“I did what I knew. And when I knew better…I did better.”
Those words by Maya Angelou are the guiding principle of a program that aims to help parents help their kids to be good learners.
The program is called STEPS which stands for Security, Touch, Eyes, Play, Sound. It gives parents specific tools and suggestions for how to interact with their kids in meaningful sensory ways, based on what neuroscience has told us about how the brain develops.
It was designed by the Arizona-based New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development. Co-founder Jill Stamm says the greatest potential for brain growth is in the first three years of life.
That’s when the brain is wiring up, so to speak—at birth, only 25 percent of that wiring has occurred; at age 3, the brain has formed about 90 percent of its architecture.
Emotional development happens early, Stamm says, some of it before kids are even able to walk. And this forms the foundation for later learning.
STAMM: It isn’t really about the skills, it’s about having a brain that’s ready…If you have a brain that’s ready, that loves learning no matter what it is, a child when they get to school can learn anything very easily.
Stamm was the keynote speaker at the Thursday event.
She says lots of children aren’t getting enough one on one attention, and that can slow down brain growth.
STAMM: The brain thrives, the early brain thrives, on one on one attention.
Beech Brook will soon offer free STEPS classes in libraries across Cuyahoga County.