13 Proven Ways to Raise a Smart Child
Some children are born with genius abilities. But that’s not the only way to have an intelligent child. If you want to raise a smart child, you can do that.
You need to be prepared though. It will take some time and energy on your part to improve your child’s/children’s mental capabilities. But the benefits, in the end, will be worth it.
Here are 13 proven strategies to help you raise an intelligent child:
1. Ensure That Your Child Has Proper Nutrition
What people eat has a direct effect on their intelligence. Proper nutrition will affect your child’s brain development positively while poor nutrition will affect it negatively.
It’s, therefore, important that you feed your child a balanced diet. Avoid junk foods and concentrate on cooking fresh food where possible.
And you can also supplement your child’s diet with fish oil. The omega-3 fatty acids in it help in brain function and development.
2. Ensure That Your Child Has Enough Sleep
If you intend to raise a smart child, then ensure that he/she has enough sleep. That’s because sleep helps to boost cognitive brain functions. These are the brain function that will enable your child to process information.
When your child gets enough sleep, they will be in a much better position to think, learn, make decisions, solve problems, and pay attention. And the more capable they are of doing these things, the smarter they will be.
3. Involve Your Child in Music
To raise a smart child, incorporate music into his or her life. Encourage them to learn songs and sing, let them listen to good music, and find a way to teach them how to play a musical instrument.
When children learn to play a musical instrument or have music lessons, they improve their motor skills and experience an improved sense of emotional wellbeing. Music also improves a child’s ability to reason and solve problems.
4. Encourage Your Child to Exercise
Exercise is important. And you should include it into your child’s life from early on if you want to raise a smart child.
Fitness activities improve the child’s ability to learn. Children who exercise also have a higher level of focus and better memory. And they also experience lower levels of depression and anxiety.
So, you should encourage your child to be as physically active as possible. If you are worried about the child’s safety, simply find a way to supervise the child but let them exercise. Examples of exercises children can engage in include dancing, swimming, walking, running, hill climbing, etc.
5. Let Your Child Have Unstructured Play
Does your child play? Or do you use the TV as a babysitter every day of the week?
Playing is very important for children. And if you want to raise a smart child, you need to let them have unstructured playtime on their own and with other children. Unstructured playtime means that the activities are open-ended so that children can engage in activities that don’t have specific rules and guidelines.
Play encourages children to think outside the box, learn to communicate, and take charge and make their own decisions. Additionally, play improves imagination and creativity.
6. Give Your Child Toys That Encourage Learning
It’s a good idea to buy useful toys that encourage learning if you want to have an intelligent child. Some toys are much better than others at helping improve brain function.
You should aim for toys that will help your child learn how to solve problems and be creative. Some of the toys that you can buy for this purpose include puzzles, Lego, chess, checkers, etc.
Always be on the lookout for any kind of toy that will encourage your child to think and learn different ways of doing things. They don’t have to be expensive. You can raise a smart child without going bankrupt.
7. Encourage Your Child to Read
You should encourage reading if you want to raise a smart child. Children who read have better abstract thinking abilities, as well as a higher level of verbal reasoning. Your child is more likely to perform better in math and language tests if they read than if they don’t.
8. Nurture Your Child’s Interests
When your child shows interest in certain subjects or activities, you need to nurture their interests. And be involved in their education.
For example, if your child shows an interest in history, then you need to find ways to encourage them in that direction. You could take them to the museum, buy them age-appropriate books, or find other ways of learning interesting historical information together.
Child prodigies are children who have a high level of expertise similar to that of an adult expert in a skillset of some kind. So, by nurturing your child’s interest from early on, you may end up raising a child that is smarter than his or her peers and even many adults in their area of interest. Your child could end up being a great painter, academician, linguist, musician, etc.
9. Teach Your Child the Value of Hard Work
While some people are born smart, most smart people are made. So, if you want to raise a smart child, you need to teach him or her, the value of hard work.
Start by assigning chores that they need to complete regularly. It lets them learn the value of responsibility early. Praise them for their hard work rather than their looks.
Also, encourage your children to work hard for the things that they want. They should always put in all their effort in whatever that they do. And let them know that while failing is okay, quitting is not.
Children who learn the value of hard work will be smarter because they will put in the effort to learn. And when they don’t succeed the first time, they will try again. In the end, they will find success in most things that they try out.
10. Positively Reinforce Your Child While Encouraging Independence
To raise a smart child, you need to let that child learn to do things. As a parent, your job is to offer a stress-free environment for the child to learn.
It is, therefore, important that you positively reinforce your child. When they do something successfully, praise them. But when they fail don’t shout at them or demean them. Let them know you appreciate their attempts to do something and encourage them to find other ways.
When you allow the child some independence to solve problems on their own while playing or studying, they may find solutions on their own. And even if they don’t, they will still have learned something by the time you offer to help them.
11. Enroll Your Child in a Good Preschool
Young children are very impressionable. So, you need to be careful about the people that surround your child. When your child is of age to attend a preschool, you need to ensure you choose a good one.
A good preschool will foster a positive learning environment for your child. It is where your child’s imagination, language skills, and socialization skills will be fostered. With good teachers, your child’s intelligence will experience a boost.
12. Teach Your Child a Second Language
Studies show that children who learn a second language are smarter. It’s actually one of the signs of an intelligent baby.
They have better cognition and focus levels. That’s because their brains experience more activity because they have to work harder so that the child can learn both languages and remember what they both mean.
13. Engage Your Child in Interactive Conversation While They Are At Home
When your child is still very young, engage them in conversation daily. Speak to them then give them a chance to respond, even in baby language. The conversation should be interactive – similar to that of an adult.
Conversation activates the part of the brain that is responsible for production of speech and processing of language. As a result, it improves the child’s ability to communicate at an early age, which makes them smarter than their peers.
To raise a smart child, you have to make smart choices as a parent. So, take the time to find the right strategies that will work for your child and any special needs he or she may have.