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Two of the most thorough analyses
since Bloom's have been done in the South Island of New Zealand. The first is through the
Otago University School of Medicine in Dunedin, a city of around 100,000 people. In 1972,
1,661 babies were born in Dunedin. Their progress has been checked regularly ever since.
And more than 1,000 of them are still being surveyed.
Research director Dr. Phil Silva says that the survey
underlines the vital importance of the first few years of life.5
"That doesn't mean that the other years are unimportant, but our research shows that
children who have a slow start during the first three years are likely to experience
problems right through childhood and into adolescence."
He says it's also vital to identify any special
problems in the first three years, such as hearing or eyesight defects, "because if
we don't help them at the early stages then it's likely that they are going to experience
long-lasting problems throughout their lives".
The other survey has checked the progress of 1,206
infants born in the city of Christchurch in 1977. One of its key findings: between 15 and
20 percent of youngsters fall behind because they don't get the necessary early-childhood
health-checks and developmental experience. 6
Buzan agrees. "Make sure that the child, from as
early as possible, gets as much exercise as its wants, with as much of a free body as
possible: hands free, feet free, able to crawl a lot, climb a lot. Allow it to make its
own mistakes so that it learns by its own trial and error."
There are six main pathways into the brain, the five
senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, and the sixth step of what we do
physically. Youngsters obviously learn through all the senses. Every day is a learning
experience. They love to experiment, to create, to find out how things work. Challenges
are there to be accepted. Adults to be imitated.
Most important, a child learns by doing. He
learns to crawl by crawling. He learns to walk by walking. To talk by talking. And
each time he does so he either lays down new pathways in the brain - if his experience is
new - or he builds on and expands existing pathways - if he is repeating the experience.
Youngsters are their own best educators, parents their
best first teachers. And our homes, beaches, forests, playgrounds, adventure areas and the
whole wide world our main educational resources - as long as children are encouraged to
explore them safely through all their senses.
Researchers stress the need for positive encouragement.
Says British
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
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