Sunday, 12/10/2023
Education
Parenting Tip: 15 ways to raise a smart child
Update: 29/07/2016
Who doesn’t want to have a smart kid? And by ‘smart’, I\r\ndon’t mean just having a high IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Smartness is a\r\nmindset. Being smart is having the ability to produce the most positive results\r\nwith independent and rational action. Smartness can be in any area – mental,\r\nlogical, linguistics, existential, social, spatial, musical or existential. And\r\nin the modern world one needs to be financially smart too.
\r\n\r\nEvery kid is special. Each child has a potential. Trying\r\njust to raise the IQ of your children can do more harm than good. When you want\r\nto raise your kids to be smart, educate them to be accepting, compassionate,\r\ncreative and curious. You should aim to help them develop and utilise their\r\nhidden talents and skills to their maximum capacity. Raising smart kids is not\r\njust about imparting more knowledge. It is also about guiding them how to use\r\nwhat they have. A smart child uses the knowledge gained at the right time, and\r\nin the right way.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHere are 15 ways to raise a smart kid. Make sure the process\r\nis fun and not a drag.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n1. Talk, and also listen, to your children.
\r\n\r\nCommunicating helps develop strong language skills in\r\nchildren.
\r\n\r\n2. Praise your child. The catch here is, praising the right\r\ntrait. Don’t compliment their inborn abilities. Instead, appreciate their\r\neffort. For instance, when your child gets good grades you could say ‘you’ve\r\nworked really hard’ instead of saying ‘you are brainy.’ Praise their\r\nunderstanding of the notes instead of their voice. Instead of saying ‘you are\r\nan excellent artist’; say ‘you have used the colors brilliantly.’ If you praise\r\nchildren for their inborn abilities, they tend to doubt themselves and fail\r\nwhen confronted with challenges. They would rather stick to easy tasks just to\r\nmaintain their self-image than chase challenging tasks. Praising their effort\r\ngives children a sense of being in control. After all, one can put in more\r\neffort and achieve higher.
\r\n\r\n3. Read to your kids to instill the habit of reading in\r\nthem.
\r\n\r\nThe practice of reading early in life helps children develop\r\nan appetite for knowledge. It also helps them develop language skills. Build\r\nyour own library at home and keep the books within arm’s reach. Make reading a\r\npart of your life. Reading bedtime stories is a good way to start.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n4. Make children feel loved. Hug, love, talk and play with\r\nthem. It can help them develop their brain. Children brought up in warm,\r\nnurturing families have greater resistance to stress and have reduced\r\nvulnerability to stress-induced illness [1]. Lack of responsive, nurturing,\r\nconsistent care in the early months of their lives can cause insecure\r\nattachment which predisposes them to depression and other psychiatric disorders\r\n[2]. Unstable parent-child relationships can lead to behavioral disorders and\r\nincreased susceptibility to a wide variety of common diseases later in life\r\n[3]. Children who are raised in families that are cold, unsupportive, and\r\nneglectful have troubles in emotion processing and social competence [4].
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n5. Answer their ‘whys and hows’. Children are very\r\ninquisitive. They question even the seemingly ‘silly’ detail. Don’t ignore\r\ntheir questions because no question is insignificant. They are learning new\r\nthings. Answer their questions as best as you can in simple terms that they can\r\nunderstand. And if you don’t know the answer, tell them that you will research\r\nit later.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n6. Give children adequate free play. Don’t over-schedule.\r\nLining up back-to-back activities shifts their focus often. Engage them in\r\nunrestricted, unstructured, on the go activities. It can help them build physical,\r\nemotional, intellectual, executive and social skills.
\r\n\r\n7. Expose kids to new places and experiences. Travel to\r\nvarious places. Take them to parks, museums, plays, beaches, etc. It will help\r\nthem gain practical knowledge.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n8. Give children a chance. They can do wonders. Believe in\r\ntheir capabilities. They can do more than what you think they are capable of.\r\nLet them try. Let them correct themselves if they err. Giving kids this freedom\r\ncan help them discover their own interests and become better at them. It helps\r\nthem be creative and original.
\r\n\r\n9. Allow children to have activity-free days. It’s perfectly\r\nokay for them to get bored. The occasional free time lets them introspect. It\r\nprepares them to participate in their activities with better drive and clarity.
\r\n\r\n10. The eating habits of children greatly affect their brain\r\ndevelopment and intelligence.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUnhealthy foods not only risk their physical health but also\r\nrisk their brain development. Good nutrition fuels the brain and helps it\r\nfunction optimally throughout the day. It promotes optimal growth of brain\r\ncells, nerves and tissues and thus, enhances concentration, memory and\r\nintelligence. Wrong eating habits result in slow memory, lack of focus,\r\nlethargy and sleepiness.
