That
doesn't mean turning an infant's home into a formal school classroom. The reverse, in
fact: infants learn by play and exploration. It's the formal classroom that needs
redesigning.
"We used to think that play and education were
opposite things," say Jean Marzollo and Janice Lloyd in their excellent book Learning
Through Play. "Now we know better. Educational experts and early childhood
specialists have discovered that play is learning, and even more, that play is one of the
most effective kinds of learning."
The key: turning play into learning
experiences - and making sure that most learning is fun.
In fact, activities that good parents take for granted
provide some of the best early learning. But we don't mean "academic" studies. Scientists
have proved, for instance, that regularly rocking a baby can help greatly in promoting
brain growth. It stimulates what they call the vestibular system. This is a
nerve-system centred in the brainstem and linked very closely with the cerebellum and a
baby's inner-ear mechanism, which also plays a vital part in developing balance and
coordination. Scientists say this is one of the first parts of the brain to begin to
function in the womb - as early as 16 weeks after conception.
"It is this early maturity that makes the
vestibular system so important to early brain development," says Richard M. Restak,
M.D., author of The Brain: The Last Frontier and The Infant Mind. "The
fetus floating in its amniotic fluid registers its earliest perceptions via the activity
of its vestibular system. In recent years evidence has accumulated that the vestibular
system is crucial for normal brain development. Infants who are given periodic vestibular
stimulation, by rocking, gain weight faster, develop vision and hearing earlier, and
demonstrate distinct sleep cycles at a younger age." 8
Dr. Ruth Rice, of Texas, has shown in controlled tests
that even 15 minutes of rocking, rubbing, rolling and stroking a premature baby four
times a day will greatly help its ability to coordinate movements and therefore to learn.9
And Dr. Lyelle Palmer, Professor of Education at Winona
State University in Minnesota, has completed extensive studies at kindergarten level* to
demonstrate the vital importance of such simple stimulation for five-year-olds.10
Every day youngsters have attended a gymnasium as a
* In the United States, kindergarten
starts at age five. In New Zealand and other countries, is is for children aged three and
four.
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
