There exist proven ways to help parents boost the intelligence of their kids. The first ten years of your kid’s life are very critical in improving a child’s brain. And there are activities that you can engage your kid in during this stage in life to make him or her smarter. Here are some of the scientifically proven ways to raise smarter kids.
- Sign them up for music lessons
Research indicates that music lessons contribute to making kids smarter. Parents are advised to encourage their kids in participating in music. There is a relationship between music and literacy. When your kid participates actively in music lessons, he or she stands to reap plenty of benefits.
You might consider enrolling your kid in private lessons or encourage him or her to join the school’s band. It’s even better for kids who express an active interest in music. It helps them develop a neurophysiological distinction, whereby they can differentiate between specific sounds. The awareness of sounds that kids develops helps to improve their literacy, boosting their intelligence in class and other activities.
- Let them play outside and make new friends
It’s said that all work without play makes Jack a dull boy. As a result, parents need to let their kids participate in unstructured sports. Allowing your kids to play outside and make new friends can help improve their social intelligence. You need to create time for your kids to play by themselves outdoors.
Encourage your kids to play with their friends, allow them to go to the park, and allow them to engage with new friends by inviting them to the children’s parties. By allowing your kids to play by themselves, they learn how to interact with other children, and this promotes prefrontal cortex development. It helps improve their social skills throughout their lives.
- Read with your kids instead of reading to them
Developing your kids’ reading skills is crucial to helping them become smarter. You should encourage a reading culture in your kids from an early stage; it helps to improve their literacy ability. Interestingly, this works even for disadvantaged kids.
Instead of reading to your kids, read with them. Do not let your kids only to listen and look at the pictures on the books as you read to them. Reading with them helps to keep them attentive, plus it develops their reading ability. It’s a skill that is guaranteed to work to their advantage.
- Prioritize on a good night’s sleep
Sleep plays a significant role in cognitive development in humans. As a result, you need to set a sleep schedule for your kids and ensure to stick to it. You need to ensure that your kids have an adequate sleep each night. Otherwise, they may suffer during the day by having difficulty concentrating in class.
Sufficient sleep ensures that kids are alert, plus it helps to improve their attention spans – something that helps to boost your kids’ grades. It is recommended for kids aged between 6 and 13 years to receive between 9 and 11 hours of sleep each night, while, older teenagers need between 8 and 10 hours of sleep every night. Parents should ensure that their kids stick to this by minimizing the use of electronics before bedtime.
- Encourage effort and hard work
Last but not least, parents need to emphasize hard work if they wish for their kids to become smarter. Research indicates that encouraging kids to put extra effort and hard work delivers positive effects on intelligence.
Encouraging hard work works more effectively that praising your kids for their abilities and gifts. Praising your kids gives them a sense of entitlement, eliminating the motivation that they need to succeed. Parents are recommended to encourage their kids to learn how to solve problems. Doing so helps your kids to develop and have more perseverance. Besides, it helps them develop useful social skills that come in handy throughout their life.
Conclusion
We live in a highly competitive world, and parents have developed deep concern about how they can make their children smarter. Fortunately, there are scientifically proven ways that can help boost your kid’s intelligence, and some of the most effective practices are listed above. These practices not only help kids to ace in their academics but also give them social skills.