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The results of an IQ test along with other information can help to identify your child's unique strengths and enable you to focus on developing these strengths rather than being critical of their weaknesses.
1) Age, Diet, and Genetics of Parents before Conception.
The best predictor of intelligence is the IQ of the mother! If you want an intelligent child, get an intelligent partner, ideally one who is more intelligent than you.
Deficits of folic acid and vitamin B12 during infancy are linked to a greater risk of depression during adulthood.
Men who drink and smoke could be putting the health of their future children and grandchildren at risk. Toxic chemicals in cigarettes and alcohol are believed to lead to changes in the DNA. This modified DNA is then passed on to future generations via sperm. Even before conception, the mother and probably the father should avoid tobacco, drigs and alcohol. Caffeine should also be limited.
Pairing an older mother with a younger father might produce children with higher IQ.
Researchers discovered that, at the age of 20, a man transmits around 25 genetic mutations. This number increases to an average of 65 by the age of 40. Women, on the other hand, transmit about 15 genetic mutations, whatever their age.
Additionally, children of older men are 13 times more likely to have ADHD, 3.5 times more likely to have autism, and 25 times more likely to have bipolar disorder!
Children born to women in their thirties achieved the best cognitive scores. If you are a man, the best age to conceive is when your partner is in her thirties. If you are older then her, then take extra care to stay healthy.
2) The Mother's Diet, Nutrition, and Other Factors During Pregnancy.
Nutritional influences relevant to IQ:
Protein, Folate and Vitamin B12, Vitamin D (sources include cheese, beef liver and fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel and salmon.)
Iodine (an expectant mother should eat these foods containing iodine : kelp, cranberries, organic yoghurt, strawberries, potatoes and cheese. Take supplements if necessary.
Choline, Omega-3 (from flaxseed oil, chia seends, fatty fish, seafood, soybeans, walnuts, fish eggs and spinach). Also, fruit.
Gaining too much weight during pregnancy can lead to problems. Studies show that mothers who continue to work out during pregnancy have smarter babies.
Late-term infants have higher standardized test scores when they reach school age compared to full-term babies!
Stress is harmful to your unborn child. Reduce stress using yoga, meditation, mindfulness, music, visualisation, breathing exercises and walking in nature.
3) Breastfeeding and IQ.
Babies should be breast fed as long as possible for health and intelligence reasons.
Babies who are fed to a schedule are inferior to their on-demand peers.
4) Parents
Activities that parents should do with children : Reading, teaching songs, painting, drawing, letters and numbers, excursions, playdates.
Exposure to books, puzzles and conversations increases childrens IQ by 7 points.
Create a supportive, stimulating, and cognitively rich environment for your children. Have books lying around, art supplies, words and phrases on a wall, pictures and other mentally stimulating items. Repeated exposure to and interactions with print and visual sources will help them.
Help your children feel more secure through nurturing, hugs, and affection, verbal encouragement, daily routines, and assurance that you are there for them. Help them express their fears and worries to you.
Academic success is correlated to the number of words your child hears.
Talking with your children often is important, as is asking open-ended questions and listening to them attentively. Answer their questions honestly, calmly, and factually, but don't overwhelm them with too much information. Help them share their feelings and have fun discussing things that you have experienced together.
Praising children is a positive thing to do, but you should praise them in a certain wway. Praise them for effort more than their intelligence. Don't tell them 'You are so clever' , just say 'You really tried your best, well done!'
Punishing children through spanking and similar punishments lowers their IQ. FACT. They have a hugely detrimental effect. Spanking may yield results in the short term but sustained physical punishments wreak havoc on the long term development of children.
5) Environmental and Social Influences.
According to British research a separate bedroom is required for each of the following:
a) A married couple
b) Any person over 21.
c) Two children less than 21
In summary , having a spacious environment to live and work aids a child's cognitive development. Crowded homes can be harmful not only to a child's academic performance, but they may also lead to behavioural and health problems - effects that can last forever.
Ensure that you dedicate enough time for each child and that every child has enough room for them to complete activities such as homework, and to just sit and be in their own space.
NOISE AFFECTS VERBAL PERFORMANCE. KEEP IT DOWN!
What children hear and see a bout their performance relative to their peers can drastically affect their performance.
6) The Pre-school advantage.
