From Birth to Three: The Foundations of Literacy

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Did you know that babies are born with 100 billion neurons? What's a neuron? Neurons are specialized messenger cells in the brain and spinal cord that make everything we say, do, or think possible. Neurons are super-smart brain cells. And babies have the same number of neurons as stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. No wonder they say that babies are brilliant from birth.

But here's the really fascinating fact: for neurons to wire your baby's brain for speaking, feeling, moving, and reading, they have to form networks by connecting. Neurons have tiny branches at their edges that allow them to "hold each other's hands" by sending and receiving messages to and from each other. When neurons connect to transmit information, we say that they're making "synaptic connections." That means they're communicating with each other by sending chemical messages across really, really, really tiny areas in the brain called synapses. If you're getting lost by now, think of the brain as a vast social media network (Facebook, for example) where people (neurons) form connections by sending messages to each other. Now imagine you had a Facebook group growing by making millions of connections every day. That group would become internationally famous.

And here's what I'm getting at: Your baby's brain makes 1 million connections between neurons every second of every day from birth to three years. That's about one quadrillion connections. Babies' brains create neural connections to build the networks they need to wire the brain for all the functions that make us feel, move, and learn. For example, babies start building the networks for lifelong literacy success in those first three years. The best time to lay the foundations for reading is during those early years, when the child's brain is teeming with neurons and busy forming the connections that can make the first years of formal education exciting and successful.

Now, how can parents and caregivers help the brain build the neural networks responsible for literacy? We must remember two principles that govern neural activity:

1. Neurons that fire together wire together.

2. Use it or lose it. The brain prunes neurons that are not firing or constantly transmitting information.

If you're not sure how to help your baby's brain grow strong neural connections (especially as the foundation for literacy), check out Sylla-Bear™️ , the singing phonics bear™️ that can become your baby's first literacy coach--and yours too.