When it comes to our child’s education and our endevour to make them smart individuals, we are always in a hunt to find the best of everything. Right from the best preschool, exquisite high school, top study tricks, and primo extracurricular activities. This complete package is sure to pack a punch to your child’s growth. And even before all this starts, many of the super-to-be parents out there plan out as early as when the little one is in the womb.
Well! Take a deep breath and relax. While all this is part of the process, boosting your child’s IQ is not rocket science. However, a series of mindful steps in their formative years will go a long way in building your child’s intelligent quotient. Here are 10 unique ways that you can do with your child right from their birth to high school.
- Talking and Reading: “The more conversant you are with your child, the more intelligent they will be.” Promoting literacy through reading helps improve comprehension skills and keeps the brain stimulated. Walk the talk is another great way of connecting with your child and boosting their IQ at the same time.
- Diet: Diet plays a very important role in giving a kick start to your child’s IQ. Breastfeeding your baby regularly till the age of 6 months and tapering off till the age of 18 months offers nutritive advantages that benefit a child’s developing brain. Later, building a habit of eating a healthy breakfast daily is important. Feed them Omega 3 fatty acids, fish, broccoli, spinach, walnuts, and flax seeds. The brain is made up of fat. Hence, do not hesitate to include healthy dietary fats like avocado, coconut oil, and ghee or calirified butter.
- Tap right and left brain aspects: While we know the our brain consists of a left and a right side, what we do not realise is that it controls different functions. While our left side of the brain is more nurtured and nourished in our schooling life, the right side brain aspects are generally ignored. The right side brain aspects include factors such as imagination and creative thinking which actually help you solve real world problems. In my workshops, I have incorporated reasoning in an out of the box format as an attempt to enable holisitc brain development. Logical Reasoning, in itself is an established stream of study known to expand a child’s thought process – when presented in an out of the box format, it will definately be a unique expereince for you child and an enabler in enhancing IQ.
4. Exposure to novel experiences: The brain learns through new exposures and experiences. Always try to give your child opportunities for unique and novel activities and interactions. Kids have a very strong situational memory – it helps them to establish a connect between different situations, places, people and the kind of activity to expect. The more such expereinces they get, the faster they will be able to grasp multiple concepts.
5.Avoid sleep deprivation: There is a correlation between average amounts of sleep and cognitive memory. A loss of one hour of sleep is equivalent to the loss of two years of cognitive (intellectual) maturation and development. This is true for adults as well!
6. Daily exercise: Any kind of MOVEMENT in children is a major source of brain stimulation and development. Exercise in the form of active outdoor play, yoga, or garden play should be a staple of your child’s daily routine. A regular exercise regimen increases the blood flow to the brain focused on memory and learning by 30%.
7. Music and art: As your child grows, cultivating music and art forms contributes to boosting your child’s IQ. Studies have shown that musical training and being creative help in improving verbal comprehension and reasoning skills. Instruments like piano, guitar, and drums are just right for those little hands. Singing rhymes together, and listening to music can be a favorite productive pass time too. Art forms as simple as scribbling, random painting, and drawing simple figures along with your child stimulate your child’s imagination and fine motor skills thereby boosting his IQ.
8. Peer interactions: This needs diligent attention. Whom your child spends time with is a big indicator for building up IQ. Exposure to different children and people from walks of life gives them spatial awareness at the same time boosts their IQ.
9. Learn a sport: The journey of involving your child into sports starts right from infancy. Taking your little ones for strolls in a park nearby itself will expose them to a variety of sports. Observing children play different sports at the same time, brings in the curiosity to play some sport that interests him in the future. Playing any outdoor sport increases blood circulation to the brain, and releases endorphins (happy hormones).
10. Believe in them: Last but not the least, if you want to boost confidence and build up a healthy brain for your child, believe in them! Motivate and encourage them that they have the potential to be successful in whatever they do. Stand by them like a rock, not all the time, but when you feel that they might need you. This will not only boost their IQ but also help them grow up as independent individuals and strengthen their emotional quotient.
I hope this helps your child to be smarter!
