Why do some children seem to bounce back from setbacks while others struggle to cope? Whether it’s a scraped knee, a disrupted routine, or something more serious, kids respond to life’s challenges in very different ways. That difference often comes down to resilience — the ability to adapt in the face of adversity.
But resilience isn’t something children are simply born with or without. It’s something that’s built – and it begins in the earliest years of life, embedded in the architecture of the developing brain.
The Brain Builds What It Experiences
From birth, and even before, a child’s brain is building itself in response to the world around them. Neural connections form rapidly in early life, especially in areas related to emotion, stress regulation, language, and social interaction. This process is heavily influenced by the child’s day-to-day experiences.
One of the most powerful forces shaping this architecture is what …
