'The Livewired Child' By Michael C Nagel: Book Excerpt

The Livewired Child By Michael C Nagel: Book Excerpt

About this book

The first chapter of this book sets the scene by outlining research related 
to the brain and neurodevelopment. It offers an overview of some of the 
most significant findings since the 1990s that have changed our view of 
the brain. These findings are also changing our views on how to best raise and 
educate children.

The next four chapters of this book look at neurodevelopment and overall 
development beginning at conception and continuing to age six. The focus of 
this work is on early learning, leading to entry into formal education. Age six 
is used as the developmental end-point for this book, given that much of the 
wiring and moulding of the brain has already taken place by that time. On 
or about a child’s seventh birthday, neurodevelopment slows down or even 
plateaus until pubescence takes over. During adolescence there is a second 
major restructuring of the brain, but this is not the focus of this book. Those 
interested can read about that in the companion to this volume entitled The 
Livewired Teen.

Chapter 6 focuses on the brain being wired for learning. Its aim is to give 
readers a better look at the biology of learning and those things that impact 
upon learning. The chapter also looks at the interplay between gender and 
learning, society and learning and the monumental importance of play 
and self-directed learning.

Being wired to communicate is the foundation of Chapter 7, while 
Chapter 8 explores how our emotional and social lives begin to unfold. Again, 
the perspective taken comes primarily from neuro-scientific research, but 
other disciplinary theorists are also used to give a broad look at how we can 
impact on these developmental capacities in a positive fashion.

Chapter 9 then moves into our understanding of what I refer to as ‘smart 
wiring’ – cognitive development and intelligence. The emphasis is on 
identifying the growth of cognitive capacities and how we understand the 
word ‘intelligence’. Theories of cognitive development are mixed with the 
newest research to provide the reader with a detailed look at how our rational 
brain evolves and how the very things that we as adults take for granted in 
relation to higher-order thinking processes are nowhere near completion 
in children.

Finally, the last chapter looks at the broad topic of raising and educating 
healthy and happy children. It focuses on drawing together the previous 
chapters in an effort to give the reader some guiding principles for enhancing 
all that they do as parents, educators and role models. While perhaps acting 
as a summary, it reiterates that the life chances we have as adults are set in 
place very early in life, or as already identified, the things we do early are now 
known to be more crucial than we ever understood. We know this because we 
know so much more about the livewired child.

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