Boost your Child's Brain Power

Kids are natural and constant learners. Their amazing brains are hard-wired for maximum learning experiences during their formative years. As parents and educators, we have a wonderful opportunity to instill a life-long love of learning and to make the learning process fun and easy.

These days, kids are learning too passively, and it is stunting their intellectual growth. TV, video games and computers are the electronic babysitters and teachers of our age. The detrimental effects of overuse of these things is well documented. It can delay the onset of language development in toddlers, so the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for a child under the age of two!

I recommend the following alternatives to boost your child's brain power and to maximize their learning:

• From birth, engage your child in communication! Talk to your baby, point to things, sing songs, listen attentively when he or she babbles and try to have a two way conversation, mirroring your baby's early attempts to vocalize. This facilitates the process of learning to speak, and later on, how to read.
• As early as possible, and as often as possible, read, read and read some more! It is a great way for a child to understand not only speech, but to develop thinking skills. Plus it is a great bonding experience to read to a child.
• Talk about everything and listen to your child's thoughts, ideas and imaginative musings. Use conversations as opportunities to understand what they think and feel, and to have some teachable moments. Encourage expression in all forms, verbal, written and even drawing. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words!
• Don't get exasperated when your children ask you endless questions. Answer them, and if you don't have a clue what to say, encourage a little cooperative research. That way you teach a child how to find things out independently, and where to go to access good information. It also encourages the all-important skill of reading.
• Use the tool of answering a question with another question. It encourages curiosity, expands knowledge, and develops thinking and reasoning skills. A child who is encouraged to learn more, see the bigger picture and to not limit answers to the simple or obvious ones, develops a great mind.
• Have a regular family game night. Games teach abstract thinking skills and how to develop strategies for solving problems and reaching goals.
• Encourage imaginative and creative play. Making crafts, writing and performing plays, composing silly songs, writing original stories, dancing-these are great ways to develop kinesthetic learning, and to make the process of learning fun.
• Know and share your child's interests. If your child has a great love for something, use it as a catalyst to learn! Does your son love dinosaurs? Buy books on the subject. It will encourage him to read more and he will love the experience because he is being immersed in something that fascinates him. Does your daughter love nature? Great! Take hikes, catch bugs and butterflies, put in a garden and use all of those fun activities as teachable moments.
• Model a love for learning. Let your children see you reading, instead of being glued to the TV. Take them to museums. Play games and sports with them. Teach them what you are learning. Doing a yoga or dance class? Get them to stretch and wiggle with you! Taking a cooking class? Invite them into the kitchen while you are practicing the latest recipes and techniques. When they see you are learning all your life, they will do the same.