Learning: FYI
Doomed Before Kindergarten?

A scientist rebuts the claim that a child's brainpower is determined by age three.

Order The Myth of the First Three Years from Amazon.com.

In recent years, the media--and marketers--have emphasized "brain-based research" to advance the notion that children's minds must be especially stimulated in the first three years or their future learning capacity is in peril. But have children's most critical learning years truly passed before they even start school? A new book says: No.

Are some kids doomed before kindergarten?
There's never been any evidence that experiences before kindergarten mold a person's brain for life, says John Bruer, author of the recently released The Myth of the First Three Years.

"There's no magic cutoff," says Bruer, who heads the James S. McDonnell Foundation in St. Louis, which funds research in neuroscience, developmental psychology, and education.

Early experiences and stimuli may benefit a child, but children who lack early intellectual stimulation can still do very well.

"Good teachers can have profound effects at any age," Bruer says, "from pre-school to university to the people you work for in adult life."

What about "critical periods" of learning?
A "critical period" is a window of opportunity, a limited time during which experiences have a permanent, irreversible effect. Bruer says research shows there are critical periods in a child's development, but only for a few very basic abilities.

These time-sensitive abilities include seeing, hearing, acquiring a first language, and possibly some areas of social and emotional development.

The stimulation that people need in these areas is present in any normal human environment, and there's no value in adding more, Bruer notes.

For example, in those rare cases where children have been completely unexposed to language in their early years, they were not able to learn later.

Clearly, small children do need people to talk to them. But there's no evidence that extra talk at an early age automatically leads to superior language skills as an adult.

In most areas of learning, the effects of deprivation are reversible. "It might take some effort," says Bruer, "but the child's life isn't forever ruined. Later experiences can have a huge effect."

"Everybody's favorite example of critical periods is Henry Kissinger," Bruer adds. "He arrived in the United States around age 12 and speaks English with a German accent. His brother, two years younger, has no accent."

Henry Kissinger may have missed the critical period for learning to speak English without an accent, but his English grammar and vocabulary are rich and learned.

Doesn't brain research tell us pre-school is all-important?
No. There is evidence--from outside of brain research--that young children from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from good, early school-like experiences: These students do better in school afterward.

"But this is not a 'critical period' phenomenon," says Bruer. "We all benefit from experiences throughout our lifetimes."

Haven't studies shown that nerve dendrites proliferate between birth and three years?
Dendrites, which form connections among nerve cells, do grow rapidly during the first few years. But the proliferation of dendrites, Bruer notes, seems to be controlled by genes--dendrites proliferate regardless of whether a child is in a rich environment.

What's more, Bruer adds, skills seem to develop later, when excess dendrites are pruned. It's the pruning, not the growth, that's affected by environment.

What about research showing that rats raised in enriched environments are smarter?
"Putting rats in an enriched environment has good effects no matter what their age," reports Bruer, citing work by Bill Greenough at the University of Illinois. "Greenough's work shows we can and should think about providing experiences at any age."

What should educators know about current brain research?
Caveat emptor--be a wary and wise consumer whenever the popular press reports on the "latest brain research."

"I hope educators gain some understanding of what science does and doesn't say," Bruer muses. "They need to critically appraise the claims they read about brain-based research."

Research in developmental and cognitive psychology, says Bruer, can help teachers do their work better.

For example, research shows children don't come to class with mental blank slates. Children may come with misconceptions that are hard to change. So, to help students learn, teachers need to start by finding out what students already know, or think they know, about the subject at hand.

But brain-based research, at least where it stands now, won't offer any fact-based insights.

"One real danger of over-emphasizing the early years is that this can cause parents and teachers to give up," says Bruer. "A teacher may say, 'Development is done by age three. There's nothing I can do.'"

Says Bruer: "That's not true."

It's Never Too Late To Learn

Language skills can be continually acquired and developed well beyond the early childhood years. The exception: Those rare children who aren't exposed to language at all in their early years can't catch up.