90% of all brain development occurs by the age of 5.
Children who attend pre-school have higher IQ's. Montessori are the best! They can be found in most towns in most countries.
The Economist Intelligence Unit have prepared a report that ranks pre-school environments in 45 countries. Just search "Starting Well Index".
7) The Role of Teachers.
From the age of around 3 until they leave school, teachers play a huge part in a child's life.
IQ scores are affected by teacher expectations. The students that the teachers expected to succeed did better.
Children whose potential is underestimated by parents or teachers may suffer low self-esteem and a cognitive performance that is less than they are capable of.
If a childs parents and/or teachers who develop a negative view of the child, the child will personally adopt that point of view of him or herself and perform accordingly.
Hence when children have adopted a limiting belief based on negative feedback - perceived or actual - from parents or teachers, this will, in all probability, limit them.
Choose a school in which teachers are known to believe in and have high aspirations for their students.
At PT meetings, discuss the research that shows the importance of having a positive view of students.
8) The Importance of Mindset.
Teach your children to love challenges, to be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. Praise effort, not intelligence.
Children should develop a growth mindset (focus on effort) and not a fixed mindset as part of their study skills.
Simply reading your child a few short sentences about the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset was enough to change the way students tackled a high-speed, attention-focused task. Also, after being informed about the growth mindset, their puzzle solving abilities improved.
Tell children about the flexibility of the mind. Encourage them to view the brain as a muscle that gets stronger with exercise.
Teach them that the brain is a learning machine. Help them to understand that the brain learns by trying new things and by learning from mistakes.
However, praising kids for being smart may encourage a fixed mindset. Praise effort!
9) Psychological Factors that Influence IQ.
Self-Awareness increases IQ. Also a high level of self-concept.
Boosting children's motivation will encourage them to put the effort in to fulfil their potential.
Assign age-appropriate household chores. See list!
Don't gush or offer insincere praise.
10) Encouraging Curiosity.
Curiosity is as important as intelligence!
The education system is sadly ever more focused on testing and rigid curricula and parents cannot rely on teachers to nurture curiosity. The onus is, therefore, on parents to cultivate their child's curiosity. Do everything in your power to make curiosity flourish.
Notice what captures your childs imagination and attention and encourage them to more of the same.
Ask stimulating open-ended questions such as "What did you like about the book?" instead of questions that invite yes or no answers like "Did you like the book?"
Give your child new environment to examine and explore.
Allow them freedom and autonomy to explore their ideas and do what they want. Simply showing your children how to put together a model is not good enough. Don't do things for them. The moral is that it's better to let children figure some things out for themselves.
Be an adventurous family. Show your children that you enjoy being inquisitive. Show them that you don't know everything, but you know how to find out.
11) Nurturing Creativity and Imagination
Einstein said that Imagination is more important than Knowledge.
Nurturing creativity is one of the most important things you can do for your child.
Give your kids permission to be different. Don't force them to conform to norms.
Let them disagree politely with you and express different opinions.
Encourage the process more than the end product. And failure is part of the process.
Limit TV and other screen time to make room for creative activities.
Display evidence of creative work around the house from different artists.
Avoid giving rewards for being creative. Don't make them worry about targets.
Don't force your kids to be busy all the time. Let them be 'bored'. Boredom challenges kids to engage with themselves and the world, to imagine, and to create. If they complain that they are bored, help them to come up with activities that would interest them. It's better they realise it's up to them to figure out how to make the best of their own time.
12) Junk Food and Anti-Nutrients
If possible, freshly prepare food at home using as many vegetables as possible. Keep fruit readily available as a snack instead of sweets and crisps. If time or other constraints prevent you from cooking fresh food at home on most days of the week, you could cook a week's supply on one day and freeze it for us throughout the week. This is better than substituting home-prepared foods with processsed foods, which may be loaded with additives and preservatives.
Brain growth occurs fastest during the first three years of life, and therefore good nutrition during this period encourages optimal brain growth. The effect of a poor diet on brain development in these early years could persist forever, even if the diet improves later.
Limit the consumption of refined carbs : White bread, white pasta, cereals, crisps and snacks. You need more selenium, chromium, zinc, iron and B vitamins in your diet.
Added sugars : Avoid sugary drinks, sweets, coated breakfast cereals and chocolate. Also look out for artificial sweeteners in so-called 'diet' products.
