Developing Brains: Babies and Preschool

Does preschool give babies an advantage when it comes to brain development? At Buckle My Shoe, a preschool in Manhattan, the youngest start at 3 months old. Founder and executive director, Linda Ensko shares the importance of nurturing a baby’s developing brain, along with the benefits of preschool for babies.

The fastest period in brain development is from 0-3 yrs old. So we’re really building the brain – the architecture of the brain. A young child needs needs lots of holding, lots of love, lots of nurturing but also needs lots of sensory integration.

The babies are not only visually looking; they’re hearing auditory, they’re seeing each other interact, and they’re learning from each other. Each child is able to take something from another child that’s a little bit more advanced than a younger child perhaps.

The younger they are, the faster the brain development. And for them to be in a social situation, learning from each other with trained educators that can guide and supervise them, is an optimal experience for them to be in preschool.

It’s important for them to learn from children their own age. When a child, that’s so much older, or an adult teachs a child, we’re too far away from their learning patterns. It’s abstract for them. It’s very concrete when they learn from other children closer to their age. They learn faster because it’s very similar in regards to their point in brain development.

The takeaway – you’re never to young to start learning. You may think your child is to young to go to a preschool, but it could really benefit them, enrich them, help them to learn at a great rate, and be interactive. Preschool helps to create their love for learning. For them to say that they love school and to start early, is a lifelong experience.

Buckle My Shoe is a Reggio Emilia inspired preschool in New York City, offering an invaluable educational, social, creative, and physical early childhood development program. It’s about celebrating the whole child. To learn more, visit: bucklemyshoe.org