You may be surprised to know what actually makes children smart.
Contrary to what most think, a child’s IQ mustn’t always escort them out of their mother’s womb at birth, nor must it always be about getting them to do lots and lots of IQ questions or assessment books.
Rather, a child’s IQ can stem from the regular activities that you do with them. If you as the parent constantly find time to engage in activities and dialogue with your child, you can accomplish this objective just as easily. Knowing about things in general, (leading to a high Intelligence Quotient) would need a more organic, natural and holistic approach and should begin fairly early in a child’s learning life / journey.
Here are 5 things you can do to in order to develop such traits in your child
Encourage playtimes
Playtime is like having food that is super beneficial to one’s overall development. Playtime supports development across all the 7 abilities. The most important thing is for your child to have fun while he/she is at it. Don’t forget to keep a healthy stock of craft supplies at home as these will serve your child well on those days when he/she is at home. Items like coloured paper, crayons, scissors, glue, glitter, paint, markers, brushes, Play-Doh etc. serve that good purpose of strengthening their fine-motor skills. This is simply a way for your child to master their ability to control his/her hands and fingers.
One thing to note however, is when a child plays, he/she is not just having fun, they are also developing their brains. To this end, it would be advisable to choose toys that will exercise your child’s imagination - where he/she can learn a variety of skills from.
Have regular discussions with your child
Regular discussions with your child will build his/her language skills. Children that are brought up in households where there is constant and consistent interaction via discussions, tend to have IQs scores that are 38-points higher than kids brought up in low language homes.
Encourage your child to solve problems
In addition to having chats with your child, seek out opportunities to pick their brains on different (age-related of course) problem scenarios, for them to practice analyzing and coming up with possible solutions. Discuss their solutions through with them to get an idea of their line of reasoning behind their solution. Give your child the opportunity to make simple choices as this will strengthen their decision-making skills. Studies have shown that children who are allowed to think for themselves at home, develop strong cognitive skills.
Reading to improve verbal and linguistic Intelligence
Reading is important as it helps with improving the language. This, in turn, is necessary for communication as we strive to get on with the tasks of everyday life. Reading also keeps our mind sharp. Starting to read early in itself, may not only help in the growth of your child’s literacy, but it could have other benefits, covering a wider range of cognitive abilities that are crucial later in their life.
Young children just beginning to speak and read, will need an adult to read with them daily in order to expand their vocabulary. Reading to children at this age will definitely highlight a lot of new words. As they get older, you can begin to introduce concept stories which will expand their vocabulary and encourage imagination. This, in turn, will enable your child have a better grasp of more abstract concepts.
Incorporate maths concepts into your conversations
Wherever possible, lightly task your child with solving simple maths (everyday) problems. This could be in the form of asking him/her how many more plates are needed at the table (while setting it out for a meal) or how many pieces of the pizza are left. If your child is older, you ask about the fraction of the pizza left etc. there will be many everyday life situations where you will able to find a mathematical question to discuss with your child. This should be done in a very light manner so your child doesn’t feel as it is a test, but rather a fun or discovery activity is how it should be perceived.
This is also a great way to either introduce or further explain concepts to your child, by using/discussing concrete examples with them.
This is known as fluid intelligence – the ability to think abstractly, reason and identify patterns, solve problems and discern relationships without using your prior knowledge.
