You as parents to be have the unique opportunity to create a better brain for your unborn child from day one. We can provide you with the knowledge and the skills to do this.

When a baby is born she born with unlimited potential but the experiences she has in her life will determine the outcome of that potential. Experience = learning. No experience = no learning. Lots of experience = optimal learning.

Your unborn children will face many different challenges to you. In all likelihood they will be working in fields that have not even been developed yet - YOU will have very little knowledge of what they are doing in their job as it will not be part of your frame of reference. We as parents need to equip them with the best tool (read brain) to deal with this onslaught.

There are certain very simple things that you as a parent can do to help ensure that your child is equipped to deal with the challenges that face her. In order for you to understand this I need to go back and look at the brain.

The brain is made up of three layers these layers have a window of opportunity to develop to their full potential. A window of opportunity is just this brief period that we have for optimum development of that part of the brain.

• The first layer is the Primal survival brain the fight or flight centre of the brain.
• The next layer is our emotional brain here we learn to love and care and FEEL.
• The last layer is the thinking brain or the cortex.

The first window is during the 14 months from birth, during this time we need to stimulate the survival brain in order to create strong muscles so that we can send messages to them that they will respond to in the correct way. We do this through encouraging movement.

A Chinese Bamboo only grows 1cm each year for three years in the 4th year it shoots up to grow to a height of 10 m. What happened in the 4th year to make it grow in height- not sure but I do know what had been happening the in previous three years. It was laying down a root system to cope with this growth if it had a week root system it would not be bale to keep it self up. This root system is what we want to build in our children in order to allow them to sustain their growth and not topple over

Once we stimulate the senses the message has to travel via Nero chemical pathways (ROOTS) to the muscles to react. How do we create these Nero chemical pathways in the brain?

By allowing our babies freedom to MOVE and EXPLORE. Nothing is more detrimental to a child’s development than being cooped up in a chair or stroller for the better part of the day.

Simply by stimulating the sense through massage and exposing them to different experiences during these crucial 14 months you are creating the networks (roots) that she will need to help her learn and help her reach her full potential. By repeating the actions you are creating the insulation (myelin) that makes it permanent.

The next window is from 14 months to 4 years during this time your child will be working on the emotional brain. This area of the brain processes feelings and emotions. This is the glue that holds the survival brain and the cortex together. We have to keep our emotional bucket full in order for learning to take place.

Only between 4 and 11 years will the thought processes be laid down. This is the area of the brain that focuses on language, creativity thought etc.

Our developmental program stands firmly on two legs. The first leg is the BABY GYM program that gives your baby a firm foundation to build that brain. This section equips you with the tools. During the five week course we will teach you why and how to stimulate the senses and the need for repetition. From week 6 she will move into the TOPTOTS program where we will give you ideas to create the experiences that equal learning.

Together we can create a whole brain experience with an excellent root system that allows messages to come through to the muscles so that her bamboo doesn’t topple over.

About the author:

Elizabeth Victor has a Higher Diploma in Education as well as a FED with remedial Education. Elizabeth has a certificate in business administration. She taught for 11 years before opening a TOPTOTS in Westville, Durban in 1997. Elizabeth is the Marketing Director for TOPTOTS South Africa.

Posted: 1 May 2006

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