cognitive development

Let them play! Kids need freedom from play restrictions to develop

You may have heard of play. It’s that thing children do – the diverse range of unstructured, spontaneous activities and behaviours. Children play in many ways, including by exploring movements, constructing with equipment, creating games, using imagination and chasing others around a playground. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises play as [...]

Green space and the power of nature play for shaping the developing brain

Every parent wants their child to grow into a strong, successful human being, but how is this best achieved? The kind of play experiences that help cultivate the development of successful traits are found via a genuinely challenging environment, where kids can test their abilities in self-assessment, problem-solving, risk-taking, and adaptation in response to difficulties [...]

By |2019-04-29T14:24:29+10:00April 15th, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Babies’ Brains Damaged by Pollution – Unicef

Seventeen million babies under the age of one are breathing toxic air, putting their brain development at risk, the UN children's agency has warned. Babies in South Asia were worst affected, with more than 12 million living in areas with pollution six times higher than safe levels. A further four million were at risk in [...]

Why Our Brain Thrives On Mistakes

A Growing Brain vs. a Static Brain A body of research that began in 2011 suggests that this aversion to mistakes can be a cause of poor learning habits. The research suggested that those of us who have a “growth mindset”—believing that intelligence is malleable—pay more attention to mistakes and treat them as a wake-up [...]

Prenatal Fruit Consumption Boosts Babies’ Cognitive Development

Andrea Ballas and her son Matthew are participants in the study. Credit: Ross Neitz Most people have heard the old adage "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." It's an old truth that encompasses more than just apples—eating fruit in general is well known to reduce risk for a wide variety of [...]

The Legal Duty of Care around Online Issues

My Problem, Your Problem, Our Problem. Let’s face it; the Internet is here to stay as are all the associated devices that provide us with instant connectivity 24/7. Whilst there are numerous benefits that come with technology use, there are also many things that can go wrong. Often a young person’s technical skill far outweighs their cognitive development, which means that they are [...]

Teaching Students To Face Their Anxiety

Teaching young women how to face their fears is succeeding in reducing anxiety and depression among Sydney schoolgirls. Macquarie University is tracking 2000 teenage girls for four years to identify which genetic, environmental and cognitive factors influence the development of anxiety and depression, and what works to prevent these conditions. Anxiety and depression are the [...]

Up to 1 in 5 children suffer from a mental disorder, CDC says

Up to 20 percent of children in the United States suffer from a mental disorder, and the number of kids diagnosed with one has been rising for more than a decade, according to a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In the agency's first-ever study of mental disorders [...]

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