As another holiday season cruises into a brand new year, I tend to always focus on how well I parented the year before and what I can do to improve my parenting skillset for the year ahead.
One common factor most parents share is how they can raise an independent, smart child. As a mom of eight, I certainly realize how important it is to foster creativity and curiosity while raising children. While we don’t have to necessarily raise Einstein’s, there are some easy, common-sense gifts we can offer our children to enable them to be the keenest, smartest individuals they can aspire to be. Today, Mighty Mommy shares these six gifts that can really make a difference when trying to raise a smarter child.
Gift #1: The Gift of Music. Studies have shown that listening to music can boost memory, attention, motivation and learning. It can also lower stress that is destructive to your kid’s brain. Another study has also shown that children’s brains develop faster with music training. Music instruction appears to accelerate brain development in young children, particularly in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sound, language development, speech perception, and reading skills, according to initial results of a five-year study by USC neuroscientists. We can start gifting our children with music as early as birth by singing lullabies to them and letting them listen to music on their crib mobiles. Young toddlers enjoy watching shows such as Sesame Street where lots of whimsical singing is done. My kids loved listening to sing-a-long CDs in the car as well as experimenting with instruments such as homemade drums or playing on toy keyboards. Once they start going to school kids will be introduced to more structured music by the way of chorus and band. If they see that their parents have a genuine appreciation for music and the arts, they are more likely to follow suit and continue exploring musical options until they find the instrument or singing venue that suits them best.
Gift #2: The Gift of Exercise. The benefits of exercise for all human beings are many, but our kids and their growing bodies truly do benefit from staying active in so many ways. Because a good workout gets your blood flowing, more oxygen gets to your brain. And that means you can think better. Exercise may: keep you from zoning out in class or while doing your homework; improve your scores on tests; help you get better grades; and help you sleep better. When you exercise, your brain gets the message that you're tired at night. Exercise can also help put you in a better mood. It affects chemicals in your brain. And those can change how you feel. When you move, you can get more energy so you feel good and can do things you want to do, like sports, dance, playing an instrument, or reading, feel better when you’re stressed out, and stay calmer when you have to give a class presentation or take a test.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children and adolescents participate in moderate-to-vigorous exercise at least 60 minutes every day.
In an article written by Gretchen Reynolds titled Phys Ed: Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter? The author cited a study that followed a group of 9 and 10 year olds who lived near the Champaign-Urbana campus of the University of Illinois and asked them to run on a treadmill. The researchers were hoping to learn more about how fitness affects the immature human brain. They showed that fit children had significantly larger basal ganglia, a key part of the brain that aids in maintaining attention and “executive control,” or the ability to coordinate actions and thoughts crisply.
The bottom line is that exercise is not only good for keeping our bodies healthy, but it also plays an important part in keeping our brain and minds healthy, so by implementing a regular exercise routine into your family’s busy lives you’ll be helping them do better in school as well as lay a foundation for a healthy lifestyle well into their adult years.
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Gift #3: The Gift of Reading Together. Many studies have proven the positive correlation between a child's development and family reading time. But when we read together with our kids, it creates a connection and a common interest as well as helps them start to build good reading skills which are essential for a lifetime of learning. Got a little one who is learning to read? Don’t let them just stare at the pictures in a book while you do all the reading.
Call attention to the words. Read with them, not to them. Research shows it helps build their vocabulary and enhances their early reading skills. And when our kids see how much we enjoy reading in our free time as well as spending quality time with them snuggled up and enjoying a good book together, again, we’re laying a strong foundation for a lifetime of enjoying a rich, literary world. See Also: 5 Ways to Get Your Kids Reading
Gift #4: The Gift of Hydration. The amount of water you consume everyday plays an important role in maintaining a healthy body. Experts recommend drinking eight to ten glasses of water each day to maintain good health. Water helps keep the body well hydrated, which is essential because almost every cell in the body needs water to function properly. It also helps to relieve fatigue, aids in weight loss by flushing out harmful toxins in the body, and helps with our body’s digestive system.
