It has been said that one is a genius as an infant, brilliant as a child, and just average as an adult. Every parent and teacher alive has pondered this unfortunate reversal of intelligence as babies grow into school children. Where does that natural brilliance, that youthful exuberance go?
Many years ago I learned that the two greatest determiners of intelligence were early exposure to music and to languages. As a violin teacher, I had taught 5-year-olds, but this educational trend encouraged me to start my students earlier. After all, look at the complexities of language that children have learned by age 3!
I starting working with 4-year-olds, and then 3-year-olds, and sometimes even 2-year-olds. I discovered that the earlier a child started lessons, the more remarkable their progress. It wasn’t just that they had gotten a head start. These early starters just didn’t fit the usual patterns. They had another gear. They were different. They processed information in twice the speed; displayed faster reflexes, coordination, spatial and listening skills; and exhibited incredibly long memories. Without exception, the learning process was natural, almost intuitive. With early success came self confidence, focus and initiative. The longer they studied, the farther above average they flew. Most significantly, this early education affected not just the content of their brains, but the way their brains functioned — forever.
What happens to these young children to cause them to retain that youthful intelligence?
The answer lies in the fascinating way a child’s brain develops. From birth to age 2 the nervous system is the most active it will ever be, producing an excess of neural fibers. These “synaptic connections” determine the efficiency with which the child’s brain functions. When exercised, these connections continue to develop in strength and number. As early as age 2, the brain begins pruning those connections which are unused. This “synaptic pruning” causes the learning curve to fall slightly at this age. By age 6 it falls significantly, remaining essentially the same brain until age 72.
And so, we “use it or lose it“ as early as 6 years old. This is not to say that children can’t learn music or speech after age 6. But because of synaptic pruning, the brain is never again as facile. I didn’t need brain scans, tests or stats to tell me that this was so. I had generations of “test cases” among my students as evidence that early education is life-altering.
It has been said that one is a genius as an infant, brilliant as a child, and just average as an adult. Every parent and teacher alive has pondered this unfortunate reversal of intelligence as babies grow into school children. Where does that natural brilliance, that youthful exuberance go?
Many years ago I learned that the two greatest determiners of intelligence were early exposure to music and to languages. As a violin teacher, I had taught 5-year-olds, but this educational trend encouraged me to start my students earlier. After all, look at the complexities of language that children have learned by age 3!
I starting working with 4-year-olds, and then 3-year-olds, and sometimes even 2-year-olds. I discovered that the earlier a child started lessons, the more remarkable their progress. It wasn’t just that they had gotten a head start. These early starters just didn’t fit the usual patterns. They had another gear. They were different. They processed information in twice the speed; displayed faster reflexes, coordination, spatial and listening skills; and exhibited incredibly long memories. Without exception, the learning process was natural, almost intuitive. With early success came self confidence, focus and initiative. The longer they studied, the farther above average they flew. Most significantly, this early education affected not just the content of their brains, but the way their brains functioned — forever.
What happens to these young children to cause them to retain that youthful intelligence?
The answer lies in the fascinating way a child’s brain develops. From birth to age 2 the nervous system is the most active it will ever be, producing an excess of neural fibers. These “synaptic connections” determine the efficiency with which the child’s brain functions. When exercised, these connections continue to develop in strength and number. As early as age 2, the brain begins pruning those connections which are unused. This “synaptic pruning” causes the learning curve to fall slightly at this age. By age 6 it falls significantly, remaining essentially the same brain until age 72.
And so, we “use it or lose it“ as early as 6 years old. This is not to say that children can’t learn music or speech after age 6. But because of synaptic pruning, the brain is never again as facile. I didn’t need brain scans, tests or stats to tell me that this was so. I had generations of “test cases” among my students as evidence that early education is life-altering.
I wince when I hear child experts and colleagues caution parents to wait to begin music lessons until their child is old enough to “sit still and pay attention.” This delay suits the teacher, but it most certainly bypasses the child’s rich, optimal developmental period.
With effective teaching strategies and supportive parents, little ones “sit still and pay attention” not because they are told to, but because they are wholeheartedly intent on satisfying their curiosity. You know what happens when a child walks into a room with a piano! You can imagine the fascination of a 2-year-old who is allowed to play a small-sized violin. Our youngest students feel privileged when allowed to take a short lesson.
I teach two siblings whose 9-month-old baby sister has attended their lessons since birth. She sits through an hour of lessons, clapping, squealing, kicking, drumming to the music. To her, lessons are the coolest thing ever. She will play some day — and those neurons will be intact and ready to serve her well!
It is important to inject that by working with 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds, our motive has nothing in common with the much maligned “Tiger Mom.” On the contrary, it reflects absolute respect for the natural potential of the young child. Our goal is not to create performers but to nurture the natural talent within each child at the height of their potential during that finite period when it most affects overall mental development. The only “force” we use is in making the child put the instrument away when the lesson is over.
What a well-kept secret in childhood education! If schools really appreciated this simple truth, they would begin music and language programs at kindergarten instead of fifth grade. And parents who begin saving for college from the day of their child’s birth might better invest at the other end of their child’s life.
It would seem there is a whole new world emerging just below our knee caps. This is where true intelligence is born.
Here’s to babies — the smartest people I know!