Fried foods : Fried foods contain trans-fats which are very bad for you. They are can also be in processed foods. Watch for food labelled with "Partially hydrogenated oils". These foods can trigger systemic inflammation, raise bad cholesterol levels and lower good ones.
Saturated fats : Saturated fats have long been vilified by the medical community and the media. However the brain needs some cholesterol and saturated fats are actually good for the brain. Remember to have a balanced diet. Too much saturated fat is still bad for you.
Omega-6 fatty acids are inflammatory and therefore bad. Avoid corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, soy oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, mayonnaise and processed salad dressings .
Diacetyl : It is linked to Alzheimers disease. It is the main flavouring ingredient used in margarine, shortening, oil sprays and butter substitutes. It can also be find in microwave popcorn, potato chips, corn chips, crackers and biscuits. The label may not even have Diacetyl on it. Look out for "artificial butter flavour" or "natural flavours". No MSG!!!
Food colourings lower your childs IQ. The bad ones are quinoline yellow (E104), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartazine (E102) and ponceau4R (E124)
13) Foods, Vitamins and Minerals that Boost Brainpower
Fruit not only tastes great but it provides nutrients. When students were given orange juice at school for six months, the IQ of kids with low vitamin C levels increased by 4 points.
Encourage your children to eat strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and blackberries.
Vegetables such as tomato, eggplant, pumpkin, sweet chili and corn contain antioxidants.
Protein increases dopamine which is a brain chemical associated with mental alertness. The best foods to take before an exam are fish, shellfish, chicken and eggs. Green peas, tofu, nuts, chickpeas, edamame, beans, broccoli, chia seeds and Quorn also contain protein.
Omega-3 boosts IQ. Good sources are lettuce, broccoli, kale, purslane and spinach. Or nuts and legumes such as mungo, kidney, navy, pinto or lima beans, peas and split peas.
Eggs are a good source of protein but don't eat more than two per day! Set a good example by eating well yourself. Make healthy foods and snacks readily available at home. Involve your children in food shopping and preparing healthy meals.
CHOOSE ORGANIC FOODS WHERE POSSIBLE. IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, GROW YOUR OWN FOOD.
Oysters are a good source for zinc, which can help with learning and memory. It also helps detoxify heavy metals such as lead.
Ensure your kids drink plenty of water of course. They can snack on cucumber, watermelon, carrots, celery and tomatoes.
Anti-inflammatory foods include green leaves, celery, beets, broccoli, blueberries, pineapple, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, turmeric, ginger, chia seed, flaxseeds, walnuts, almonds, coconut oil and olive oil.
It may be useful to add vitamin and mineral supplements to your child's daily regimen.
Deficiencies in B vitamins can cause problems with learning, focus and memory.
See page 97-101 for vitamins and the foods that supply them.
14) The Breakfast Advantage
Breakfast is simply the most important meal of the day.
Oatmeal is more beneficial than cereals in general.
Try these ideas:
Low fat bio-yoghurt with whole grain cereal and fruit.
Vegetable omelette.
Tomato, avocado and cheese on whole wheat toast.
Whole grain, low sugar cereal with milk and a piece of fruit.
Oatmeal with sliced apples, cinnamon and nuts.
15) Toxins.
Rice (!) is a source of arsenic that affects millions of people because of its role as a staple of the global diet. Rice should be rinsed sereral times in clean water before cooking.
Bisphenola-A (BPA) : BPA is found in the liner of canned goods, numerous personal care and plastic products, plastic and non-stick food containers, plastic wrapping materials, and water bottles.
Use glass or steel bottles and containers instead of plastic.
Use fresh or frozen food instead of canned food.
Avoid non-stick utensils. Look for "non-toxic" on labels of products you buy.
Make sure your vacuum cleaner has a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter.
Fluoride : Fluoride has long been touted as a way to improve dental health but it is a toxin. Children that lived in high-fluoride areas had IQ points 7 points lower than others. Ask your water supplier if the water is fluoridated. Some bottled waters are artificially fluoridated too.
Mould: Children who live in mouldy places for long periods lose 10 IQ points ! Buy a humidifier - they literally suck mould out of the air. Buy plants to purify your homes air.
