Professional Learning for Busy Educators

The human brain is constantly changing with every experience and interaction. Although experience-responsive brain growth occurs throughout our lives, and the brain’s most rapid growth occurs during gestation, there’s an intense second period of accelerated growth between ages 2 and 5. The brain responds particularly robustly to learning experiences, environmental influences, and emotional interactions during these childhood years. This is where preschool teachers come in.

These structural changes, reflected in children’s accelerating understanding skills, and in their cognitive, social, and emotional maturation, are the result of neuroplasticity, which is the activation of a group of neurons connected in a memory circuit that makes the connections stronger. That is the amazing process of learning. Neuroplasticity generates these changes in neural networks in response to knowledge and experience, enhanced by each new and repeated activation of the network.

Did you know that more than just about any other activity, play is what promotes the healthy development of your child!

The most important thing to remember about play is that it should be pleasurable.  That means that if your child is having fun, then you are doing it right!  Play can use the mind, body or even props.  It engages the imagination and exercises the muscles, and it also allows our children to practice new skills.

All children are curious beings.  They like to explore and play, and these behaviours usually come quite naturally to them.  Play that allows for exploration provides a sense of discovery and learning.  This discovery and learning are actually a valuable source of pleasure to the child.  They find exploring and learning fun.