Children’s brain development peaks only once in a lifetime. Doing these 3 things can widen the gap between children.

Parents have a persistent love for \”smartness\”. As long as any product is labeled as \”smart\”, there will always be people flocking to it. Not long ago, I saw such a piece of ridiculous news: a senior girl in high school was unable to concentrate on studying, so her mother gave her a \”smart drug\”. Two months later, her grades improved by leaps and bounds, and she broke into the top ten in the class. . In fact, \”smart drugs\” are central nervous system stimulants used to treat ADHD, and long-term use can cause mental dependence. Buying \”smart drugs\” for her children reflects the mother\’s hope that her children will succeed. But do “smart drugs” really exist? There is no medicine in the world that can make children smarter after taking it. But there are many ways to promote children\’s brain development: From the beginning of pregnancy, we can hear many \”secrets\” about making children smarter: eating sesame seeds and walnuts, drinking milk powder containing DHA, prenatal education… Although these \”secrets\” You can\’t beat him to death with a stick, but you can\’t completely accept it either. A child\’s brain development is a dual function of innate genes and acquired environment, and even acquired environment is decisive. The saying \”three points is destiny, seven points depends on hard work\” is very appropriate. So, what \”secrets\” are hidden in children\’s brain development? A child\’s intelligence level indeed determines his or her whole life, but the method of encouraging children to grow can only be \”fantastic\”. The most important thing is to understand the \”code\” of your child\’s brain development and build a good \”engine\” for your child\’s intelligence. The journal \”Brain Structure and Function\” points out: Human brain development is affected by many factors and lasts a long time. Our brains are developing starting in the womb and continuing into early adulthood. Despite such a long time, the first five years after birth are the most active stage of brain nervous system development and are considered the \”golden period\” of brain development, and the period before three years old is the peak period of the \”golden period\”. The process of brain development is essentially the process of establishing connections between neurons. There are no connections between neurons in the newborn\’s brain, and most areas of the cerebral cortex are not active. When stimulated by the outside world, neuron connections grow at an alarming rate. At the peak before the age of three, each neuron forms connections with other neurons at a rate of 700-1,000 per second. This is the huge potential of infant brain development. Complex neural networks are like traffic in a city. If roads extend in all directions, we can naturally reach our destination faster. Similarly, the more connections established between neurons, the faster the child\’s reaction and the \”smarter\” it will be. This is what the folk say \”the more the brain is used, the more flexible it becomes.\” Early brain development has an important impact on a child\’s life, learning ability, cognitive level, interpersonal relationships, self-control ability, etc. Many parents around me are obsessed with \”early education\”. Early education toys, early education classes… As long as you hear that they are beneficial to children\’s brain development, you are willing to spend any amount of money. In 1996, the University of Alabama conducted a 12-year observational study: a group of six-month-old babies lived in a rich environment with friends, nutrition, learning and play opportunities; another group The baby\’s living environment is relatively simple. 12 years later, they found that children who grew up in a rich environment had higher IQs. So, how to give children enough nutrition and a rich environment to stimulate brain development? \”Hardware facilities\” must be equipped – have a healthy foundation. Almost every mother has heard of the important role of DHA in brain development. Indeed, DHA plays an important role in the growth and development of nerve cells and is called \”brain gold.\” Its importance is because the brains of infants and young children require a large amount of DHA to meet the needs of brain development, and the human body cannot synthesize it by itself and can only obtain it through food intake. The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends that pregnant women and lactating mothers should consume no less than 200mg of DHA daily. Just eat 1 egg a day, 2 to 3 fish meals a week, and at least 1 meal should be seafood fish with high fat content. For babies who are exclusively breastfed, if the mother consumes enough DHA in their daily diet, the DHA in breast milk can be supplied without additional supplements. If breastfeeding is not possible or breast milk is insufficient, the baby can choose formula milk powder rich in DHA. For babies who start to eat complementary foods after 6 months, as long as DHA-rich foods appear more frequently in the complementary foods; for example, one egg a day, seafood 2 to 3 times a week, and the amount of breast milk or DHA-containing formula milk powder It is enough and no additional DHA supplement is needed. In addition to DHA, there are many nutrients that can promote baby\’s brain development, such as protein, lecithin, choline, etc. A picture briefly summarizes what foods you can get these nutrients from. The main food sources of nutrients are DHA eggs, fatty deep-sea fish such as salmon, hairtail, and yellow croaker, seaweed such as kelp, seaweed, and shrimp. Protein: soybeans, mung beans and other beans, cheese, lean pork, beef, mutton, chicken and duck meat and other meats, eggs, duck eggs, shrimp, walnuts, etc. Lecithin, egg yolk, soybean, milk, animal brain, animal liver, etc. Choline: pork liver, beef, tofu skin, eggs, hairtail fish, pork, shrimp, pistachios, pine nuts and other nuts. With so many types, mothers must be confused. To put it simply, as long as the baby has sufficient milk and a balanced diet, the \”hardware\” can still be provided. \”Bad stimulation\” must be eliminated – have a stable environment. As parents, we often focus on how to \”supplement\” our children, but ignore that the environment created for our children itself will inhibit their brain development. Yale