“The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the prefrontal cortex, which is critical in self-regulatory activities of all kinds, both emotional and cognitive. As a result, children who grow up in stressful environments generally find it harder to concentrate, harder to sit still, harder to rebound from disappointments, and harder to follow directions. And that has a direct effect on their performance in school.” KindChildrenStillsSelfSchoolGrowsResultsBrainGrowing UpEnvironmentEffectsEmotionalActivityDirectPerformancesStressHarderDisappointmentCriticalAll KindsAffectedStressfulCognitiveReboundDirect Effect Author:Paul Tough
“What matters most in a child’s development, they say, is not how much information we can stuff into her brain in the first few years. What matters, instead, is whether we are able to help her develop a very different set of qualities, a list that includes persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit, and self-confidence. Economists refer to these as noncognitive skills, psychologists call them personality traits, and the rest of us sometimes think of them as character.” ThinkingYearsFirstsChildrenDifferentSelfSometimesMatterCharacterHelpingAbleStuffBrainQualityInformationPersonalityDevelopmentSkillsCuriositySelf ConfidenceListsPersistenceTraitsSelf ControlWhat MattersEconomistPsychologistGritPersonality TraitsConscientiousness Book:How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character Source: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character