AMMAN — The earliest years of a child’s life are some of the most
critical for development, particularly from birth to age three, according to a
report by UNICEF.
اضافة اعلان
During this time, “we know that in their earliest years, babies’ brains
form new connections at an astounding rate — according to Harvard University’s
Center on the Developing Child, more than 1 million every single second — a
pace never repeated again.”
In 2018, two brothers, Hani and Fares Akasheh, set out to bring
awareness on early childhood development to Jordan. So, they founded
Neurogarden, an NGO that aims to spread awareness of neuroscience and early
brain development to kindergartens, parents, policymakers, and caregivers in
Jordan.
Spreading awareness on this issue not only gives those dealing
with young children a sense of how their brain is developing, but it can also
give caregivers a sense of what to avoid when dealing with children and how
seemingly simple situations or actions can have long-term effects on a child’s
life.
“We took a look at the research papers done about kindergarten
teachers in Jordan; most of it shows that kindergarten teachers lack the
education and training to deal with children. Most of these papers conclude
with saying that early year teachers need to have the proper training,” Hani, cofounder
of Neurogarden told
Jordan News.
According to a 2015 National Early Childhood Development survey conducted
by the Queen Raina Foundation (QRF), 50 percent of the sampled nurseries were Ministry
of Education based, 39 percent were privately owned, and 7 percent were owned
by CBOs (community-based organizations).
The report added that nearly one-third of the ministry and
CBO-based caregivers have not completed their Tawjihi (general secondary education certificate examination) and less
than one quarter have received their bachelor’s degree.
“Given that children develop really rapidly in this period of
their life, it was like common sense to train the people dealing with children
who are in their most sensitive period.” Hani said.
Getting to the root of trauma
According to another UNICEF report, “Although corporal punishment
is illegal in schools, alternative care settings, and penal institutions, the
use of violence in these settings — and in homes — continues to be widely
accepted socially and culturally. Nine out of 10 children experience
violent discipline (psychological and/or physical).”
Neuroscience hopes spreading awareness on early development can
play a part in combating the numbers found in the UNICEF report.
All children develop and grow at their own pace; however, in the
early stages of life they are susceptible to their surrounding more than when
they are older.
Trauma directly affects children in that age range, whether it be
in the form of verbal, physical, neglect, or abuse they all have direct
consequence on the child. Based on the 2015 QRF report, “Physical discipline
has many negative ramifications on children’s brain development, academic
performance, and ultimately, future well-being. Other consequences include
harming the parent-child relationship and having children endorse hitting as a
mechanism to solve their problems (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network,
2009).”
“The mothers’ survey showed that while 75
percent of Jordanian mothers did not agree that physical discipline was
necessary in order to raise or educate the child properly, many of them
reported their children were physically disciplined at home.”
The report went on to list a couple of universities, studies, and
organizations that have tried to raise awareness on neuroscience before, to
give caregivers and policymakers access to research on early childhood
education.
Results from those efforts found that raising awareness could
change caregivers’ belief systems in the long run, giving them a more
conscience mindset, according to the report.
"Many of this research is done out of Jordan, but we strive
to do that here in Jordan in Arabic. Based on the fact science is appreciated
or respected, we thought we would use that to educate people.” Hani said. Neurogarden
brings numerous objects to their presentations to science excisable, fun, and
engaging for parents, caregivers, and policymakers.
Due to the coronavirus, schools have been online and teachers
have not had their students in their classrooms. However, Neurogarden hopes to
soon release their own online platform with 20 of the top people in the field
of child development and neuroscience to train the caregivers, policymakers,
parents, and kindergarten teachers in the Kingdom.
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