FAQ Number 2

How do you know how smart your child can be?

According to Dr. David Perlmutter’s book, Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten, “Science now tells us that the human brain is unfinished at birth. There is a brief window of opportunity in a child’s life when parents can help create a brain that is built for optimal performance.”

According to other phenomenal work done at places such as the Intitutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, the expanse of IQ during the first years of life is unquantifiable, or at least unknown. At the Institutes, they have been studying and pushing the envelope for both healthy and brain injured children since the late 1950’s. Some of their ground breaking work, shows us that we have not even begun to tap into our own potential let alone that of our children. At PALS, we take all of this research and apply it where we can into a group setting (some of the research on brain development as well as the activities derived wherefrom are designed for parent child interaction see the how can you be the best parent you can be section of this material.) and we weave it into our curriculum and program.

I received the following from a mass email the other day…  

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty  uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The  phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig  to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,  it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the  ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat  ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll  raed it wouthit a porbelm. 

 Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey  lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas  tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

The brain is an astonishing organ! We introduce wordcards to children from infancy, in order to promote the development of literacy in the brain. Many of these activities can also be done in the home or can even be done more efficiently one on one and we consistently share these ideas with you for the development of your child.

PALS also aids cognitive growth in the way that we handle discipline. When a child is frieghtened, or feels unsafe, neuiral pathways shut down and the fight or flight response is invoked. The more time a child spends in this fight or flight response mode, the less of an opportunity the other areas of the brain are able to develop on or ahead of schedule. By using the techniques of Conscious Discipline, we are focused first and foremost focused on making sure that all children in our care feel safe at all times, and further that they are loved nurtured and supported. The environment and use of Conscious Discipline sets the stage for optimal brain growth and development for your child.