The Importance of Early Childhood Cognitive Development America has many programs for graduate students who are involved in education and children. While any college student can appreciate education, I suspect few understand the importance of early childhood development. Having committed myself to applying for a position at Teach for America, I want to better understand why it is so important to “catch them while they are young.” In 2001, the U.S. Department of Education, the Academy of Sciences, and the Foundation for Child Development conducted a study on early childhood development. The study revealed several interesting ideas and scientific trends about child development. The questions surrounding this research were: How important are the first years of a child's life? What are the most important early years? Why aren't later years more important? To better plan educational policy it is necessary to discuss these issues. The part of the study that I find most convincing is the one regarding neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity, or brain plasticity, is the brain's ability to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences. (1) Simply put, we experience and learn new things every day. To incorporate this new information into our brain, the brain must reorganize how it processes that information. So, as we learn, the brain changes. Neuroplasticity is important because, although it continues throughout the life of each individual, it is closely linked to the rate of development/growth of the brain. During rapid periods of brain growth, synaptic pruning occurs. Synaptic pruning is the elimination of synapses in the brain that are weaker facilitating the growth of a stronger, more efficient brain. (2)As the brain grows... middle of paper... it is very useful not only for their education, but also for the physical development of their brain. This information is useful in many fields of study: science, sociology, political science, law, etc. Neuroscience still has much to develop on early childhood cognitive development. However, currently, information appears to facilitate the creation of an appropriate education for young children. References 1) Neuroscience Consultant, prepared by Erin Hoiland http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html 2) Synaptic pruning in development, online version of a text http://citeseer.nj.nec. com/cachedpage/116010/23) Eager to learn, study, online version of the text http://books.nap.edu/books/0309068363/html/37.html#pagetop4 ) US Department of Education, President Bush Initiativeshttp ://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/read/ereadingsbr03/edlite-slide9.html