\r\n\r\n11. Involve children in kitchen work. Let their imagination\r\nrun wild as they discover new flavors. Reading out the recipe can help enrich\r\ntheir language skills. Getting children helping in the kitchen will help raise\r\nhealthy eaters. It makes them feel self-satisfied and is also one of the best\r\nways to encourage independence. Helping in the kitchen can also introduce them\r\nto early mathematic concepts like shapes, measurement, etc. The patience and\r\neffort put in preparing a meal, and the compliments that follow will create\r\nlasting memories that help develop their emotional skills.
\r\n\r\n12. Getting a good night’s sleep is critical for children.\r\nSleep helps our body renew its energy. It has positive effects on our emotions\r\nand memory.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n13. Keep your children physically active.
\r\n\r\nRegular physical\r\nactivity can not only make them physically fit but also boost their confidence\r\nand self-image. It aids in sound sleep and also reduces the risk of depression.\r\nExercise helps sharpen their thinking, learning, memory, imaginative and judgment\r\nskills [7].
\r\n\r\n14. Introduce them to music and various musical instruments.\r\nLet them learn to play at least one musical instrument. Music encourages\r\nmulti-sensory learning and can boost language, creative, emotional and thinking\r\nskills [8]. It is a great stress buster too. It can encourage memorizing as\r\nkids learn and imitate sounds. Remember how you first learned your alphabets?
\r\n\r\n15. Be their model. Children follow in their parents’\r\nfootsteps by modeling their behavior. Eat healthily and be physically active.\r\nIncorporate reading into your routine. Unleash the creative side in you. Listen\r\nto or make your own music. See new places and meet new people. It’s time dads\r\nstarted helping out at home. While mothers influence the attitude of children\r\ntowards gender role, fathers could play a role in occupational preferences of\r\ntheir daughters. According to a study, daughters who grew up in a home with a\r\nbalanced division of household labor between parents expressed a greater\r\ninterest in working outside the home and having a less stereotypical occupation\r\n[9].
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nReferences:
\r\n\r\n1. Smith J, Prior M. Temperament and stress resilience in\r\nschool-age children: a within-families study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc\r\nPsychiatry. 1995 Feb;34(2):168-79. PubMed PMID: 7896650
\r\n\r\n2. Beatson J, Taryan S. Predisposition to depression: the\r\nrole of attachment. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2003 Apr;37(2):219-25. Review.\r\nErratum in: Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2003 Aug;37(4):503. PubMed PMID: 12656963.
\r\n\r\n3. McEwen BS. Early life influences on life-long patterns of\r\nbehavior and health. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2003;9(3):149-54. Review.\r\nPubMed PMID: 12953293.
\r\n\r\n4. Repetti RL, Taylor SE, Seeman TE. Risky families: family\r\nsocial environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychol\r\nBull. 2002 Mar;128(2):330-66. Review. PubMed PMID: 11931522.
\r\n\r\n5. O’Brien LM. The neurocognitive effects of sleep\r\ndisruption in children and adolescents. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2009\r\nOct;18(4):813-23. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2009.04.008. Review. PubMed PMID: 19836689.
\r\n\r\n6. Li S, Arguelles L, Jiang F, Chen W, Jin X, Yan C, Tian Y,\r\nHong X, Qian C, Zhang J, Wang X, Shen X. Sleep, school performance, and a\r\nschool-based intervention among school-aged children: a sleep series study in\r\nChina. PLoS One. 2013 Jul 10;8(7):e67928. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067928.\r\nPrint 2013. PubMed PMID: 23874468; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3707878.
\r\n\r\n7. Etnier J, Labban JD, Piepmeier A, Davis ME, Henning DA.\r\nEffects of an acute bout of exercise on memory in 6th grade children. Pediatr\r\nExerc Sci. 2014 Aug;26(3):250-8. doi: 10.1123/pes.2013-0141. Epub 2014 Jul 15.\r\nPubMed PMID: 25050827.
\r\n\r\n8. Benz S, Sellaro R, Hommel B, Colzato LS. Music Makes the\r\nWorld Go Round: The Impact of Musical Training on Non-musical Cognitive\r\nFunctions-A Review. Front Psychol. 2016 Jan 7;6:2023. doi:\r\n10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02023. eCollection 2015. Review. PubMed PMID: 26779111;\r\nPubMed Central PMCID: PMC4703819.
\r\n\r\n9. Croft A, Schmader T, Block K, Baron AS. The second shift\r\nreflected in the second generation: do parents’ gender roles at home predict\r\nchildren’s aspirations? Psychol Sci. 2014 Jul;25(7):1418-28. doi:\r\n10.1177/0956797614533968. Epub 2014 Jun 2. PubMed PMID: 24890499.
\r\n\r\nBy The Health Site
\r\n\r\nDr Anitha Anchan