Boost Your Babys IQ Forget the flash cards! The best way to nurture a newborns growing brain is with plenty of fun and games -- and tender loving care. Are you worried that your son isnt brilliant because he doesnt like Baby Bach? Do you lose sleep over your daughters stubborn disinterest in the alphabet? Relax -- the secret to smarts isnt what you think. While a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors helps determine your little ones IQ, the most important influence is something that you control: the quality of the care you give your baby. Loving and nurturing your infant are crucial for optimal intelligence, says Robert G. Voigt, M.D., a developmental pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. Its also important to engage your child in brain-stimulating activities, like the ones listed below. Luckily, theyre as fun for you as they are for him! 1. Chat him up. There is a correlation between the number of words a child hears as a baby and his verbal IQ, says Lise Eliot, Ph.D., author of Whats Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life. The more you talk to him, the richer a vocabulary hell develop. Keep your subjects simple, because he thinks in concrete terms. Talk about his truck or blanket, for instance, instead of your upcoming vacation. And if he attempts to communicate with you, elaborate on it (Oh, you want your bottle!). 2. Hit the books. Reading stories together helps you forge an emotional bond with your child and helps her learn too. Shell begin to grasp the basics of literacy from your reading sessions -- that there are letters and words on the pages and that you read from left to right, says Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. And the pictures will allow your child to see things she otherwise might not, like tall ships and tigers. When you reach the end of a book, find the patience to read it again. Each time you do, your baby sharpens her memory skills, and its a delight for her when she can predict whats on the next page.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 07:00:01 +0000
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