Preschool Children Learn How To Grow Their Brains

The children at The Peppermint Tree Child Development Center in Toms River are learning how to grow their brains. Through an original set of lessons developed by the school’s director, Valerie Frost-Lewis, MS Ed, preschool students are learning that they have the power to actually grow their own brains. Based on research by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading researchers in discovering what makes people successful, Frost-Lewis has created developmentally appropriate lessons about the brain to motivate preschool students to be persistent in the face of a challenge; to work their brain to make it stronger.

“My goal is for every graduate of The Peppermint Tree to take with them an understanding that they have a great potential within them, and if they work hard, they can continue to develop and do great things in the world. We are teaching them how the brain works so that they will never doubt this conviction about themselves. We are engaging all of their senses and using many teaching strategies such as, acting out the process of neurons firing, creating art images of the brain, singing songs about persistence and building the brain, reading books about famous inventors who had to try many things before making their famous discoveries, to reinforce and ensure that all our students internalize this message and use it to grow throughout their lives,” says Frost-Lewis.

These lessons are having an exciting effect around the school. Peppermint Tree’s Head Teacher, Carol Sullivan, says that a few days after her class of Kindergarten students participated in the “brain” lesson, “there was a puzzle that one of the children was having trouble with. When I asked him if he remembered what Miss Val said, another classmate started singing the “brain song” from the lesson to him. Before I knew it, other classmates joined in singing the song to him. He then was encouraged to try harder and finally was successful in completing the puzzle.”

The parent responses have also been quite positive. One parent provided the following feedback about her four-year-old son’s experience with the lessons. “It made my day when my son came home from preschool and told me excitedly that your brain lights up, it has grey and red squiggly things called brain cells and that they connect and make you smart.”

New brain research shows that when people learn new skills and work hard at them, the area of the brain responsible for that work becomes denser and larger. Why not let children in on the secret of how they can grow their own brains? This knowledge empowers them and they become giddy with excitement as they unlock one of life’s important lessons: that hard work and practice is what helps us each achieve at our highest possible level.

Reference: Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. By: Blackwell, Lisa S.; Trzesniewski, Kali H.; Dweck, Carol S. Child Development, Jan. 2007, Vol. 78 Issue 1, p246-263.

The Peppermint Tree Child Development Center, serving Toms River for over 35 years is state-certified and privately owned, offering a research-based curriculum developed for young, inquisitive minds. Our highly qualified, dedicated and creative faculty has been with the school on average, for fifteen years or more, providing a warm and stable environment for the children.  The school is proud to be a participating center in the national "Strengthening Families Initiative", serving not only young children, but the center is also a resource for the whole family, providing family friendly events, parent workshops and more.