Phthalates: There are two. di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP). These affect pregnant women and subsequent babies. They are found in products such as lipstick, hairspray, nail polish and even some soaps.
16) Physical Exercise
Exercise builds and conditions the brain. Children make themselves smarter when they take part in sports and other physical activity.
Children who are already fit could benefit from a short burst of physical training before an examination.
Take your kids for walks, running (older kids), cycling, hiking, swimming, going to the park, football, dancing.
Even video games can help such as tennis and dance games.
17) The Importance of Sleep
A child who is unwilling to sleep alone by age 6 has a problem.
Bedtime use of screens reduces sleep quality significantly. There should be no screens for 90 minutes before bedtime.
Some parents allow their children to stay up later on Fridays and Saturdays but this is a MISTAKE. Even if the children sleep well, it will lead to a drop in IQ of up to 7 points.
There are 6 components of healthy sleep :
(1) Falling asleep within minutes of lying down.
(2) Getting the right amount of sleep for your age.
(3) Sleep is continuous and undisturbed.
(4) Upon awakening, one feels refreshed.
(5) During the day one feels productive and alert.
(6) There is no restlessness, snoring, nightmares or anything else unusual.
Toddlers should get 13 hours of sleep per day. (Including naps).
Teens should sleep about 9 hours per night.
Ensure the bedrooms are comfortable, quiet and dark. More sleep is better than less.
18) Breath Power
We often just breathe with our chests. This restricts our oxygen intake and can lead to some problems such as anxiety, poor concentration, and even a drop in IQ.
When reading, if the duration of our breaths is shorter than the sentences we read, we may continually have to go back to re-focus on those sentences to make sense of them. As a result, there will be problems with reading comprehension.
Breath retention : This is common. If you observe yourself, you'll be surprised how often you unconsciously hold your breath during daily activities.
A child is at risk from Obstructive Sleep Apnea if she has unusual sleeping positions such as with the rear end up in the air and head tilted. They sleep this way to open their airways.
If your child breathes noisily or irregularly, there may be underlying health issues.
Breathing polluted air lowers IQ. Children should wear masks outside in polluted areas.
Buy an air purifier for the house if necessary. Increase greenery in the house.
ENROLL THEM IN SINGING LESSONS. CORRECT SINGING NEEDS CORRECT BREATHING!
Encourage your child to breathe through their nose. If they are a mouth breather take them to the dentist.
19) Health Issues that Impact IQ.
Secondary smoke. Avoid at all costs. Do not smoke around any children!
Stress : Violence or arguing in the home, corporal punishment, overhearing parents. Solutions to stress could include playtime, exercise, listening to music or meditating.
Work with your child to find out the cause of stress.
Diabetes: To reduce the risk of your child getting diabetes ensure your child eats healthy and regularly and has plenty of exercise. Be aware of the symptoms of diabetes such as increased thirst or hunger, frequent urination, sudden weight change or wounds that heal slowly. Check your family history for diabetes.
Parasites : To reduce the risk of infection
(1) Wash your hands at the appropriate times.
(2) Wash all kitchenware thoroughly.
(3) Wash fruit and veggies before eating them. Salads too.
(4) Do not drink goats milk.
(5) Wear gloves when changing cat litter trays.
(6) Don't feed your cat raw meat.
Malaria : Take the ABCD approach
A : Awareness of risk - check before travelling if your destination is in a malaria zone. B : Bite prevention - Use insect repellent and mosquito nets. C : Check whether you need anti-malaria tablets and complete the course if you do.
D : Diagnosis - seek immediate medical advice if you display malaria symptom Bacterial Meningitis : To reduce your childs risk of getting this, follow this advice :
(1) Keep children away from infected people.
(2) Teach children good hygiene. Wash hands. Cover mouth when sneezing. (3) Boost your childs immune system with a healthy lifestyle. (4) Teach children not to share cutlery, toothbrushes and other personal items. Finally, be alert to persistent ear infections. It can lower IQ.
20) Reading, Vocabulary, and IQ Reading is one of the few activities that allows a person to stimulate their mind, acquire new information, relax, enter a fantasy world, improve their communication skills, and much more.
To instil in children a passion for reading is to bestow upon them a priceless gift - a gift that will last a lifetime. Reading is the gateway to knowledge and greater intelligence and health!