University School of Medicine in the United States recruited 193 adults aged 18 to 25 who had witnessed violence, abuse, physical or mental neglect, severe separation or loss, and verbal abuse in childhood. When their brain volume was measured, the volume of three key parts of their hippocampus was reduced by 5.8% to 6.5% compared to adults whose childhood was stable. The hippocampus is an area of ​​the brain associated with emotion, memory, and other functions. In other words, exposing the developing brain to too many such negative stimuli can affect neuron development and possibly reduce brain volume. This is a comparative picture of a cross-section of the brain of a 3-year-old child. The left picture is a normal child, and the right picture is a child who has been extremely neglected or beaten. Clearly, we can see that children who grow up in extreme environments, the brain development level is seriously lagging behind. Of course, neglect, spanking, and scolding are just one type of early childhood undesirable stimulation. Parents often quarrel over trivial matters, which makes the family atmosphere sensitive and fragile; continuous negative words make children lack self-identity; the living environment contains heavy metals such as lead and mercury or other harmful substances, which will inhibit children\’s brain development. The introduction to the \”American Academy of Pediatrics\’ Parenting Encyclopedia\” states: If a child\’s stress is persistent and recurring, the body\’s response may be harmful, changing the way the brain works and even changing the individual\’s gene expression. Way. Being able to respond positively and promptly to your child\’s needs can help protect your child\’s brain from stress. Every child needs to be convinced that his parents and other relatives love him and believe him unconditionally, so that he can feel secure, and security is an important factor in the normal development of a child\’s brain. Giving children an environment of love and attention, away from neglect and quarrels, is the best early education. Give more \”good stimulation\” – high-quality company. We know that children\’s brain and nervous system need constant stimulation in order to develop and mature better. Many parents have realized the importance of companionship, but they may still not know how to play with their children, which is high-quality companionship and is beneficial to their children\’s brain development. Professor Hong Lan, director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at National Central University in Taiwan, proposed three methods to stimulate the development of children\’s brains: exercise, reading and games. Exercise stimulates the secretion of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline, which are the key to promoting neural connections. During the newborn period, give him more touch, \”passive exercises\”, and let him lie prone; after he can crawl, encourage him to crawl more and explore the world; after he learns to walk, he can often walk, dance, and wave his hands to music; he can often walk to music, dance, and wave his hands; After you can run and jump, regular outdoor exercise is a good choice. Reading Professor Hong Lan pointed out: Speaking is instinct and reading is habit. Reading is the fastest way to absorb information, because the eyes can read 668 words in one minute, and speaking can speak 250 words in one minute. Reading is three times faster than speaking. Reading will \”change\” the structure of the brain. During the process of thinking, brain neurons are constantly establishing connections, which is equivalent to a high-speed central processing unit. When children are young, they may not understand the content in the book, but the mother\’s voice is the best stimulation. After they grow up and can understand stories, intimate parent-child reading can quickly calm down the children and allow their brain development to expand infinitely. Games Creative games are more effective than video games for children’s brain development. Moreover, children who grow up in interactions between people can better appreciate the vitality and will not be so obsessed with cold video games when they grow up. In addition to close parent-child interaction, play more games with your children to exercise creativity and imagination, so that they can use their brains more. Having said this, many parents may still be confused and don\’t know how to play games with their children. In fact, it is very simple. On the one hand, let children use their hands more. Games such as origami, stacking blocks, and kneading plasticine are themselves beneficial to intellectual development. The so-called \”This is the principle of \”dexterity\”. On the other hand, when playing toys or games, let the children take the lead and actively explore the unknown. For example: often \”accidentally\” ask the children \”why\”, so that the children do not forget to think while playing; Set up obstacles for small games and allow children to think divergently to overcome \”difficulties\”, etc. The so-called early education is not an early education course, but the close interaction between children and their parents. These high-quality companionship skills are the most important for children\’s brain development. Good early education. A study from the Center for the Development of Childhood at Harvard University shows that as we grow older, the brain\’s ability to change gradually decreases, and the effort required to make such changes becomes greater and greater. In other words: as we age, As time goes by, the ability to change the brain and behavior will decline. If you want your child to have a higher intelligence level, seizing the golden period of early education is the fastest \”shortcut\”. If your child is in the period of brain development \”Golden period\”, then congratulations, you can make good use of this period to lay a good foundation for your child\’s life. If your child has passed the \”golden period\”, don\’t be depressed or blame yourself. Human brain development It is a long process, and it is better to make up for it than to let it go. Seizing the \”golden period\”, supplementing the nutrients needed for brain development, staying away from bad stimulation, and regularly accompanying your children to exercise, read, and play games are the most effective \”smart medicine\” for your children. .