We have all heard stories of children raised by wolves or children with extraordinarily high IQ. But according to Dr. Benjamin S. Bloom of the Department of Education at the University of Chicago, fifty percent of a person's learning ability is developed before the age of four, another thirty percent between the ages of five and eight, and the remaining twenty percent between the ages of eight and seventeen. This means that a child learns best when he or she is an infant. So if we expect our child to be the next Einstein, we'd better start as early as possible!

Dr. Shen Yu-jen, professor at Taiwan University Hospital and chairperson of the Taiwan Children's Neurological Society, observes that the basic structure of one's brain is completed during the fetal stage. When the baby is born, its brain already has its lifetime complement of close to a hundred billion cells. Then why can't the baby think like an adult?

According to Dr. Shen, although the brain cells have all been formed, they must still be linked together and their dendrites and axons, the nerve cell extensions that transmit nerve impulses, must be sheathed. The infant's brain weighs about 400 grams [14 oz] at birth and 800 grams one year later. The increase in weight does not come from more brain cells, but is the result of sheathing and the interconnections among the brain cells. When an infant is three to four years old, this sheathing is about eighty percent finished.

Most of us have no memories before the age of four. However, the most important growth process of our lives is carried out during this forgotten time.

The "Internet" in the human brain

This task of connecting the brain cells is similar to setting up an Internet inside one's brain. As these interconnections become more and more complex, they can handle more and more information and the brain thus becomes more powerful.

However, having a complex network inside the head is not enough. There can still be problems related to information being lost or misdirected. The direction and speed of forwarding information from neuron to neuron all depends on whether or not they have been properly connected and sheathed.

What does a four-month-old fetus do in its mother's uterus? It sucks on its fingers! The sensation of touching the fingers with the mouth is passed on to the brain and helps to stimulate the brain to grow and develop. When the baby is born, the sensory system throughout its skin is already complete. Each square centimeter of skin contains nerve endings that sense pressure, pain and temperature. These nerve endings then transmit information through around 500,000 spinal nerves to the brain.

To infants, no stimulation means that no information is sent to the brain to form the connections of its "Internet." What sort of stimulation is the most appropriate?

The foundation for developing intelligence

We should start with the basic animal senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. These are the basic senses that most animals, including human beings, depend on to survive in this world. A three-month-old embryo has the ability to move, a five-month old embryo has a complete auditory system, a seven-month-old fetus has a completely functional sense of taste, an eight-month-old embryo can see (the optic system is complete at the age of seven to eight years), and a ninth-month-old fetus has a complete sensory system throughout its skin. At the same time the structure of the brain is almost complete, hence the fetus is ready to face its new environment.

The development of the cerebral cortex depends on the five senses as the basis for the development of higher intelligence. This also means that without the five senses to receive any information, the brain would not have sufficient information to do high-level thinking or to make correct judgements.

The basic structures of these five sensory organs are completed during pregnancy, but their functions are not developed. Infants learn to receive all sorts of stimuli from their new environment. Appropriate stimuli to newborn babies such as touch, sound, temperature, light, smell, and even air pressure are necessary. When a mother breast-feeds her infant, the infant can receive five basic stimuli all at once: seeing (the mother), listening (to the mother's voice or her heartbeat), smelling (the mother's scent), tasting (the breast milk), and touching (from the mother's embrace).

Infants tend to express their preferences directly: they like to be embraced, they touch everything, they are interested in colorful things or things that move, they strike things to make sounds, they put things into their mouths, etc. It is clear that stimulation from the environment and assistance from the parents is very important to them.

The critical stage

An appropriate environment and the assistance of the parents can help to bring out an infant's potentials, but these new developments must still come at the right time to achieve the best results. There are critical stages in the development of an infant's brain. If these stages are missed, the infant's mental or physical development may be set back.

Many of our basic physical structures are completed during certain periods. For instance, at three months of age, when the infant's neck is strong enough to raise her head, the pons area in her brain is developing. At eight months, when she is learning to crawl, her midbrain is developing. When the baby is one year old and can walk, her cerebral cortex is developing. In summary, if a baby isn't offered any chance to sit, crawl or walk while growing up, and if the parents do not provide timely assistance, there is a chance of retardation in the infant's future.

