Boosting Brain Power by Jill Stamm

Author:Jill Stamm
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gryphon House Inc.
Published: 2018-04-20T20:01:47+00:00

Part 5

Bonding Messages

24. Realize the power of having at least one consistent person who loves you.

How will knowing this help me?

Although there are many things that contribute to the healthy unfolding of a new human brain, neuroscientists have now confirmed what many wonderful teachers and parents have always instinctively known: the most important thing a child needs is at least one person who loves him, one person who can be counted on to always be present and loving, one person who will never give up on that child!

Brain

Nugget

A strong bond to at least one loving, predictable, responsive caregiver is the most important factor in creating a healthy brain.

A child can certainly have more than one person, but what matters most is that there is at least that one person who is consistently and responsively there. If a child is lucky, that one person is her parent. However, if a parent is not available, then a grandparent, a foster parent, and yes, even a consistent teacher or caregiver will do just fine. The key is that the loving, responsive care is coming from the same person, over time.

So what should I try to do?

Look at your situation.

• If you are a center director, know that you should make every effort to keep the same caregiver with the same child for as long as possible. Read about what is called continuity of care in the field. The Zero to Three website defines this term as follows: “Continuity of care means that children and caregivers remain together for more than one year, often for the first three years of the child’s life. It can take different forms.” (http://www.zerotothree.org/early-care-education

/child-care/primary-caregiving-continuity.html) One option is for a caregiver to move to older classrooms as the children do. Another possibility is to have the children start as infants in a mixed-age group and remain with the same caregiver for several years until they are the oldest and move on.

• If you operate an in-home child care business, you are in a great position to maintain healthy long-term relationships with the children in your care. Once again, read about the concept of continuity of care, and be able to articulate what it is and why it matters to your families. Highlight this approach as one of the advantages a family should know about. It is a business asset you can advertise!

• If you are a caregiver or an early childhood teacher in an established child care company, try to influence your team and your management to keep children with a secure primary caregiver as much as possible. Experiment with ways to organize staffing patterns to allow for this. Consistency and continuity of caregiving for the birth-to-three population should become a primary goal of teaching staff.

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