Babies that Are Smarter, Faster

Today my wife and I went to a class about infant brain development. Our little girl is about to turn six months old, and we're seeing her develop every day. A month ago she was immobile; last week I barely caught her from scooting under the sofa. We've seen her develop from gripping our fingers, to reaching for a bottle, to picking up a rattle. What we can't see, and what this class uncovered for us, are the neural processes behind it all.

The brain is the only organ not fully developed at the time of birth, and some researchers think it may take until early adulthood to do so. The brain takes time to develop because there are so many things to learn. While the brain comes hardwired with the essentials it needs to do its job, neural pathways have to be formed over time for things to be learned. Simply put, like a forest path takes time to be cleared and worn by its traffickers, so to the networks and pathways within the brain. The part of the brain that takes the longest to develop is the center of higher-order thinking. This is part we use for reasoning, interpreting, and judging. It is also the part we use for reading.

As I think about what I want for my daughter, being smart is high on the list. What would make me proud? A precocious little offspring. And so, with a bit of greed and pride as motivation, I seek out ways to input data into her, like downloading files to a hard drive. Feeding my ambition for her is a parenting market selling baby Mozart, baby Einstein, baby French, Spanish, and Japanese. Today I was taught something empirically true about brain development that reminded me of something spiritually true about being a father.

The empirical truth said: "babies can't have data pumped into their networks before the networks have been wired." Babies are not prepped for flash cards and reading lessons. There are other important stages of development that should come before those things happen; things like play, baby talk, and discovering the world around them. The spiritual truth said: "a father is patient with his children, wanting for them what is best for them, and not wishing to please men." I can't want for my girl to be impressive according to the world's standards, nor even to impress just me. Instead, I must want her to come into her own and to understand the world, herself, and God in good time, and not preemptively.