Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/linking-brain-principles-to--high-quality-early-childhood-education/5020208/
A Brain-Based Developmentally Appropriate ClassroomThe room is buzzing with a steady hum of students’ conversations. The scent of apples lingers in the air as a parent works with two children peeling apples at the weekly cooking center. I hear the saw cutting through the wood at the carpentry center and water splashing at the water table. Nearby, Jeanna and Michael are authoring a piece about the recent fieldtrip to the Apple Farm �" mostly pictures, a few consonant blends, all caps, no spaces �" a natural progression. Every once in a while there is a burst of laughter as two or three students discover something new and exciting. I smile.
Inside my students’ brains are millions of branch-like structures (dendrites) sending electrical-chemical impulses from one neuron to another. At the end of each neuron are various chemicals called neurotransmitters. This is the biology of the learning process. I’m pleased with the levels of concentration and independence these kindergartners are making. It is exciting to realize just how much their brains are developing at such an extraordinarily rate, particularly during this period in their development. We live in a new world, one where education, neuro-science, and classroom instruction are joined.
Convergence of ...