1. I was the youngest in my family and I do not have kids of my own so my experience with infants in my own family and social circle is extremely limited. I would say that what I knew before watching this video is only what I had read in developmental books and educational videos. It seemed to me that there was a medical consensus that newborn babies need to have physical contact with a parent or caregiver in order to develop properly.
2. I think that this approach to infant brain development is exceptional and certainly all-encompassing. I would have a hard time believing that one person could do all the recommendations in this video alone, especially if they have other children or a job. It seems like this approach is best achieved by involving both dedicated parents as well as any invested family members to help.
3. I could apply this to my teaching practice by emphasizing the stimulation aspect that Fraley outline so clearly here. Young children seem to do better under a controlled environment where the daily activities are clear, announced, and uninterrupted. Of course children need some time to socialize with each other but if a class is 120 minutes I would hope to fill at least 105 of those minutes with classroom activity. Fraley often says, “be present” when dealing with infants and small children because when children see that you are directly interacting or teaching them they feel safer and their brains are stimulated.

4.)The biggest surprise of the video for me was when Fraley was taking about orphanages in super-populated areas that may have one caregiver for 10-15 infants. She said that some infants can actually die if they do not have the correct amount of physical contact. Even if the infant in question is well fed and otherwise healthy, the built—up of stress from not being soothed or held is catastrophic for a baby’s nervous system. As far as the Conscious Discipline website, I found myself drawn to many of the text and videos that outlined the potential negative effects that babies may develop as a result of not having proper handling and attention was shocking. To someone who has never had any contact with an infant, you may tend to think if you feed them, burp them, change them, and lay them on their back to sleep, then that is enough for a healthy baby. There is so, so much more that needs to be done to ensure an infant properly develo