The early years of a child’s life are crucial for brain development. During this period, the brain undergoes rapid growth and is highly responsive to environmental stimuli. The experiences and interactions children have with their caregivers lay the groundwork for their cognitive, emotional, and social development.

Understanding brain architecture is foundational to the work our Day One Home Visiting program, as it directly influences our team members approach to supporting children and families.

Our Day One Home Visiting program hosted Laura Shattuck, Training & Development Consultant for the Early Childhood Learning Network at University of New Mexico, to lead an in depth training for our staff. The training included discussions of the stages of brain development for Prenatal, Infancy, and Childhood. At the end of the discussion the staff split up into groups for a “Brain Activity” where they had to build a structure representing the brain using straws and pipe cleaners to build our brain up and then there was a deck of cards with scenarios that would give a good outcome, a tolerable stressor or a toxic stressor. With each stressor added a small weight to our brain structure until one brain structure finally fell down. One child’s brain structure was strong the other teams was not.

They learned about stress, and emphasized the significance of a supportive foundation during childhood. Our parallel partnership with our families is impactful – we help the parents and the parents then help their child. Home visiting early on in a child’s life is so beneficial.