Super Smart Babies

Will Your Baby Be Super-Smart? What studies reveal about your baby's brain potential. Born to Learn During the first year of life, a baby's brain more than doubles in size. As the neurons mature, synapses are made. At birth, the number of synapses per neuron is 2,500. NEURON 2,500 SYNAPSES Birth 1 Year By age 3, the number jumps to 15,000 synapses per neuron. NEURON At birth, a baby's brain already contains 100 billion neurons-almost all the neurons the brain will ever have. What are neurons? Highly specialized nerve cells that transmit information in chemical and electrical forms throughout the body. 15,000 SYNAPSES What are synapses? Small structures at the end of a neuron that allow information to pass from one neuron to another neuron or to muscles and glands. Signs of a Gifted Baby Meets Milestones Early Walks or talks before other babies of the same age. Is Perceptive Solves Problems Figures out how to get a difficult-to-reach object. Notices changes in environment or in familiar people. Has a Good Memory Makes Connections Has Trouble Sleeping Remembers where they left something. Knows there's a snack in the cupboard, even if visiting a new place. Has a hard time turning off their brain to rest. Cheerios Why Are Some Babies Smarłer Than Others? 1. Genetics 2. Environment You can't control genetics... .but you can control environment. How to help your baby be smarter... and happier: V Love and nurture baby VS. Talk to your baby about everything Read to your baby and let baby handle books Let baby have "tummy time" alone to play with toys and crawl Snuggle, cuddle, and make eye contact with your baby Play with your baby-peekaboo, etc. Things That May Hinder Brain Development Stress In one study, children who had experienced intense and lasting stressful events posted lower scores on tests of spatial working memory. Whaa. Videos/Television * By 3 months, 40% of babies are regular viewers of DVDS, videos, or TV. * By the time they are 2 years old, almost 90% of babies spend 2-3 hours a day in front of a screen. TV watcking babies "But what about videos designed to make baby smarter?" 90% 2-3 kours a day In one study, babies who watched the videos scored about 10% lower on language skills than those who hadn't watched the videos. The more videos they watched, the fewer words they knew. 40% 3 months 2 years Baby Physicists? Babies engage in intuitive physics from an early age. By measuring a baby's gaze when presented with different scenarios, one study found that babies are born with expectations about objects around them, even though the knowledge and expectations of these objects haven't been taught. As early as 2 months By 5 months At 10 months Show an understanding that unsupported objects will fall and hidden objects do not cease to exist. Have an expectation that water, sand, and other non-cohesive Consistently choose the larger amount of food when presented with two substances are not solid. different amounts. Baby Psychologists? In one study, infants were monitored watching an actor indicate preference for certain objects. The infants watched longer when the actor's preference changed, which led researchers to believe that infants understood how the actor interacted with the object. At 10 months of age, babies start to... * Understand other people's thought processes * Interpret a person's actions Created for TeacherPortal.com O QuinStreet, Inc., 2012 Sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3445 162-3358385.html http://www.multcolib.org/birthtosix/braindev.html http://umaine.edu/publications/4356e/ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120124113051.htm http://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/week-38/baby-gifted.aspx http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111101130204.htm teacher portal http://www.parents.com/baby/development/intellectual/boost-your-babys-iq/ https://www.babysigns.com/index.cfm?id=66 http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650352,00.html