System and method for facilitating early childhood brain development

Abstract

The present invention provides caregivers with pragmatic systems and methods for implementing current knowledge of early childhood brain development and for facilitating meaningful interaction with a child in their care. The invention further provides systems and methods that enable caregivers to provide a child with a stimulating environment that includes purposeful activities in a playful, interactive context.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for facilitating early brain development, said method comprising: 
 analyzing at least one activity item to determine how said at least one activity item stimulates a predetermined stage of brain development to create a brain link, wherein said predetermined stage of brain development includes at least one of security and emotional attachment, touch and sensory integration, vision and visual discrimination, play and playfulness, and sound and auditory discrimination;    determining how said predetermined stage of brain development promotes early development of future school skills in a child to create a school link;    creating an activity card related to said activity item, said activity card having a first area that identifies said brain link and a second area that identifies said school link;    including said at least one activity item in a housing specifically related to said predetermined stage, such that said housing includes at least one different activity item related to each of said predetermined stage of brain development;    providing said activity card to a caregiver, wherein said activity card comprises caregiver directions for facilitating an interactive play session with said child to achieve said school link and said brain link; and    providing said at least one activity item to said caregiver to facilitate stimulating said predetermined stage of brain development, said brain link and said school link by engaging said child's attention to facilitate said interactive play session with said caregiver, modeling said selected activity for said child using said item from said housing, and following said directions on said activity card to instruct said child how to perform said selected activity, and prompting said child to perform said selected activity.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said predetermined concept that promotes early brain development comprises at least one of attention, bonding, and communication.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing said activity card to said caregiver further comprises instructing said caregiver to engage a child's attention using at least one of a visual stimulus, an auditory stimulus, a kinesthetic stimulus, and an emotional stimulus.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing said activity card to said caregiver further comprises instructing said caregiver to engage a child's attention using a visual stimulus.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein said visual stimulus comprises at least one of varied facial expressions and use of an object.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing said activity card to said caregiver further comprises instructing said caregiver to engage said child's attention using an auditory stimulus, said auditory stimulus comprising varied voice intonations wherein said varied voice intonations comprise at least one of volume, pitch, intensity, and inflection.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of creating an activity card related to said activity item comprises providing instructions to promote said predetermined stage of brain development in a predetermined manner.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said predetermined manner comprises at least one of speaking slowly, speaking quietly, speaking simply, speaking excitedly, and giving minimal verbal cues.  
     
     
         9 . A method for facilitating early brain development, said method comprising: 
 determining an area of child development that is desired to be improved, wherein said area of child development includes at least one brain link and school link;    wherein said brain link is established by analyzing at least one activity item to determine how said at least one activity item stimulates a predetermined stage of brain development, wherein said predetermined stage of brain development includes at least one of security and emotional attachment, touch and sensory integration, vision and visual discrimination, play and playfulness, and sound and auditory discrimination;    wherein said school link is established by determining how a predetermined stage of brain development promotes early development of future school skills in a child;    selecting an activity card from a housing, wherein said activity card comprises a first area that identifies said brain link and a second area that identifies said school link, and wherein said activity card further comprises (i) caregiver directions for facilitating an interactive play session with said child, (ii) at least one selected activity associated with said at least one activity item that stimulates said predetermined stage of brain development and promotes early brain development, (iii) a description of at least one importance of said selected activity to the development of the brain, (iv) a description of at least one importance of said selected activity to said early development of future school skills, (v) background information about the type of selected activity, (vi) age for which said selected activity is targeted, (vii) suggestions about what to say to said child; and (viii) extensions and variations of said selected activity, and wherein said housing includes activity items specifically related to said predetermined stage;    engaging said child's attention using said at least one activity item and said activity card to facilitate said interactive play session with said caregiver.    
     
     
         10 . A method for facilitating early brain development, said method comprising: 
 analyzing at least one activity item to determine how said at least one activity item stimulates a predetermined stage of brain development to create a brain link, wherein said predetermined stage of brain development includes at least one of security and emotional attachment, touch and sensory integration, vision and visual discrimination, play and playfulness, and sound and auditory discrimination;    determining how said predetermined stage of brain development promotes early development of future school skills in a child to create a school link;    creating an electronic system comprising said activity item, said electronic system having a first area that identifies said brain link and a second area that identifies said school link;    including said at least one activity item in a databases, wherein said database is specifically related to said predetermined stage, such that said database includes a picture of at least one different suggested activity item related to each of said predetermined stages of brain development;    providing said electronic system to a caregiver, wherein said electronic system comprises caregiver directions for facilitating an interactive play session with said child to achieve said school link and said brain link; and    providing said at least one activity item to said caregiver to facilitate stimulating said predetermined stage of brain development, said brain link and said school link by engaging said child's attention to facilitate said interactive play session with said caregiver, modeling said selected activity for said child using said item from said housing, and following said directions on said electronic activity card to instruct said child how to perform said selected activity and prompting said child to perform said selected activity.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing said activity card further comprises providing at least one of an alternate activity item and a list of activity variations, wherein each of said alternate activity items and said activity variations promotes at least one of said predetermined stage of brain development and a predetermined concept that promotes early brain development.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing said activity card to said caregiver further comprises instructing said caregiver to engage a child's attention using an auditory stimulus, said auditory stimulus comprising use of a sound-generating object.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing instructions for selecting said activity card.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said step of providing instructions for selecting said activity card includes explaining at least one of: the appropriate stage targeted by said activity card, the age for which said activity card is suggested, the importance of said selected activity card to said predetermined stage of brain development, background information about said activity items included on said activity card, the importance of said selected activity card to said early development of future school skills, materials needed for said selected activity card, directions on how to specifically perform said activity items, suggestions about what to say to said child, general remarks, indications of where and when for said child to pay attention, and extensions and variations of activity items.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said future school skills include at least one of: social skills, spatial-temporal skills, emotional attachment, self-esteem, conscience, identity, language development, organization, mathematics, reading recognition, reading comprehension, spelling, habituation, orientation, eye/hand coordination, phonemic awareness, phonics, conventions of print, motor skills, sensory integration, attending skills, dexterity, writing skills, cognitive skills, perceptual skills, connecting words with actions and objects, self-regulation, bonding skills, visual awareness, spatial reasoning, communication skills, receptive and expressive vocabulary skills, comparing and contrast skills, and attention skills.