Research

Recent discoveries in neuroscience give us a new understanding of how the brain develops, and impacts the way we approach literacy. We now know that:

• The brain is built over time and early experiences directly affect how the brain is “wired.” Babies are born with 100 billion brain cells; some are connected at birth but most are not. Connections that are formed and used repeatedly are reinforced; those that are not are eliminated.
  
  
• By the time a child is three, his brain is “middle-aged,” with much of the basic circuitry of the brain already built.
  
  
• How the brain develops depends on a complex interplay between the genes we’re born with and the experiences we have. Activity, attachment and stimulation determine the architecture of the brain and whether a child will have a strong or weak foundation for all future learning, behavior and health.
  
  
• Children learn through a “give and take” in the context of important relationships with adults. Warm, responsive caregiving is essential to healthy brain development.
  
  
• Both brain architecture and developing skills are built “from the bottom up,” with simple circuits and skills providing the scaffolding for more advanced circuits and skills over time. Reading, for example, cannot occur until the brain has been successfully wired, circuit on circuit, skill on skill. 
  
  
  These findings support Read to Grow's work to help parents create a loving, language-rich environment for their children, beginning at birth, that will foster literacy development and lifelong learning.

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