Hi! Welcome to our blog!
I’m Liam. I am trained in Design, and have a love of football, family and sustainable living (in no particular order!). Natalie has a PhD in Psychology and a background in research academia. She loves science, chocolate and travel and is a proud central coast psychologist. Together we run a busy private practice in psychology, and have created the Gooey Brains blog.
We created the blog because we saw a need to explain the exciting research and neuroscience in the child development field in a way that is fun, simple to understand, and accessible to both professionals and parents alike. We want you to be as inspired and excited about learning and sharing key information on child development as we are.
Our goal is to show you the fun and simple steps to grow happy and healthy human beings with awesome brain power. We want to show you the easy and practical information that you need, so you and your kids can get the most out of the science of child development.
Science tells us that kids brains are gooey, which means they are shaped not only by genetics but also by their experiences in childhood. We aim to educate, interpret the science, debunk the myths, and provide the best tools and resources around to help you to understand the science of neuroplasticity.
We start during pregnancy and go all the way through to the teenage years, and look at a wide range of factors which influence your child’s brain development, such as:
- Genetics
- Food & Nutrition
- Child and Caregiver Relationships
- Daily experiences
- Physical activity
- Love & Attachment
- Play
- Learning & Language
- …and MUCH more!
Your child’s brain will develop in stages, called critical periods. These are considered prime times of opportunity where the brain is developing rapidly and searching for new information and experiences. Development is also cumulative with each stage building on the previous ones (Johnson 2012). Knowing more about these windows of opportunity is very important to professionals working with children and parents, and intervening at these stages may have a lasting effect on the child for the rest of their lives.
Sounds important…. we think it is, and the first 3 years are when a lot of this magic happens.
We really hope that you enjoy reading our blog, and have as much fun with it as we have had creating it. We love hearing your stories and feedback, and hope that you can become an active member of our growing community.
Liam & Nat