The human organism is so unique in its design and so wonderfully thought out that it needs no addition, and also has nothing superfluous and unnecessary. But what it needs most is for us to know and understand how it is arranged and what is needed for its normal work, what harms it and what brings benefit, and under what conditions it can serve itself with quality and be a blessing to others.
As a rule, young parents do not know how a little person is arranged, what processes occur in their body and in what sequence the growth of various organs takes place. The inner world is shrouded in mystery, but we live in the age of enlightenment and if one really wants to, one can break down any person into atoms and examine them comprehensively in 3D format. But for some reason not everyone wants to study their structure, and when a child is born, parents are more interested in the color of rompers and photographs from all sides than in the laws of development and growth.
And how one wants their child to be special, to possess some unique abilities and amaze everyone with their talents. And to achieve this dream and show up other people, parents begin to load little ones with such programs of busyness and education that sometimes you don't know what's better to do: cry from such tyranny over young consciousness or rejoice that such talents are growing in the country.
God embedded certain cycles of body growth, nervous system strengthening and mental development in the child's organism, and if someone doesn't want to consider this and help the child develop contrary to these laws, then later one shouldn't be surprised by sad consequences and undesired fruits.
Neural connections in a person's mind are connections between brain cells that are formed and strengthened when learning anything, when repeating any actions, when expressing emotions and doing everything that is inherent to humans.
At the first attempt of an infant to learn something, neural pathways form between brain cells, connecting into a certain path from area A to area B. And with frequent repetition these pathways are strengthened and become wide highways for rapid delivery of information and its exchange between parts of the brain, called myelination.
Let's trace by example how this happens and how quickly neural connections help a child learn the art of living. The first steps are very difficult and look like swaying on a ship during a storm. But the little one walks to the joyful exclamations of father and mother and doesn't give up. The second attempt is more successful. Time passes and the child already runs confidently and doesn't intend to fall. A neural connection for walking has formed in their brain and it has become so strong that they will never forget this ability, and daily repetition of this process will only strengthen the brain's neural connections and bring these actions to automation. The rest of the assimilation of incoming information works on the same principle. The child sees an action or object that their parents voice, and the brain creates another neural connection, which upon the next reminder of these things reproduces their outline and logical connection in the mind. For example, reading these words that I write, your mind immediately immerses them in the world of neural networks, and they instantly deliver them to consciousness and present them to you in all the beauty of your imagination.
God also embedded in us a mechanism of forgetting that protects us from unnecessary information and from its excess. During sleep, global cleansing of consciousness occurs and rebooting of the nervous system. Melatonin restores many damages, the lymphatic system removes the excess of unnecessary neural connections and what is not in demand in life.
For example, a child learns a foreign language but doesn't use it in practical life, then over time they naturally forget the studied material, as neural connections weaken and unnecessary connections collapse due to lack of practice. Although some words and foreign expressions can remain forever in deep layers of memory and be stored there until needed.
If parents once gave a little one instruction about some rule but didn't reinforce it in the child's consciousness through frequent repetition and reminding, then it's possible that their child will forget this and won't even try to fulfill it. In their mind this simply doesn't exist, the neural connection didn't have time to form and strengthen and was erased due to uselessness, and a strict father may consider ignoring the rules as disobedience and punish the child, as the adult memory recorded that the rule was pronounced clearly and distinctly, and the little one nodded affirmatively and answered that everything was clear to them.
A child keeps many things in memory and remembers much more than we imagine, but if these neural connections are not reinforced through repetition and reminding, then they may simply not work at the right time and your listener simply won't understand what is required of them.
A child's character and personality are formed gradually, unhurriedly, and one shouldn't get ahead of those biochemical processes that occur in the mind of the young creation. If a child is sent to school early or begins to be taught exact sciences or grammar, then it's worth understanding that the young mind has not yet sufficiently formed to process received information and correctly distribute it.
If you decided to delay the beginning of the school epic and let the child's organism properly mature, then they will assimilate and process received information much faster and with better quality than it would have been at an early stage of development.
I'll give an example. If you plant a tomato in the ground early, then all kinds of temperature fluctuations can disrupt its growth or destroy it altogether. But when you put a seed in warm soil, at the height of spring, the growth of this plant occurs much faster, and the fruits turn out tastier than those of the earlier greenhouse counterpart.
Parents should study the temporal conditions of child organism and consciousness development and not make a child prodigy or Olympic champion out of the developing person. Let them be an ordinary child growing in the natural environment of love and respect.
Children are very curious and they can already know all letters and numbers at 4 years old, but this doesn't mean they are ready for school load. Don't rush events. If a child wants to study something themselves, then give them this opportunity and let them study the Bible, then their neural connections will form those paths that won't overtire their nervous system.
If you see that it's difficult for your little one to assimilate the offered material and they simply don't understand what they're trying to explain to them, then be condescending to their perception, their mind has not yet developed to the needed level.
And if a child is reproached for their lack of understanding, then an undesired neural connection may develop in them that they can't do anything and they will affirm themselves in this rule and it will be difficult for parents to destroy this setting.
Praise, approval, love and friendly spirit open the child's heart to many possibilities and teach the child many good manners in the natural habitat.
Questions for Reflection
Please read Ephesians 4:15-16; Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Proverbs 3:1-2; 4:13; 22:6; Isaiah 28:10; Philippians 1:6; 4:9; Matthew 7:24-25; 13:12; John 14:26, in light of this lesson. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind? What did you understand from this lesson? What are neural connections and how do they form in the brain? Why are neural connections so important for learning and memorization? Why is it important for children to repeat what they heard to remember better? Can the process of neural connection formation be accelerated? Why can early learning overload a child's brain? How does regular Bible study affect the development of neural connections? Why is it important for a child to hear the same instructions several times? How does lack of practice affect forgetting studied material? Why is it difficult for a child to assimilate new information if their brain has not yet matured for this? How can fears and negative experiences form stable neural connections? Can stress destroy or weaken neural connections? Was this book useful for you?