11 Good Ways To Help Your Child To Become Smarter
Every parent
wants a healthy and smart kid and having a smart child is one of the first
things you may hear when you ask a parent to describe their child. However, not
every parent knows how to groom their kid to be smart or smarter or what role
they play in increasing the brainpower of their kid.
Oftentimes,
this job is left to educational institutions. So, some parents may assume that if
they pay exorbitant fees for their children to attend them or just make sure
that their child simply shows up to elementary or high school, that this may be
the bulk of what their children need.
Unless your
child was born a genius, which is rare and just 2% of the world’s population, you
would have to pull your weight to help make your child smarter. Furthermore, for
a child, being smart means more than just knowing things such as how to add,
subtract, multiply, and color within the lines in coloring books. It means more
than just memorizing and regurgitating, line-by-line, what they have learned in
school or at home.
Here are 11
good ways you can help make your child smarter:
Love And Believe
In Your Child
One of the
best feelings in the world for a child is to know that you love and believe in
them, even when they may not be performing at or above your expectations. While
it is not okay to condone their poor or negative behaviors, you must assure
your child that you are eager to help and support them so they can improve and
grow.
Never call
your child stupid, put them down, hit, or yell at them for not knowing things that
you think they should know. Instead, praise their efforts and what they do well
and responsibly do your part to help them in necessary areas of improvement. Some
children may have undiagnosed cognitive and developmental disabilities that do
not allow them to perform at the pace and level of other children their age.
So, taking your frustrations or disappointments out on them may not make them
feel loved, accepted, and like you believe in them. Seek help and support for
them and yourself.
No matter
what, your child should be certain that you love and believe in them. This can
mean the difference between a child who tries to do their best or one who gets
easily angered, frustrated, and gives up (in life).
Inspire And Encourage Curiosity
Do you know
how most of the inventions of today came to be? It was the curiosity of the
minds that created them. If you notice your child does not ask a lot of questions,
it is time to start making sure they do. The quote ‘curiosity killed the cat’
was shortened over time for some reason; the full quote is ‘Curiosity killed
the cat, but satisfaction brought it back’.
What
differentiated the dark ages from the renaissance period was curiosity; when
people started asking questions, the dark ages gave way to the renaissance
period. It is not enough to ask your child questions. You must ask the right
questions, fun questions, engaging, and follow-up questions to get your child’s
mental juices flowing. You must push your kid into questioning everything and
anything. Some examples of questions you can ask your child that can encourage learning,
self-awareness, communication, and critical thinking are:
• What three
words best describe you?
This
question helps a child to become self-aware. It also gives you the opportunity
for discussion with them to see what they think about themselves, why they
think what they think about themselves, and help them to develop a positive self-image
if they describe themselves, negatively.
• What have
you learned well that you can teach others?
This
question can teach your child that they are valuable and have something to
offer the world outside of their own interests and what they can get out of
others. It lets them know that they are empowered to help others and can build
their self-confidence.
• What is
the best thing that ever happened to you?
This
question can teach your child appreciation for something good in life and allow
them to always have a positive point of reference in life to refer to during
challenging times. It is a good starting point to help them count their
blessings throughout life by being aware of what they consider the best
things no matter how small they may seem to you and others.
• If you
opened a store, what would you sell?
This
question can spark an entrepreneurial and decision-making spirit in your child
early on. It can also help you and find out what interests them, how they
see themselves helping others, and what others may need to solve their life
issues.
• If you could travel
anywhere on the planet, where would you go and how would you get there?
This question can help a
child to broaden their knowledge, curiosity, and perspective about the world
and realization of their talents and potential. It can help to learn about
diversity, other cultures, and realize that their future experiences in the world are not limited to their current experiences and surroundings.
Do Not Forget Their Reading, Linguistic, And Comprehension
Skills
We live in a visual world. Almost everything we encounter involves video
or visual communication such as memes, Zoom conferencing, Skype, and social
media. Every child does not learn the same, however, learning to read is one of
the first prerequisites for a child to comprehend what goes on in the world
around them.
Developing good language and comprehension skills go hand-in-hand with and
sets a good tone on how a child does in school, social settings, and life. You
must ensure that your child learns good and effective communication skills by
getting them After-School help and/or tutors so they have adequate or above
average reading, linguistic, and comprehension skills to succeed in life.
Teach Them Social Skills
Parents
often ignore the importance of social skills because they assume once a child
is in school, their kid may automatically develop them. However, while building
the intelligence quotient (IQ) of your child, you must embrace the place for their
emotional quotient (EQ) as well. Your child should learn how to interact with
peers, resolve issues, and share items with them. You must teach your child how
to best deal with bullies and temptation. Your child must feel confident in handling
or declining to participate in any negative peer behaviors and be okay with
being the leader of himself or herself during social interactions. Your child
should know how to speak up for themselves politely, yet assertively and
respectfully around others. They should learn that it is not okay to yell,
stomp, and scream to get their way unless they are in immediate danger or
harm’s way. A child with good social skills is a smart child.