In addition to the health benefits listed above, there are some new studies show that drinking enough water can offer a significant improvement in cognitive performance. Most children arrive at school in a state of mild dehydration that may negatively affect scholastic performance. The study conducted was quite simple—researchers took a group of schoolchildren, randomly allocated them to drink a cup of water or not, and then gave them all a test to see who did better. And the winner was … the cup-of-water group. The conclusion found in this study suggested that even children in a state of mild dehydration, not induced by intentional water deprivation or by heat stress and living in a cold climate, can benefit from drinking more water and improve their cognitive performance.
So get in the habit of serving water at all your daily meals and encourage drinking water in between meals with snacks as well. If your kids see you drinking water throughout the day, they are more apt to model this themselves. When my family dines out at a restaurant, we only drink water. Not only is it less expensive, but it helps them to enjoy their meal more rather than filling up on sugary soft drinks. Water is an easy gift to incorporate into your daily living routines, especially if you do it as a family.
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Gift #5: Gift of Down Time. I’ve always been a big proponent of kids playing outside. It may be that as the oldest of five siblings, my family grew up riding our bikes, playing in the local playground, and even just hanging out in our friends and neighbor’s backyards all year long. We were happiest when we were in the fresh air, no matter what the season.
Today’s kids are definitely not as privy to unstructured play as my generation was. My own kids have been enrolled in more extracurricular activities and organized sports than my siblings and I ever dreamed of participating in, but I realized with my older kids how important it was for them to have regular down time regardless of how many activities they were involved with so I began scheduling blank periods of time on our family calendar.
Not only is free time a healthy way for kids to unwind, a study from the University of Michigan shows that playing outside improves focus. The study found that just walking outside, no matter the weather, and no matter whether the experience was actually enjoyable, helped improve memory and attention by 20 percent.
Kids don’t necessarily speak up and say that they want to take a break from texting on their smart phones or from sending Instagrams from their laptopos. So as parents, we can give them a priceless gift by insisting they take breaks and enjoy the great outdoors. Even if you start by limiting screen and tech time for them so that they have to find another means to entertain themselves you will be gifting them something very important. Down time can unclutter their minds and re-energize them to be more sharp when it comes time to tackle homework or other structured activities. See Also: 6 Ways to Create Unstructured Play Time for Your Kids
Down time can unclutter their minds and re-energize them to be more sharp when it comes time to tackle homework or other structured activities.
Gift #6: Gift of Proper Praise. Across playgrounds, classrooms, and daycare settings it’s common to hear well-intentioned parents, caregivers, and teachers heap high praise on children, particularly those with low self-esteem. We then end up praising our kids for not only the remarkable things they do, but for ordinary accomplishments as well.
“I’m so proud of you Jimmy for washing your hands before snack” gets old if Jimmy knows he’s going to hear that most mornings after circle time. If Jimmy usually struggles putting a puzzle together, however, and sticks with it all week long until he finally completes it, then you have a wonderful reason to let him know how much you admired his efforts. “I think it’s wonderful, Jimmy, that you didn’t give up and worked so hard on finishing that puzzle—great job!”
My daughter who graduated from college this past year has a learning disability, which causes her to spend twice the amount of time studying as her siblings. We praised her good study habits on a regular basis but we didn’t go overboard when she would get ready to dive into her homework each night because that’s her normal routine. Instead, we looked for something special she’d achieved, like completing her senior thesis and we made a big deal out of that. It means more to her knowing that we’ve recognized the difference between something she’s worked hard at rather than her routine efforts.
By sincerely praising kids for their effort and hard work, they’re learning to value praise and that it's not easily given.
See also: 5 Ways to Speak Positively to Your Child
So try to cultivate a growth mindset in your child.
Instead of “person praise” (e.g., “You are creative”), offer “process praise”:
A. Praise the strategy (e.g., “You found a really good way to do it.”)
B. Praise with specificity (e.g., “You seem to really understand fractions.”)
C. Praise effort (e.g., “I can tell you’ve been practicing.”)
By not falsely praising our kids and their efforts, we are being sincere and preparing them for real life in their school environment, on sports teams, and onward to college and their careers.
What are some gifts of wisdom that you use regularly with your children to help them be the best they can be in all areas of their lives? Share your thoughts in the comment section at http://ift.tt/1zMEe2L or post your ideas on the Mighty Mommy Facebook page. You can also connect with me on Twitter @MightyMommy or e-mail me at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com. Visit my family-friendly boards at http://ift.tt/1wyJKr5 where I continually update my selections.
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