Until recently I knew that you could increase your child’s knowledge but what I didn’t realise was that you could actually improve your child’s intelligence! The brain is essentially a muscle so the more you stimulate, by exercise and nutrition, the better it is able to focus and think clearly this is because the synapses fire quicker and more neural pathways form.
You can enhance you’re child’s intelligence and knowledge by:
- Minimising the amount of TV your child watches
- Keep your child’s brain hydrated
- Give your child toys that will stimulate them and promote different areas of development
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep
- Encourage your child to mix with other children
This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how much TV the average child watches because parents are rushing about doing other things so sit their child in front of the TV to keep them out of their way. Another reason is that parents believe that alot of the programmes have an educational element. You can reduce the amount of TV by putting music on instead.
In extreme cases children who watch alot of TV tend to learn fixed phrases and can’t apply the vocabulary correctly. It doesn’t enable other areas of development such as their fine motor skills as they focus on the TV, they’re also not as active as most children either sit or stand in front of the TV which can cause childhood obesity.
Water is the only drink that goes directly to the organs all other drinks are processed in the same way as food, this would explain why some children who drink alot of juice and squash throughout the day don’t want their main meals because their system is trying to cope with processing the juice. Water keeps the brain hydrated which keeps it working at it’s best, if the brain becomes dehydrated its learning capacity drops as well as concentration. It can also cause behavioural problems as a dehydrated brain causes headaches, I don’t know if it’s just my daughter but when she is feeling unwell regardless of what the complaint is she tends to have more tantrums and be more “clingy”; I’m sure I’m not alone with this.
I know this sounds slightly sad but when I am buying toys for my daughter I find something I think she will like then think “well what can she get out of it?” If the answer is not much in most cases I won’t buy it because I know that she will get bored of it very quickly and it will then sit in a cupboard until have a clear out, which makes it a waste of money too. As a result although my daughter doesn’t have loads of toys she will sit and play with those that she does have for hours, it’s a great feeling watching as she explores new ways to use the toys. For more information see Toys that could enhance your child’s development
Most children need an average of between 12-16 hours sleep. Make sure that you have a good bedtime routine, and if your child needs it let them take a nap during the day, my daughter sleeps from approximately 7:30pm ’til 7:30am and then if she’s had an active day she may have a nap mid afternoon. Tired children don’t concentrate very well and also are not as receptive to learning.
Children learn best from each other. This is because children are at approximately the same level whereas adults tend to either talk to their children either by incomprehensible babbling or by talking to them like an adult. This is not intentional it is just a case of most adults not knowing how to talk to children. Not only this but children who socialise with others tend to pick up new things and also stimulate areas of the brain that are not stimulated in children who are isolated such as the area of the brain that deals with language and also that which deals with social interaction.