Watch Their Friends
To raise a
smart child, you must encourage positive peer influences for your child. If
your child is the smartest among their peers, there may be a need for a change.
You must encourage your child to be around others with whom they can learn valuable
and positive knowledge and whom they enjoy being around. Also, you should check
if your child’s friends are getting the same training as your child. If the
parents of the other children are not as dedicated as you are to making their
child become smarter, then there must be a change. Your child needs to be among
kin spirits, and you must make sure that you and your child feel comfortable
with and trust who they are around.
Get Them Involved In Academics Or Arts Early
Early
involvement in academics or the Arts boosts brainpower and gives them critical
thinking skills, especially when they are exposed early to math problems,
critical thinking skills, music lessons, playing instruments, painting, etc.
Even when they are taught these lessons in school, pick out a time at home when
they can feel free to work on them as well.
Introduce Technology
Thanks to
the ever-evolving nature of technology, there are available fun learning apps and
brain games for kids on devices. Playing these brain games with your children
can help to increase their intelligence. The fun learning apps make it easy for
the children to improve their memory and developmental strategies that can improve
their cognitive functioning and abilities. You can program, set, and monitor parental
controls on devices in the device settings to prevent your child from
discovering content that is unsuitable for them while they’re learning
independently.
Reduce Screen Time
This may
sound strange, given that most of the learning items a kid needs are embedded
in technology these days. However, your kid needs time alone in various
environments to build their brainpower; they can engage in sports when they are
not fiddling with their tablets or watching TV. They can learn good manners and be attentive during conversations when they are not glued to cellphones or
computer screens. Reducing screen time is a good brain-building activity.
Spending so much time with the screen creates a child who is out of touch with
their immediate environment. If they do spend more time with their screens, it
should be spent creating, rather than consuming things that are not conducive
to long-term learning and developing responsible and good habits.
Play Focus Games
One of the
issues children have as they grow is high numbers of distractions, and while
this is normal, they must be curbed, lest they become an adult problem. Playing
focus games with your kids will help them to deal with these distractions so
that they can pay attention to your instructions, their schoolwork, and details.
The inability to pay attention to details can derail them from increasing their
knowledge and being smart.
Get Them Role Models
It may sound like a stretch, but a good role model has a lot to do with grooming your child to be smart. That role model could be you or someone else, but whoever they are, they must be someone with admirable, responsible, and exemplary qualities that you want to be imparted in your kid. If possible, figure out the interests of your kid, and get them role models in the same field. The knowledge that a good mentor imparts to your child can put your child a step further in that field and life. Every kid can use a good mentor; get one for your child.
Prepare The Right Foods
Yes, there
are specific foods that can help a child to build brainpower. These foods
contain vitamins and minerals that can sharpen their mind by sending healthy
essentials to their brain. Aside from being healthy, the foods that can
help your child become smarter are numerous, and the best part is that they are
both healthy and tasty, so your kid may love them. Be sure to speak with your
child’s primary care physician if you suspect that your child has food
allergies or intolerances before introducing new foods and drinks to them.
Celebrate Their Wins, But Do Not Encourage Mediocrity
Your child
may be smart enough to get a B+ without studying but ensure that you enforce
the need for studying and getting extra help if needed. They could have done
better had they studied; they should know this. Do not let them bask in the
mediocrity of their past glories, even as you celebrate it with them.
Consistently remind them that there is another step to cross as you give
accolades and encouragement for crossing one step to the next.
Conclusion
Again, aside
from having a healthy kid, almost everyone may want smart or smarter children,
but not everyone is willing to put in the work to get this. To groom a smart or
smarter child, you must be willing to dedicate time, energy, and resources to
make this happen while letting your child know that you love and believe in
them, regardless.
Some folks
talk about how Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, or Elon Musk became successful,
but are folks digging deeper to see how their parents, caretakers, or others
may have encouraged their abilities and critical thinking skills when they were
children? There are many “self-made” successful people today. However,
somewhere along the way, there may have been someone who helped to inspire the
successful people and billionaires we now see today. We know that having
success and smarts is not just about having a lot of money. The role that you
play in helping your child to be smart or smarter is larger than the end result
of them acquiring fame or money.
References
https://www.allprodad.com/10-ways-to-make-your-child-smarter/
https://www.lifehack.org/352751/8-ways-make-your-child-smarter