Infancy is not only the most important time to lay the foundation for intelligence. During this period, the infant's immune system is also developing. Dr. Chiang Po-lun of the department of immunology at the medical college of National Taiwan University states that the baby's antibodies, which it originally absorbed through the placenta, will slowly disappear after birth, since the connection between the mother and infant has been cut off.

The sixth month after birth is the most hazardous time for the infant's immune system. The medical field refers to this period as "transient immunodeficiency." It is the time when infants are mostly like to contract any disease. However, infants will automatically start building up their own immune systems, which reach the mature, adult level when the children are two years old. Until that time, infants need the help of their mothers and the appropriate environment to build up a perfect immune system.

Why the mothers? Because the mother's breast milk contains rich elements for infants, who can still receive antibodies from the breast milk. What is more interesting is that some elements in the milk keep changing, allowing infants to build up their own immune systems. Dr. Chiang further remarked that besides breast milk, a balanced nutrition and an environment that can provide appropriate stimuli, such as sunlight and exercise, are the necessary conditions to build up the child's immune system.

Age zero education

Children of parents who have the right concepts of education are the most fortunate. Three years ago, Chen Yu-wen from Taipei was a mid-level manager. "When we decided to have a child, I resigned from my job without hesitation and prepared for the arrival of our child." Now, her son is one year and ten months old and appears quite different from other children of the same age in that he is more responsive to his surroundings and his ability to express thoughts and his use of language are more mature than other children of the similar age. She stresses her son's education so much because her brother came back from Germany with his two-year-old son. She was quite impressed with her nephew's behavior and intelligence. He was completely different from other two-year-olds.

She always explains whatever she is doing to her child. For example, when she brought us tea, she said to him, "Look, Mommy is bringing tea to these two people." "When you give your child to a baby-sitter, it's good enough if he is happy and healthy," she remarked. "But when you are raising your own child, you become aware that he has all kinds of needs, and then you go to help him."

Although she gave up a good job and is exhausted after taking care of her child for the whole day, Ms. Chen still feels it is all worthwhile. "Most people value money a lot and don't want other people to look after their money, so why should I allow other people to look after my own son?"

The hope of humanity

After a child absorbs everything he hears or sees for a while, his unlimited potentials tend to create some very dramatic results, such as in the transmission of experience and the development of knowledge, as well as the formation of behavior styles, emotions or personality.

In addition to the development of the five sensory organs and the intelligence, parents should also pay attention to the changing temperament of their children. The subconscious, which is usually formed during the childhood period, can imperceptibly alter thinking and behavior. The earlier the child's subconscious is formed by the impressions that he receives, the more powerful its influence will be.

Infants cannot express much of their feelings, nor can they move around much, but they can still absorb their parents' language and behavior. Children are quite sensitive to their environment. They soak up whatever is around them and then build their temperaments and personalities on that.

Parents' language and behavior have a profound impact on their children's development. Maria Montessori, the famous Italian educator, said that parents or teachers had to know themselves better. In light of this, wishful thinking by many adults is the main culprit for distorting children's lives.

Dr. Liu Hsiu-chi, a specialist in children's education for many decades, observes in his book, The Runaway Locomotive, that parents are like locomotives who pull railway cars (their children) along the same tracks that they themselves followed as they grew up. However, they are completely unaware that there may be hidden dangers. If the locomotives suddenly run out of control, the railway cars will also flip over or jump the tracks.

This coincides with the analysis of Wu Chang-erh, supervisor for a youth counseling committee. "The negative influences that parents have on their children do not necessarily mean they dislike their children. The problem comes from their own perceptions, attitudes and methods."

Busy schedules and the modern utilitarian society have forced parents to spend less time with their children. Furthermore, parents all want their children to be the best in everything, and this creates a trend in which, for instance, parents give money as a reward for their children's good grades. Unfortunately, this may result in raising children who are intelligent, but who have no love or compassion, respect or tolerance. Then what hope will the future of mankind have?

A famous Taiwanese writer, San Mao, once wrote that the most childish idea many adults have is, "What do these kids know?" Montessori actually stated that children were the ones who really knew about love. Children do not act differently towards their parents just because they are rich or poor. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American poet, even described infants as saviors from heaven to guide fallen human beings into the Kingdom of God.