Your Child's Amazing Brain

Your child’s amazing brain: (Part one)

How your child’s brain is built to keep growing, learning, and overcoming

Have you ever felt discouraged and frustrated about your child’s behavior or academic performance? Don’t give up: there’s hope. Your child can change because their brain is built to keep growing and learning how to overcome social, emotional, and academic challenges.

Our brains are filled with 86 billion neurons. Neurons are brain cells that gather and send information throughout our bodies about everything we do, say, and think. Think of neurons as text messages to and from your brain that shape your thoughts, emotions, and abilities to learn and process information and experiences.

Neurons affect everything, and everything affects neurons. In other words, neurons deliver chemical messages that affect everything we do, say, and think, but everything we do, say, and think also affects our neurons. Our brains send signals that affect our minds and bodies, but our minds and bodies send signals that affect our brains.

And here’s the secret: neurons adapt to our experiences. They keep growing, learning, and changing as they receive new information.

In other words, your child’s brain is built to change, adapt, and grow based on new information and experiences because brain cells (neurons) are built to change, adapt, and grow in response to new thoughts, experiences, and actions. What happens outside of the body affects what happens inside the brain. Whatever we say and do with children can change how their brains and bodies function, because their cells are always growing, changing, and adapting. We need to be careful, therefore, about who and what continually affects our children’s thoughts, emotions, and actions.

Children can change because their brains can change. So, stay positive, be patient, and keep working with them—knowing that hope is built into their brain’s amazing ability for social, emotional, and academic growth.

In future articles, I will address topics such as how stress can affect your child’s brain and behavior.

Let me know if you have any questions or topics you would like me to discuss.

Email me at info@theacademicgym.com

In a mutual quest for your child’s best,

Mr. Vieira (Coach V.) from T.A.G. (The Academic Gym)