What’s your favourite article? Mine is:
The Science of Early Childhood Development, from Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child (2007). I love it because it is (so far) indisputable; it’s based in scientific research; and it’s very real when it comes to the VALUE of CONNECTION-BASED PARENTING.

Here are few findings from the article:

• The basic architecture of the brain is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood.
  
• Early (*childhood) experiences affect the quality of that architecture by establishing either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the learning, health and behavior that follow.
• Scientists now know a major ingredient in this developmental process is the “serve and return” relationship between children and their parents and other caregivers in the family or community.
• In the absence of such responses, or if the responses are unreliable or inappropriate, the brain’s architecture does not form as expected, which can lead to disparities in learning and behavior.
• Emotional well-being and social competence provide a strong foundation for emerging cognitive abilities, and together they are the bricks and mortar that comprise the foundation of human development.
• Scientists now know that chronic, unrelenting stress in early childhood, caused by extreme poverty, repeated abuse, or severe maternal depression, for example, can be toxic to the developing brain.

What does it all mean for parents (***THIS IS WHAT I HELP PARENTS WITH***):

• The first 3 years of life are utterly important to how the brain develops; parents need connection-based tools to support the child’s brain development;
• Parents are the primary source of safety and secure attachment for the young child; when secure attachment is compromised, the brain development is compromised; this means that learning (grades, school),  language, thinking skills, social skills and resiliency are compromised long-term;
• Toxic stress such as a mother’s depression or anxiety, a high-conflict divorce, financial struggles, abuse ( either being the object of abuse, or the witness of the abuse) will affect the child’s mental and physical health all the way into adulthood.

What kind of support do you need in your parenting today? (*** I AM ACCEPTING FEW MORE PARENTS FOR 1:1 SUMMER SESSIONS***)

• screens/ phone / social media addiction
• tantrums
• divorce/ in- between- homes challenges
• lack of motivation/ doesn’t care about anything ( except their phone!)
• lying
• aggression
• sibling rivalry
• bad language/ disrespectful