BRAIN
DEVELOPMENT
Social and emotional learning in the early years directly impacts how our brains grow and develop over time.
How we feel shapes
how we develop.
Over the course of our lives, our brains learn, adapt and grow from what we experience, think and feel. In turn, the social, emotional and knowledge-based skills we develop early in life help to determine our future success in school, at home, in the workplace and ultimately, our success in society and the economy at large.
Time and again, research has proven that an emphasis on academic learning alone is simply not enough to help young minds develop in a healthy way.
In fact, too much emphasis may have the opposite effect – crowding out
the social-emotional development required to make learning engaging
and meaningful.
“The quality of a person’s relationships and social interactions shapes their development and health, both of the body and of the brain.”
- The Aspen Institute
Click to expand below
The Developing Brain
Our brains develop in different ways over the course of our lives – creating new connections, removing unused connections, and becoming more efficient with time. To develop more complex skills, a foundation of healthy social and emotional connections must first be made – creating new pathways between what is felt, what is verbalized, and what is known. This is particularly important in the early years, when millions of new connections are being made every second.
SEL can be taught
Mental Health
Support Matters