“If we can engage kids in processes like playing chess, or being interested in hobbies or social situations that are helpful for them, then we will be engaging the next generation in brain-healthy habits.
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– Dr. Daniel Siegel, M.D., child psychiatrist

If you want your child to achieve academic success, experts say it’s important to understand how the brain develops.

Scientists have always known that babies learn at a rapid pace. But new research is showing a second period of brain growth, when again learning is easier. It happens between age 10 and puberty.

That’s when Yuliana Tapia, however, was busy cutting class.

“I missed like 72 school days out of my whole freshman year,” says 16-year-old Yuliana.

She got a “D” in aerobics and failed everything else.

“I was smoking, drinking, getting high,” says Yuliana.

Now, after years of falling behind in class, Yuliana wants to catch up.

“It’s like, wow,” says Yuliana, “but I’m trying, I guess.”

At 16, it will be hard: researchers believe that, by that age, the brain’s growth spurt is over.

“The brain basically has fine-tuned itself,” says educational consultant Kenneth Wesson. “And this is why we say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? You can. It just becomes dramatically more difficult, doesn’t it?”

Research shows the window for learning language, for example, starts to close at puberty.

Afterwards, it’s more difficult—but not impossible to learn.

“A lot depends on a person’s attitude,” says child psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Siegel. “I mean it’s amazing, but motivation is a lot of what brain growth is about. So in other words, if I’m motivated to really try and catch up in high school, I can get myself to do that.”

He advises parents to stimulate their children when learning is easiest: during the pre-teen years.

“If we can engage kids in processes like playing chess or being interested in hobbies,” says Dr. Siegel, “or social situations that are helpful for them, then we will be engaging the next generation in brain-healthy habits.”

Experts caution parents against “over-stimulating” or “over-scheduling” children. Research shows down time is actually important for brain development.

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• Most people have heard the expression, practice makes perfect. When it comes to the brain, practice makes permanent. New connections form between neurons in the brain when children learn skills like reading, writing or dance. The more a child repeats a particular skill, the stronger those connections become. (Kenneth Wesson, Education Consultant)




• The human brain is more efficient when it specializes. Adolescence is a time when the brain begins to narrow its options. That means if a child has never been exposed to music, then music will be difficult to learn at 20-years-old. Therefore, it’s important for parents to expose children to a variety of experiences before their adolescence. (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Child Psychiatrist)




• Realize the brain can only accommodate one dominant entry at a time. If students attempt to multi-task, the quality of their work will always go down. (Kenneth Wesson, Education Consultant)




• Drugs and alcohol can inhibit brain development. Certain drugs are “neuron toxic” – which means they poison neurons in the brain. (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Child Psychiatrist)

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• Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., child psychiatrist, Author, The Developing Mind
• Elizabeth Sowell, Ph.D., neuroscientist, U.C.L.A, Department of Neurology
• Kenneth Wesson, education consultant

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