Children's Minds

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With practice and the right support, children learn to organise and control the tasks in their mental headspace, like an air traffic controller organises and lands aeroplanes in a busy airport (Shonkoff et al, 2011). From your observations of the children engaged in self-initiated play you will have knowledge and understanding of their favourite television characters, soft toys or superheroes. Very young children may be interested in putting their toys in pieces of fabric. Playing peek-a-boo and hide and seek are good ways to extend their play, in ways that are sensitive to their needs. Just as an air traffic controller can learn to manage arriving and departing flights, children can learn to manage their mental processes through practice and support. Building executive function skills

Early Brain Development and Health | CDC

For older children, choose a superhero that’s popular in the setting, for example Super Daisy or Spider Man. Provide pictures of the superhero and a superhero toy. Suggest to the children that they could make a house for her/him so that he can live in the setting. If you do not have a superhero toy in your resources, improvise with dolls’ house figures. These interactions invite children to listen and to use spoken language to imagine, recall stories, predict and give each other instructions. helping parents and carers avoid becoming overloaded and support them in maintaining a stable, low-stress environment within a framework of supportive and committed adult-child relationships. The first Sharing the Brain Story metaphor describes how the development of children’s brains is like the development and construction of a house. Focus on the experience rather than have a defined outcome. Children’s responses or representation may be different to what you expected, you should welcome this. Before I started my new job I wanted to try and get some idea of how children's minds work. This book was recommended to me - it's short and easy to read, and conveys a lot of information in language that is clear and easy to understand. Donaldson looks at the Piagetian theory of child development in terms of mental abilities and comprehension of concepts such as conservation, and uses examples from research to show what children are actually able to do in practice.Discover how sensitive, responsive parenting can help to build bonds between children and their caregivers Like improving or rebuilding the architecture of a house – refurbishing rooms, strengthening foundations – the brain can also be improved and rebuilt following childhood trauma through an active process of maintenance and care from supportive, trusted adults. You might want to use music to help you carry out the activity. For example, use a favourite song, nursery rhyme or action song. You could ask the children to play to the beat of the song. Soothe and care for children when they are distressed – this helps their brains develop healthier ways to manage stress (Crowley, 2017).

Children’s Minds by Margaret Donaldson | Goodreads

Interactions between a child and an adult is like playing a game of tennis. When adults ‘return’ the child’s ‘serve’ with a positive response, a ‘rally’ is created. As good quality materials help build a strong house, positive experiences during childhood help build healthy brains. Children’s responses can be physical, emotional, social, cultural or a combination. Younger children might respond in verbal and non verbal ways, for example, a toddler swaying to music. Other stresses can be ‘tolerable’. For example, children are usually able to cope with bereavement if they have the right ‘buffers’ or support from parents, carers, friends and family.In one example, she refers to Piaget's 'three mountain' task where children's difficulty in switching perspective (what you could see from the other side of the mountain) is used forensically to define the limits of a particular developmental stage. Donaldson cites a counter-task staged by Martin Hughes where the consideration of another viewpoint is framed in terms a child can relate to, the story of a 'naughty boy' who is hiding from the authority figure of a policeman. Children doing this task were more engaged and successful than they were with the 'three mountains.'