Give Your Child the Gift of Self-Esteem

By Cassie Simons

 Much has been said about the "gifted child" but in truth every child is born with unlimited potential. As expressed so well by Orison Marden:

"Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action."

This statement can be true for your child. Not just if he's a "gifted child" but any child. Indeed, perhaps we should consider a "gifted child" to be a child whose parents have gifted him with a high self-esteem.

Children with high self-esteem are happier and more successful. Low self-esteem is common in children who are performing badly at school, have behavioral problems and suffer from depression.

The Newborn

The "helpless" newborn baby actually comes into the world well equipped with the power to get what she wants. Not only do her cries bring her parents running to tend to her; she also uses her body and facial language to get what she wants. It's no coincidence that babies learn to smile while they are still very small - it is an essential tool in their armory of communication. A baby with a disarming smile can frequently wrap mommy or daddy round her little finger!

Brain Building through Smart Play - Techniques and Tips

By Andrew Loh

All parents simply love to have children, who are extremely smart and intelligent with an ability to perform better in their personal and professional life. Till recently, we believed that there is not much that we can do to help our children develop their brains. Most of us were under a wrong impression that intelligence and smartness are inherited and it is almost impossible to enhance our children intelligence after the birth. However, recent monumental research studies on brain-based development in children suggest us that parents can do and perform a lot to help their children develop their brain based activities. The basic brain cells are very rudimentary and basic in a just born baby. However, most of the important brain connections and bridging between neurons occur during the first 10 years of your child's life.

Smart play is a new and modern term that helps your child develop basic brain based skills and talent that goes far behind the conventional type of intelligence that is restricted mainly to academic performance. Academic performance is an essential part of your child's life, but there are certain things that cannot be expressed through mundane scholastic abilities. There are the skills and intelligence that cannot be quantified or measured, just as we do in the case of classroom performance. These skills are absolutely essential for your child's success in life and they are almost invisible to your eyes. These smart play skills can just be felt and perceived.

How Parents Could Influence The EQ and IQ of Their Children

Harvard's visiting faculty member, Daniel Goleman, the author of the highly renowned EQ book, has pointed out that the best place for children to learn EQ is at home. The direction and values of life are formed at home. The way they speak and act are very much influenced by their parents. Even though gene plays the nature part; it is the parental teaching that determines their future.

We all know that parents bear a great responsibility in upbringing of their children. Experiences gained from educationalist again and again proved that parents are the one who would decide how successful are their children when they reach their adulthood. How a parent behaves in his/her daily live subconsciously play a vital role in molding the behavior of the children. In addition, the home education system adopted by the parents and the level of support given to their children will directly affect their children's behavior development and problem-solving ability. A self-confident child usually comes from the family filled with encouragement and praising rather than scolding and punishment. Likewise, helpful children mostly learn to behave the similar way from their parents.

The research from F.E. Williams, a well-known American educationalist, shows that whether the creativity of the children will continue to develop depends upon the attitude of their parents. His research divided the children into 3 groups namely: lucky group, failure group and conforming group.

Music Develops The Child Brain

By Alvin Poh

Music has the ability to train our brain for higher level of thinking - the kind of thinking for problem solving, comparing and contrasting the similarities and difference between objects, analyzing, reaching conclusion, synthesizing, and evaluating information.

In recent research, it was found that music can help in developing human's spatial-temporal reasoning skill. Spatial-temporal reasoning is the ability to perceive the visual world accurately and form mental images of objects. It is the mind ability to see in very detailed images and to recognize, compare and find relationships among the patterns and details on an object. The temporal element involves a child's ability to think ahead.

Factors That Influence Child Development

A variety of factors influence the overall growth and development of the child -- structure of the family, home environment, sibling rivalry, marital relationship of the parents, social circle comprising of relatives, friends and peers.

A child may be brought up in different family structures -- nuclear family, joint family, extended family circle, single parent family or even reconstituted family.

Child Development Research

Bringing up children is an experience and not a burden. It is not as complex a task as many parents think. Parents are generally the prime role model that children look up to. Hence, the appropriateness of dealing with a situation coupled with right attitude creates a huge difference in the child’s life.

The current generation adults seem to find parenting, a major challenge. Technological advances, ease of access to the latest information, rapid changes in the thinking pattern, high-pace high-competition world make the parent’s life quite intimidating. 

Child Development And Technology

Research reports on the effect of technology on child development states that the influence of technology on children is mixed. The way kids of the present generation perceive and think is much different as compared to the previous generations.