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Why the Early Years Count
A child’s experiences in early life have a profound effect on the architecture of their brain and this helps to customise each child’s brain to deal with the environment they grow up in.
A new DVD, “Why the Early Years Count”, from The Brainwave Trust. The information is presented in a format that is suitable for people working with children and/or families with children. The viewer will gain an understanding of the latest findings from brain research and the important implications of this knowledge on our children’s physical, social, intellectual and emotional development.
This DVD will be available for delivery from mid January for a price of $30 incl. GST, packing & postage.
* Please note that the price quoted in the printed December newsletter was incorrectly stated.
An impressive group of experts present knowledge from the past decade of research into brain development. The group includes:
• Dr. Bruce Perry, child psychiatrist, neuroscientist and internationally-recognised authority on children in crisis, who is the Senior Fellow of Child Trauma Academy, Houston, USA and adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Northwestern University, School of Medicine in Chicago.
• Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and founding director of the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland.
• Dr Simon Rowley, neonatal paediatrician at Auckland City Hospital and in private pracitce in Auckland.
• Judy Bailey, journalist, writer and broadcaster, Brainwave founding and current Trustee.
• Lope Ginnen, Barrister and Chairperson of Brainwave.
The film is narrated by Mike McRoberts and produced by The Producers in association with Keirfilm Productions Ltd, TVNZ and expert input from Sue Younger.
Length: 18 minutes
Copyright: Brainwave Trust Aotearoa 2011
Acknowledgement: With grateful thanks to the Todd Foundation who supported Brainwave with funding to produce this DVD and to the families who took part in the film.
To order, email info@brainwave.org.nz. We will be closed for a Christmas break until January 16th, so your order will be processed after this date.
Recently Sue Wright, our Executive Director was one of a number of people interviewed by Andrew McRae for the Radio New Zealand Insight programme which aired on Sunday morning, 24th July and again on Monday evening 25th July.
This Insight programme related to the Government’s release of the Green Paper on how society can better protect children; and looked at some of the ideas being put forward to try to reduce the rates of abuse and neglect.
Link to the PODCAST.
Authors: Keryn O’Neill and Anthea Springford, June 2011
While TV viewing has been a common activity for several decades, the huge increase in TV and other media targeted at and watched by very young children has been described as “a large uncontrolled experiment on today’s infants and toddlers.” (Christakis & Zimmerman, 2009).
The value of the baby DVD industry alone has been estimated at between $200 and $500M (US). Research is yet to fully catch up with the efforts of this industry but a growing number of studies indicate this trend may be more harmful than the marketing campaigns would have us believe.
Note: An abridged version of this article was published in the Winter 2011; No.77 Newsletter from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.
View the full article here.
Download a one page flyer here
Author: Nathan Mikaere-Wallis April 2011
An article written for professionals entitled:
Resilience, Relationships and Routines: Responding to Trauma with Infants 0-3 years.
Introduction
Many believe that infants are immune and especially resilient to natural disasters and trauma because they are “too young to remember” so thereby not really affected. This couldn’t be more further from the truth.
Read the full article.
A Parent Summary of Advice from the Research
Author: Nathan Mikaere-Wallis: Brainwave Trustee and Presenter.
Introduction
People often believe that infants are not affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes because they are ,,too young to remember” so thereby not really affected. This couldn”t be further from the truth. The supreme importance of the first three years to the overall development of the brain (www.brainwave.org.nz) and the now clear link between early experience and who we become as adults means the infant and young child is especially vulnerable to the stress of an event such as an earthquake. Read or print the full article.
Miriam McCaleb, a member of the Christchurch Brainwave team and an experienced Brainwave presenter wrote this article for Little Treasurers January 2011 issue.
Your child’s first two to three years will affect her whole life. But when it comes to creating that all-important loving bond, the pressures of modern life – to earn more money, keep up with the Jones’s and answer that endlessly beeping phone – can get in the way. Emily Simpson talks to teacher and children’s advocate Miriam McCaleb about love, science and loud espresso machines.
Read or download a full copy of the Little Treasurers article here: LT2011-MM Love Connection
Author: Keryn O’Neill, Brainwave Presenter and Research Manager.
This article was written after the September earthquake in Christchurch and first published in our December 2010 newsletter.
If I had a dollar for every time I have heard about how resilient babies and young children are to the stresses in their lives, and those felt by their parents, this article would have been written somewhere much more tropical. However, scientific knowledge has shattered this myth. It may surprise many to realise that stress experienced by young children and their parents can affect a child’s brain development. Adverse effects may be seen in terms of brain function, coping ability, as well as mental and physical wellbeing throughout the child’s life. Being too young to talk about stress, does not mean being too young to be affected by it. Read or print the full article
Schools Project
In 2009 we completed a pilot Brainwave programme at De La Salle School in Auckland, delivered by Wendy Nelson to Year 7 & 8 and Year 13 classes. The feedback was fantastic and more schools have continued to show an interest in making our information part of the curriculum. Follow this link to the New Zealand Herald article about our programme. NZ Herald Article, 10 Nov. 09 We were very excited to see this supportive letter to the Editor in the Herald the following weekend. Letter to the Editor (139)
2011 Update: Thanks to Auckland Airport Community Trust’s continuing funding we are continuing the schools programme in 2011. To understand more about this programme listen to this excellent Radio New Zealand podcast from August 2010 when Wendy Nelson was presenting to the Year 7 students at De La Salle College.
Roots of Empathy is a programme originally developed in Canada and first trialled there in 1996. It is a classroom-based programme aimed at fostering empathy and reducing levels of bullying, aggression and violence amongst schoolchildren. It involves parents bringing babies into the classroom nine times over the course of a school year. The programme allows students to observe the baby’s development, celebrate milestones, and interact with the baby. Students also learn about the infant’s needs and unique temperament. A Roots of Empathy instructor uses the supporting curriculum to work with the class the week before and the week after each family visit to prepare and reinforce pro-social behaviours.
At the beginning of 2007 it was first introduced into 10 schools in Auckland. In 2008, it expanded to Wellington with a total of 30 schools in the two cities. In 2009, the program took place in 60 schools in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has been a strong supporter of Roots of Empathy. “Early interventions such as this one are key to improving children’s health and education, they reduce the likelihood of adult offending or long-term unemployment, and they help reduce family abuse or neglect,” she said of the program.
Roots of Empathy has now partnered with Barnardos New Zealand and is now providing a fourth year of programming to children in New Zealand. To read more follow this link to information on the Barnardos website.
The Roots of Empathy organization was excited to receive unprecedented international media coverage recently. TIME magazine published an article on Roots of Empathy on page 45 of the May 24 edition of TIME and it is also available online.
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