Every parent I have met wants a brilliant child and I have also met some that would get enraged if a child comes back with a subpar report card and even go as far as beating a child that isn’t doing fantastic in class.
I always wonder why they do that because the truth is there are a lot of factors that make a child brilliant and very few of them depends on the child.
In fact I can say the only factor that depends on the child is concentration and seriousness.
Every other thing including the ability to think, assimilate, read, memorize, prepare and a host of others fall under the purview of the parents whether consciously or unconsciously.
Nature Vs Nurture Debate
The Nature debate says a child that has the genes of parents who were average students will most likely be an average student.
The Nature debate backed by in fact a lot of scientific debate says that a child picks a huge chunk of his brain power from the mother.
Another thing a child picks from the parents is the memory power.
So if you were forgetful as a child, there is a big probability that your child would be due a gene scientists refer to as the brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
The gene comes in two forms and if parents pass the weak version of this cell to their child the child might be forgetful and read only to forget quickly.
Thankfully there is the nurture part of the argument that says a child’s brilliance can still shine forth despite what nature bestowed the child if the parents use some special skills to raise the child.
These skills have been used repeatedly in developed countries and are open for parents that are willing to learn and put the knowledge to practice.
These skills aren’t just gimmicks that your child can use in school because let’s face it; school is just a tiny part of the huge part to success.
You will learn lessons here that your child will need for a lot of other spheres of life.
These skills are what I will be teaching you in this group, here are a few of them broken down into simple concepts.
Encourage an Early Thirst for Knowledge
Steve Jobs step dad taught him about electronics when he was a toddler, Oprah Winfrey’s grandmother taught her how to read when she was three.Tiger Woods was playing golf when he was two and this early introduction to knowledge is what I rarely see in Nigeria.
When a child is a toddler here he is either in front of a TV all day which isn’t great for his brain’s development or is in a day care sleeping all day.
Here is the advantage some successful people have; they were raised to start incorporating information pertinent to their lives early so they grew up loving knowledge and that has helped them a great deal.
The truth is a child you read story books with as a toddler will love to read more as a grown up than a child that watched African Magic all day as a child.
Encourage Questions
There is a phase in a child’s life that is characterized by a lot of questions and that phase is a very important part of your child’s life.
Your child’s brain is at the opinion phase where it is forming opinion about a lot of things it can’t explain.
It is also a time when your child’s mind is stretching and sadly a time some parents kill their child’s mind.
You see parent frustrated by the questions a child asks explode and say don’t disturb me!
When you do that you just killed the flame of curiosity that leads to brilliance and Albert Einstein once said ‘’Never lose a holy curiosity’’
Answer their questions no matter how much and use the opportunity to give them brain twisters.
For instance a child might say Daddy or Mummy why don’t you go to my school?
You might answer and say I am too old for your school but do you know there is a type of school I can still go to? Think of the answer and tell me later.
You are forcing your child to think and that believe me is the greatest skill on earth, the ability to think!
Thinking is the currency of the brilliant and successful and that is why Henry Ford said 'Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.
Don't Stop Talking
Many times we just assume talking is that thing we do to communicate.It is so much than that; it is a tool to transfer brilliance especially to little children.
The next time you are with a little child, tell the child that is the television it is spelt T E L E V I S I ON and that is the car it is spelt CAR.
Tell the child those are four books 2+2 is four and 2x2 is four.
Do this repeatedly and I promise you your child is on his way to brilliance
Never Make Learning Seem Like a Chore
The reason many children hate reading is because they have come to see it like it is work.
There are games like Scrabble, Ludo, Whot and Monopoly that are good for learning early Math and English that you should play with your kids.
These will put it in their minds that learning is fun and they will grow to see the importance.
More Sleep Needed
A sleep deprived child will never be brilliant because his or her brain isn’t getting enough rest.
This will lead to weak memory and short attention span which equals scoring zero in class.
Here is the sleep chat Science suggests:
Newborn to 3 months old 14 - 17 hrs
4 to 11 months old 12 - 15 hrs
1 to 2 years old 11 - 14 hrs
3 to 5 years old 10 - 13 hrs
6 to 13 years old 9 - 11 hrs
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