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Post by healthy11 on Apr 27, 2016 8:24:11 GMT -5
"Children whose mothers were nurturing during the preschool years, as opposed to later in childhood, have more robust growth in brain structures associated with learning, memory and stress response than children with less supportive moms," according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis...The study is published online April 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-nurturing-preschool-years-boosts-child.html
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Post by fc11 on May 6, 2016 8:53:54 GMT -5
There were times I regret I did not take the time off when the kids were young.
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Post by dw on May 6, 2016 11:00:04 GMT -5
I cannot help but editorialize...what a great rationale/basis for supporting generous maternal leave/paid time off for child rearing. Many countries in Europe have paid maternity leave for a year, possibly longer, and excellent daycare/preschools close to parents' workplaces, I think. i am not an expert on this, but women are lucky in the US to get 6 weeks paid maternity leave. At my workplace, a government health care system, its 6 weeks paid leave for normal births, and 8 weeks paid leave for C-sections. Many workplaces don't even offer that. And for no sick time with most jobs...who stays home with the child when she/he is ill?
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Post by healthy11 on May 6, 2016 16:44:18 GMT -5
Well, if it's any consolation, I was at home for my son and didn't return to a "paying job" until he was almost 10. Granted, I also was handling "elder care" for several ailing relatives and not "doting on him exclusively," but I spent tons more time with him than most parents I know. Still, my son does NOT seem to have a good sense of empathy for others, and he doesn't handle stress particularly well, either. I believe some kids are going to struggle, no matter how much nurturing parents give.
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Post by dw on May 6, 2016 19:33:34 GMT -5
No doubt things would be much worse if you had neglected him, healthy! I was a latch key kid starting at age 11, and I guess I can be grateful that I have close memories of my mom until the age of 6, after which I was taken care of by aunts while mom was at work. Now I know I was lucky. It is good that this research is being done, now if only public policy will finally change to support families of all income levels.
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Post by dw on May 7, 2016 19:44:20 GMT -5
Happy mother's day, Healthy, and to everyone else, too. Whether we stimulated their brains in the right way, or not, we'll always be their mothers!
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Post by healthy11 on May 7, 2016 23:42:11 GMT -5
Thank you, dw, and may you have a good day, as well. Even if our kids no longer live nearby, and/or they may not acknowledge us in the ways we'd like, at least the Chicago area weather forecast for Mother's Day sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to enjoying that, if nothing else!
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Post by melvinhoward on Jun 28, 2016 3:49:53 GMT -5
Does it also affect reading abilities?
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Post by healthy11 on Jun 28, 2016 9:50:11 GMT -5
The article specifically mentions that "The researchers studied a series of brain scans of children from preschool through early adolescence, finding a sharper rise in the volume of the hippocampus in the kids whose mothers supported and nurtured them during the preschool years. That region of the brain is critical to learning, memory and regulating emotions..."
Given that reading involves learning and memory, it seems to me that a more robust hippocampus would lend itself to an improved ability to learn to read. Not only that, but I suspect that being in a less nurturing environment would mean that the child isn't given as many "high quality learning experiences," such as having parents expose the children to books during times when they sit and read together while cuddling on a sofa, etc.
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Post by melvinhoward on Sept 30, 2016 4:28:53 GMT -5
Thanks for explaining it so well.
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