Holiday is over and schools have reopened
for the new academic year. While the long vacation lasted,
knowledgeable parents allowed their children to enjoy the holiday full
blast by making them to follow their passion.
Well, all that is over now and rigorous
academic work has commenced. As parents, you may have paid your child’s
tuition, bought the uniform and sundry other stuffs that will make the
new school year a good success.
But before you give yourself thumbs-up
for a job well done, you still have one crucial step to take: helping to
raise your child’s Intelligent Quotient! Here’s how to go about it…
PE is not a waste!
Many
schools these days have done away with the playground. Rather, the
available spaces have been converted to classrooms, all in a bid to show
parents state-of-the-art structures. Little do they know that physical
education does play a significant role in a child’s academic prowess.
If you are still in doubt, experts in
physical education say there’s a positive relationship between physical
activity and the academic performance of children.
Professor of Physical Education, Vincent
Ikhariale, says, “Though the pressure to improve test scores may often
mean more instructional time for classroom subjects, with less time for
physical activity; yet, there are strong evidence showing a significant
positive relationship between physical activity and academic
performance.”
He advises that being more physically
active is positively related to improved academic performance in
children; noting that exercise may help cognition by increasing blood
and oxygen flow to the brain, decrease stress and improve mood; and
overall increase growth factors.
Ditch junk foods
Healthy eating is still very much in
vogue, hence scientists’ warning that foods high in sugar and saturated
fats will not only make your child sick and obese, they can actually
lower your child’s IQ!
In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiological Community Health, researchers tracked the eating habits of 4,000 children from age three and tested their intelligence at age eight-and-a-half.
The scientists, led by Dr. Kate
Northstone of the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol,
United Kingdom, discovered that children who ate the most processed
foods, with a lot of convenience food, fat and sugar, had IQ scores 1.67
points lower than their counterparts whose diets included more fruits,
vegetables, fish and pasta.
So, make it a habit from now on to fill your child’s lunch box with nutritive foods such as fruits and other whole foods.
Expose him to Omega-3
A new report published in Perspectives on Psychological Science
claims that supplementing children’s diets with fish oil, enrolling
them in quality preschool, and engaging them in interactive reading are
effective ways of raising a young child’s intelligence.
Scientists, led by John Protzko, a
doctoral student at the New York University Steinhardt School of
Culture, Education, and Human Development, conclude that certain dietary
and environmental interventions can be effective in raising children’s
IQ.
Protzko says supplementing pregnant women
and newborns with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, foods rich in
Omega-3, were found to boost children’s IQ by more than 3.5 points.
Consultant nutritionist, Dr. Simeon Oladimeji, says, “These essential
fatty acids may help raise intelligence by providing the building blocks
for nerve cell development that the body cannot produce on its own.”
Encourage interactive reading
Associate Professor of Guidance and
Counselling, Mopelola Omoegun, advises that by encouraging a child to
read, it improves his intelligence. Technically called “interactive
reading,” the university teacher says engaging children in this pastime
can boost their intelligent quotient.
So, instead of telling your child to read
silently instead of reading aloud, those who should know better advise
that you let him “disturb” you with his loud reading!
Give breakfast
Many parents hurry out of the home
without the least thought to the need to prepare breakfast for their
growing babies. This is wrong, as researchers warn that children who
start their days with a healthy breakfast are more focused, better
prepared for the day’s challenges and ultimately get higher grades and
test scores.
A study conducted by scientists at
Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital reveals that
when children have daily access to a breakfast that provides them with
25 per cent of the nutrients they need in a day, their test scores are
likely to improve significantly, while level of tardiness will fall
dramatically.
Music empowers
These days, many schools employ music
teachers to teach the subject. Whether or not the school owners know the
implications of this for IQ development, researchers at the University
of Toronto say music lessons boost brain power among children ages six
to 11 years old.
Led by Glenn Schellenberg, the scientists
opine that “correlational and quasi-experimental studies reveal that
music lessons have positive associations with verbal memory.”
In layman’s language, what this
translates into is that music lessons positively impact some aspects of
development – that is intellectual functioning.
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