How to Raise a Smart Kid?

Every child has the potential to be a smart child when he/she is born. Then why only a few become smart and other kids are way behind? Let us first understand the term smart kid and the key components of developing a smart kid.

A smart kid is a child who is physically and psychologically fit and possesses high Human Intelligence – measured as Intelligent Quotient (IQ), Emotional Intelligence - measured as Emotional Quotient (EI) and Performance Intelligence - measured as Performance Intelligence Quotient (PIQ). A child who develops these three intelligences is capable of living his/her life to the fullest. A smart kid should possess practical, creative and analytical skills. Here are few essential parenting tips on raising your kid to grow as a smart kid and stimulate his/her physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual growth:

1. Start early:

Parents can support early childhood development: maximizing love, care, communication and minimizing stress, screen time and social media. Parents can do a lot of talking, singing and gesturing, using number games, music, dance, art and crafts, enabling and encouraging imagination, creativity, and cultivating a love for reading and learning.

2. Know the developmental stages:

Parents should know the different developmental milestones of a child to how smart your kid develops, including the pace and quality of the physical, mental, and spiritual development.

3. Tackle any issues early:

As a responsible parent, if you doubt any developmental or intelligence issues, you should give your child proper attention and seek professional advise or help as early as possible.

4. Read together:

Start reading or telling stories to your child even before they don’t understand the meaning. Such kids are more likely to develop language skills at an early age and lifelong interest in reading and learning. Reading is one of the essential activities that help develop your smart kid.

5. Communicate always:

Talk to your child often and listen to your kid when he/she talks. Two-way communication will help develop your kid’s communication skills. Also, listen to your kid when he/she is expressing emotions and guide him/her rightly express them. This reinforces the effort to communicate his/her feelings effectively.

6. Engage with your kid:

Kids who were cuddled, played with and loved have better brain growth. The loving and trusting connection formed between you and your kid and your strong interaction with him/her provide the foundation for his higher intelligence, creativity and thinking skills.

7. Introduce habits:

Your kid forms habits easily in their early years. Parents can introduce good habits in kids that will help groom them as productive adults. Make a habit of playing thinking games such as chess, crossword activities and body and mind coordination exercises at a young age.

8. Make your kid a healthy eater:

‘Feed my kid right’ should be a motto of every parent. Feeding right is to make your kid smart and it should begin while you are pregnant. A protein-rich diet (egg, fish, meat) improves attention, alertness, and thinking abilities for your school-going kid. Carbohydrate and protein-rich diet gives fuel to thinking, improves his/her attention and focus. Feed your kid wholegrain, fruits and nuts. Vitamins and minerals are also crucial for his/her proper development. Omega3 is a vital nutrient for better concentration and attention.

9. Let your kid play and socialize:

Playing alone or with friends and in teams is vital in creating the foundation for your kid’s intellectual, social, physical and emotional skills. It will help developing coordination, ideas generation, conflict resolution, negotiation and cohesion. Kids will learn to present their opinions views and learn from other kids’ views and opinions.

10. Inspire your kid to exercise:

Physical exercise will make your kid physically and mentally fit. Exercise will help expel the toxins in your kid’s body and increase blood flow to his/her brain, making your kid feel fresh and think clearly. Exercise sharpens the mind and strengthens the muscles. A clearly thinking mind and strong muscles will make your child a smart kid.

11. Make leisure a part of your kid’s life:

Healthy leisure activities such as swimming, playing chess, singing, dancing and listening to music can improve memory, attention, alertness and learning. Leisure can kill stress and anxiety in kids. Playing mind gym and musical instruments will activate both the right and left brain hemispheres.

12. Walk the talk:

Kids learn by modeling adult’s behavior. So ensure that you do what you preach.

13. Limit your kid’s TV time and let him play smart computer games:

No kids should be watching TV before age 2. Too much screen time will take your kid away from doing activities that are more important to his developing brain, like playing, socializing, reading books, talking, singing, dancing and activities that help developing his fine and gross motor skills. Give your kids useful computer games that teach about letters, math, music, phonics, life skills, moral values and many others.

14. Teach your kid the value of time:

Help your kids to be a ‘do it now’ person and set a flexible time schedule for them to follow. Let them have the flexibility of switching between different activities smoothly. Teach them the importance of having a result oriented attitude that give them results in academic performance, health, wealth, personality, character and goodwill throughout their life.

15. Give them freedom:

Don’t micromanage your kid by constantly monitoring and correcting. Let your kid explore things and nurture their creativity and innovation skills. Let them learn through experience. Be a guide and a mentor to them.

16. Develop respect for work:

Ensure that your kids do all possible jobs at home. This will help to improve their motor skills. By doing the house chores, they will learn to have a work-life balance at an early age. This will help in developing sharing and caring among family members and respect for all jobs.

17. Develop achievable targets:

Parents can help children to set achievable goals so that every achieved goal can give them motivation. Learning to set achievable goals can curb developing performance anxieties in kids.

18. Tension calibration:

Parents should make sure that they are able to do tension calibration for their kids when faced with any fear, anxiety or stress issues. When the tensions are above the normal level, help the kid manage them to bring it to the normal level. Periodic tension calibration done for the mental pressure is essential for the brain’s effective functioning.

19. Giving sensible validation:

Parents should give validation to their kids where it is due. Motivation is an essential ingredient for the successful development of a kid. Validation creates motivation and if validation is not done for the right reason in the right manner and at the right level can create ego issues in kids.

20. Develop faith in them:

Teach your kids the power of prayer, the virtue of humbleness and the value of human life. Develop the courage to do the things that they can do and accept the things they cannot do. Help them develop the right faith and live up to their faith.