Early childhood is the most rapid period of individuals’ brain development and it ranges from birth to more ore less age 8. This is a critical period as children go through cognitive development and acquire fundamental skills, knowledge and beliefs about the world.  Neuroscientists have estimated that brain development is highest during the first few years of life. During this period, the brain experiences the formation of about 700 neural connections (synapses) every second. The formation of synapses is fastest at birth and then gradually reduce over time. In fact, after this period of proliferation, the ones that are not used disconnect through a process called ‘pruning’. That’s why children learn very fast compared to adults. Montessori would talk about the “absorbent mind”; when we are child, our mind is like a sponge: it absorbs information and sensations from the world that surrounds it. But as we grow older, our brain become more specialized and it is less capable of reorganizing and adapt to new experiences. In fact, different areas of the brain have different functions (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Source: Adam-Mila, Brain Development of Children from 0-6 years – Facts every parent should know

An example can be seen in language development: during the first year of lifespan, two-month old babies are able to recognise and have a preference for native language(s) and they have a sensitivity to melody and rhythm of languages. Between 2 and 5 months they can categorize speech sounds, recognize syllables, and detect changes in intonation in all languages. But when turning six months, the perception of vowel sounds begin to disappear, followed by the consonants around 12 months. This happens because synaptic connections not exercised atrophy from lack of use: on one hand, the parts of the brain that differentiate sounds are becoming specialized to the language the baby has been exposed too; on the other hand, the brain starts losing the ability to recognize different sounds from different languages.

Therefore, early childhood is the best period to learn and have a lasting effect on children’s cognitive skills, social behaviour and personality.