How does a child’s brain develop? A short guide
The first few years of a child’s life are fundamental to the healthy development of their brain. During these years, over one million neural connections are formed every second. Even before birth, prenatal sensory experiences will help shape the brain and nervous system.
In the first year of a child’s life, significant ‘wiring’ of the brain occurs, particularly through the relationships and experiences the child has with the parents and caregivers. These early experiences shape children’s brain development and have a lasting effect on their mental health and wellbeing, and thus positive relationships and a rich learning environment promotes their development while early adverse experiences may alter a child’s progress. They learn emotions through observing their parents and caregivers, and how they react to various movements and sounds such as crying, yelling, smiling and cooing.
The first few years brings a rapid period of brain development which can be encouraged by positive relationships with parents and a supportive and rich community environment for children to experience. If an adult is consistently warm and responsive to the child, the brain architecture develops in an optimal way. Thus, engaging with your child and providing a safe environment and physical care has a significant impact on your child’s development.
The Wishing Well foundation
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment.
Support the Wishing Well
The Wishing Well uses its funds to help children in need access all manners of developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments. The Wishing Well takes referrals for any child/young person in out-of-home care in NSW. Applications are assessed by qualified personnel and on a case-by-case basis. The decision to fund an application is affected by the following:
- Funding availability
- The support the child/young person has to access the proposed therapies
- The capacity and willingness of the Carer Household to support the child/young person
- Assessment, which recommends and supports the proposed therapy as relevant to meeting the particular needs of the child/young person
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
The importance of healthy brain development; a short guide
Our brains rapidly develop, particularly during the early years of our lives, between the ages of one and three – they produce more than a million neural connections per second. When adolescence is reached, these brain synapses will number around 500 trillion, and this number remains relatively stable into adulthood. Brain development affects children’s ability to form healthy, satisfying relationships and it can also affect the way they are able to succeed in learning and social environments.
The healthy develop of young brains depends heavily on the quality and reliability of relationships that children and young people have within and outside the family, as well as their experiences and environment. Families have an important ongoing influence on children’s brain development, as does the community and environment in which they interact. There is even research to suggest that a person’s genes can potentially develop in response to some environmental factors.
Through the science of developmental neurobiology, we now understand that poor early development affects both physical and mental health, behaviour and learning in later life. With healthy brain develop, a child will grow into a healthy teenager and adult, socially, emotion, ally and physically.
The Wishing Well foundation
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment.
Support the Wishing Well
The Wishing Well uses its funds to help children in need access all manners of developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments. The Wishing Well takes referrals for any child/young person in out-of-home care in NSW. Applications are assessed by qualified personnel and on a case-by-case basis. The decision to fund an application is affected by the following:
- Funding availability
- The support the child/young person has to access the proposed therapies
- The capacity and willingness of the Carer Household to support the child/young person
- Assessment, which recommends and supports the proposed therapy as relevant to meeting the particular needs of the child/young person
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
Temperament; adapting your parenting style based on more or less sociable temperaments
By adapting your parenting style to suit your child’s own temperament, you can better nurture their development and help them develop the positive parts of their temperament. This will in turn help you to understand the situations that your child might find hard because of their temperament, and help them learn how to handle these situations.
Each child’s temperament can be considered in terms of how much or how little they show of the following qualities; reactivity, self-regulation and sociability.
If your child is more sociable, they will likely enjoy being around other people, doing group activities with other children and going on play dates. Children with more sociable temperaments may also be more adaptable to change, able to cope with changes to routines. You can help nurture a child who is more sociable by ensuring they have plenty of new experiences, activities and play dates, but also that they are given time to learn how to occupy themselves and one-on-one time with you.
If your child is less sociable, they may need help making friends, as they may tend to prefer playing by themselves. While they may not need much help in finding things to occupy themselves, they may feel uncomfortable at big parties or in groups. They may also prefer regular routines and not cope too well with change. You can help nurture a less sociable child by inviting one or two of their friends over for a play date instead of having a large party or group activity, and helping them learn how to cope with changes in their routines.
The Wishing Well foundation
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment.
Support the Wishing Well
The Wishing Well uses its funds to help children in need access all manners of developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments. The Wishing Well takes referrals for any child/young person in out-of-home care in NSW. Applications are assessed by qualified personnel and on a case-by-case basis. The decision to fund an application is affected by the following:
- Funding availability
- The support the child/young person has to access the proposed therapies
- The capacity and willingness of the Carer Household to support the child/young person
- Assessment, which recommends and supports the proposed therapy as relevant to meeting the particular needs of the child/young person
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
Temperament; adapting your parenting style based on more or less self-regulated temperaments
By adapting your parenting style to suit your child’s own temperament, you can better nurture their development and help them develop the positive parts of their temperament. This will in turn help you to understand the situations that your child might find hard because of their temperament, and help them learn how to handle these situations.
Each child’s temperament can be considered in terms of how much or how little they show of the following qualities; reactivity, self-regulation and sociability.
If your child is more self-regulated, they will probably be quite good at managing their reactions to emotions like frustration or excitement, they may calm down faster after something exciting or upsetting, and be less impulsive. They may be quite good at working with things until they get them right, coping with setbacks, and getting through homework without much supervision. You can help nurture a child who is more self-regulated by making sure they know it is okay to make mistakes, so that they don’t become too much of perfectionist.
If your child is less self-regulated or has difficulties in regulating their attention and emotions, they may need lots of extra help and encouragement to keep at tasks and keep focused. They may be very creative and enjoy switching from one activity to another. You can help nurture a child who is less self-regulated by using rewards to help them focus, or by making things fun for them and fostering their creativity by using games and creative activities.
The Wishing Well foundation
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment.
Support the Wishing Well
The Wishing Well uses its funds to help children in need access all manners of developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments. The Wishing Well takes referrals for any child/young person in out-of-home care in NSW. Applications are assessed by qualified personnel and on a case-by-case basis. The decision to fund an application is affected by the following:
- Funding availability
- The support the child/young person has to access the proposed therapies
- The capacity and willingness of the Carer Household to support the child/young person
- Assessment, which recommends and supports the proposed therapy as relevant to meeting the particular needs of the child/young person
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
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