Help Your Child’s Brain Thrive By 5 with Dr. Amen’s Course
Every good parent wants their child to live the healthiest and happiest life possible. Giving your child the best start in life means nurturing their brain health from the very beginning.
What you do to nourish and strengthen their brain development is most critical during these formative years. That’s because the brain is forming those neuropathways that help your child become the person they will become.
With Brain Thrive: Pre-K - Grade 1, double-board certified child and adult psychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Daniel Amen and education specialist Dr. Jesse Payne have created a comprehensive course to help parents gain invaluable insight into understanding their child's cognitive and emotional growth.
Supporting your child doesn’t have to be a solo adventure—every lesson you take in this digital course should include your child every step of the way. Remember that you’re laying a solid foundation for your child's lifelong success and well-being.
This course will help your child develop better:
- Focus and attention
- Decision-making
- Emotional strength
- Self-control
- Kindness and empathy
- Learning and recall
In this blog post, we’re breaking down the essential areas to focus on as you go through this course with your child. Now, schedule this time to bond with your child and start understanding what they need for better brain development.
TEACH YOUR CHILD TO LOVE THEIR BRAIN
The first step in fostering optimal brain development in young children is cultivating a deeper appreciation for the complexity and resilience of the human brain. The first lesson of the Brain Thrive: Pre-K - Grade 1 course helps kids and their parents learn the incredible potential of their brain at this crucial stage.
Instilling a sense of curiosity and love for learning at this early age can help children understand themselves better and build self-confidence in how they think, feel, and behave.
In Dr. Payne and Dr. Amen’s course, your child will learn the five essential categories of brain health through fun-themed virtual field trips hosted by puppets. You can spend time with your little one going through the downloadable Activity Book for Parent-Child Bonding together. There are also Virtual Field Trip Stops to help your child engage with lesson-specific activities.
HELP YOUR CHILD UNDERSTAND THEIR BRAIN
Understanding the inner workings of the brain is key to effectively supporting children's cognitive and emotional development. Through engaging lessons and practical insights, Dr. Payne and Dr. Amen’s course teaches the basics of brain anatomy and neural pathways in a fun, engaging way.
Kids will learn about brain regions like the prefrontal cortex, aka The Boss Of My Brain. This will help your child see how amazing and fast their brain can think, talk, play, and feel.
It’s so important for these early experiences to know what shapes brain development and what could be causing delayed growth. These include physical protection for their precious heads when they play with others. Secured in this knowledge, parents can make informed decisions about what children need to have an enriching environment and exceed their learning potential.
HOW TO TEACH KIDS ABOUT EMOTIONS
Children hold big emotions in little bodies. As adults, we can forget what it felt like to navigate that. Emotional intelligence is a vital component of your child's overall well-being and success later in life.
As you go through this digital course, take time to recognize and validate your child's feelings as you teach them essential coping skills. You can teach them to foster open communication and empathy, laying the groundwork for healthy emotional regulation. Each step helps you reinforce positive social interactions with your children and how they relate to the world around them.
HELPING KIDS NURTURE STRENGTHS AND OVERCOME STRUGGLES
Every child is unique, with their own set of strengths and challenges. Brain Thrive: Pre-K - Grade 1 empowers you to identify and celebrate your child's strengths while addressing areas where they may need additional support.
During the Stops in this course, children will learn about mindfulness and learn to describe how they feel with clear and positive expressions. It is your job as a parent to teach them by example how to do this.
One of the most important lessons in this online course covers something Dr. Amen calls ANTs (Automatic Negative Thinking). This powerful portion of the on-demand course helps your child learn to manage their own thoughts to enhance emotional wellness.
By recognizing and nurturing their child's individual emotional needs, you boost their confidence and self-esteem. From there, they’re set on a path to success in school, with friends, and beyond.
HOW TO GROW YOUR CHILD’S BRAIN
Just as a garden needs nurturing to flourish, so too does the developing brain of a young child. The Brain Thrive: Pre-K - Grade 1 goes beyond the proverb to give you effective strategies and fun activities to promote brain development and emotional growth in your child.
In later modules, your child will learn lessons in empathy and overcoming obstacles by using their brain and compassion for others.
From interactive games that stimulate cognitive skills to mindfulness exercises that promote emotional resilience, every child can come away feeling better about how they communicate. Parents will learn how to create a nurturing environment that fosters optimal brain health and growth.
At the end of the course, there’s a great story that you can use to spend story time with your children. You’ll watch Dr. Amen tell a playful story of Captain Snout the superhero anteater who fights against those ANTs every day.
Basically, this story shows you how to take advantage of cognitive behavioral therapy to improve your own parenting approach and even have the MP3 version saved to your phone as a bonus! And if you love spending quality story time with your little one away from the computer screen, you can opt to purchase a hardcopy version of the book.
By investing in your child's brain development today, you can help them unlock their full potential and thrive in every aspect of their lives for years and decades to come.
If you want to put your child on the path to lifelong mental and emotional success, start now with Amen University’s on-demand digital course Brain Thrive: Pre-K – Grade 1. The fun puppets teach lessons created by Dr. Daniel Amen, a board-certified psychiatrist and founder of Amen Clinics, alongside professor Dr. Jesse Payne.
