? I think there is this misconception that a wrong answer needs to be made right, and right is based on repeated fact. I think education needs to shift away from this misconception. I think that facts should be corrected, but education makes this the main focus using standardized tests with right and wrong answers. Many of the topics worth discussing anf learning about include multiple answers and gray areas. For mathematical courses and logic courses right is right based on the laws of nature, but in other courses this is not the case. This focus on math in every university leads to a decrease in student creativity. By the time children become adults, they become frightened of being wrong (TED, 2007, 6:03). This is important for people to realize. Ken Robinson says, “if you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original” (TED, 2007, 5:53). I think this is such a great quate as it emphasizes the whole point of education. If students only continue the work of previous generations, then education cannot move forward. People need to be educated to think not reiterate true and false statements. Universities are educating people out of their creative capacities which is sad, but very true (TED, 2007, 6:18).

It is important to look at the science of learning to learn how students best learn in order to alter educational practices (TEDx Talks, 2012, 5:03). The top emotion students exhibit in the classroom is anxiety (TEDx Talks, 2012, 8:09). Teachers put a lot of stress on students and understanding the emotions of students will allow teachers to meet students where they are at. Students are feeling creatures that think not thinking creatures that occasionally feel (TEDx Talks, 2012, 8:30). It is important that teachers and administrators are intentional with learning environments to make them something beautiful and enjoyable as well as informative and conducive to movement (TEDx Talks, 2012, 10:00). This makes students feel peace and a sense of respect for these environments rather than stuck inside of a school. Altering education into a positive experience rather than a negative experience opens up the creativity of students.

Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value (TED, 2007, 13:40). I urge educators to allow students to be creative and leave space in the classroom for discussion and creativity. I urge educators to give credit to assignments with the right or wrong answers, but also to assignments that require discussion and thought. I advise teachers who assign projects to give students plenty of time to think on these projects and spread them out over time in order to allow students to be creative and learn rather than just rush to complete the objective and not turn in their best work. I think everyone, event adults need checkpoints on projects so having those set in place to diminish procrastination is still important. Projects are a way to express creativity and avoid “the right answer” assignments. Students think through the lens of their emotions, so learning needs to include emotion (TEDx Talks, 2012, 7:05). I liked this comment from Dr. Hardiman and I think education needs to have more discussion based learning where credit is awarded for struggling with concepts rather than a search and peck to complete an objective. Learning also needs to have an easy to follow flow of ideas where the concepts are presented at the start of a unit and the students are easily able to revisit these concepts as they learn. This educates students to be self-learners (TEDx Talks, 2012, 13:17). Education needs to be student-focused with the end goal in mind to make students self-learners.

Education begins with caregivers in the home. After watching Ken Robinson’s TED talk I would say that if your children are unlike you or their peers, learn how to educate them in line with what they are good at not against their biology. I think it is important to show children different possible occupations and hobbies and see what they find fascinating. Parents can help guide children to find their passion, but they cannot force a child to believe in the educational system. Sometimes a child may need help focusing, but other times children are independently minded and very creative.

Children need help rehearsing and repeating concepts at home because children learn best through repetition (TEDx Talks, 2012, 15:35). This is important to their success in the classroom, and teachers do not have the time to individually challenge children at school. It is important that parents challenge children at home to expand upon basic concepts learned at school through creative activities and tasks (TEDx Talks, 2012, 18:41). Parents should help their children get involved in extracurricular activities such as robotics club or a theatre production that helps children use their math skills or memorize lines for the play. Parents could also help their children plant a garden at home to work on mathematical skills (TEDx Talks, 2012, 19:50).

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