To Daycare! Developing the Social Brain
If children’s play experience is vital to their development, social interaction is critical to their full development.
In the early 1900’s Lev Vygotsky suggested cognitive development is limited in range based on the age of a child and that full cognitive development cannot be attained without social interaction – “The true direction of the development of thinking is not from the individual to the social, but from the social to the individual.” These principles influenced the work of Vygotsky’s cotemporary, Alfred Adler and vice versa.
For many years, IQ test scores, entrance exams and, for that matter, EQAO scores based on thinking or logic have been considered the most important and critical factor in predicting and measuring how well a child will do at school, life or work. However, it is becoming more apparent with the research in neuroscience test scores only explain a portion of the factors accounting for a child’s short and long term success. Daniel Goleman is renowned for his work on ‘emotional intelligence’ and ‘social intelligence’ and their impact on success, “Neuroscience has discovered that our brain’s very design makes it sociable, inexorably drawn into an intimate brain-to-brain linkup whenever we engage with another person. That neural bridge lets us impact the brain—and so the body—of everyone we interact with, just as they do us.”
A recent 19 year study “Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness” published by the American Public Health Association concluded “For predicting future success in the workplace, levels of cognitive ability measured through IQ or test scores alone are less predictive than measures of educational attainment, which require not just cognitive ability but also noncognitive characteristics such as self-discipline, academic motivation, and interpersonal skills.”
So why then does the majority of the educational community continue to rely on such measures as test scores and, more importantly, entrance assessments to schools as a predictor and filter? A ‘First-come, first-served admission with no pre-screening’ policy should be the standard of admissions to all schools!
Herein lies a parent’s motivation to choose daycare over other forms of childcare – but not just any daycare – one that understands and harnesses the tenets as set out above.
About Kemp Rickett Consulting: My business is founded on enabling clients to ignite the passion for learning in individuals and groups. I provide strategic planning services, curriculum development and professional development and training for school administrators and program co-ordinators.