Reading has a strong association with Socioeconomic Status (SES).
Reading TO children up until the age of 4 can increase their IQ by over 6 points! Read interactively with your child - make it enjoyable and engaging. Point out interesting pictures and ask questions. Use drama and act out roles if you can. Set aside a time each night for reading with your child. Have a large choice of books.
For older children, encourage them to read newspapers or news websites.
Children starting kindergarten with higher maths and reading abilities have a higher probability of going to college, owning a home, getting married, and living in higher-income neighbourhoods when they are adults.
Multi-syllable words such as quality, escape, collapse, tranquil and residence are the type of words that have a greater impact on intelligence. These are the types of words that should be taught sooner rather than later.
Play word games and board games with dice. Converse with your child using rich and varied language. Improve your own vocabulary to help.
21) Multiple Languages, Working Memory, and Intelligence.
Being fluent in more than one language is an intelligence booster. A second language is invaluable at any age. Help them to become bilingual. If you live in a bilingual household then speak both languages!
Poor working memory characteristics:
(1) Reserved in group activities in the classroom.
(2) Forgetful.
(3) Not seeing tasks through to completion.
(4) Losing their way in complicated tasks which they may abandon.
(5) Poor academic progress especially in maths and reading.
Working memory is a mental workspace - a temporary holding space for information. Plan holidays to places where new languages to you are spoken.
Watch TV in foreign languages. 22) How Meditation can Increase IQ
Brains of meditation on yoga practitioners were thicker in parts of the cerebral cortex linked to decision-making, memory and attention. The volume of grey matter was larger too.
In America, some high schools in tough neighbourhoods now get pupils to do meditation rather than detention.
Getting children to meditate though can be difficult! But start as early as possible.
Let them know that you meditate so they can copy you. Make it a daily routine.
Even paying attention to one or two breaths can help. Anywhere, anytime.
23) Brainwave Training and Neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback is exercises for the brain. Your brain needs to be wired up. No thanks!
24) Intelligence and Music.
The only scientifically proven way to causally increase IQ through music is by learning a musical instrument.
Not all music training needs to be formal. Parents can start very early and in a playful way.
Singing classes are great!
Listen to Mozart at home.
25) Image Streaming.
It is a method of brain training that results in a permanent increase in IQ according to Win Wenger phD. "Where participants have participated in 50 hours, 40 points IQ gain appear and we have not yet found any point where benefits might start tailing off." The method is very simple and consists of closing your eyes and describing, out loud, the images (and smells and sounds) that appear in your mind. You need an external focus to describe your images to. This external focus can be a person or a recording device. It doesn't matter about the quality or clarity of the image that is seen in the mind's eye. They key is to examine and describe it out aloud, in as rich detail as possible, even if you feel at first that you are 'forcing' or 'faking' some of it. Over time, images will become rich and vivid.
(1) Find someone to listen as you describe the images or record yourself.
(2) Sit comfortably.
(3) Close your eyes and look into the blackness.
(4) Start describing aloud, using present tense :"I see.." followed by anything that arises. For example, various colours, lines, images, lights, shapes, and forms may appear. The description doesn't have to be precise and you can enhance it if you like. Remember to describe out loud, and as you are describing, try and use as many sense as you can (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste.)
(5) Do this for 10 minutes a day.
For your child, say something like this :
"Keira, did you know that even when we are awake we have dreams going on inside us? Now, I am going to close my eyes and tell you what I can see... I see...two big trees...they are very tall...a bit like the trees we saw in the park on Sunday. Because it's windy, I can see the branches moving and I can hear the leaves rustling. In one of the trees, I see a squirrel standing on a branch. It is standing up on its back legs and looking at me. It looks so cute. Its decided to run down the tree and onto the green grass just in front of me...I think it wants to come to me but just as it's about to come forward, a dog comes running towards us. It's a beautiful big white dog with black spots. I think the dog wants to play but the squirrel is scared and runs up the other tree...the dog looks puzzled."
Now give Keira a chance to do it by saying something along the lines of "Okay, now, when you close your eyes, tell me what you see there..."
Search online for "image streaming for young children" to find Win Wenger's full instructions for image streaming.
26) Television.
The most effective way for children to watch educational TV programs is with a parent.
"Without social interactions, screens at young ages don't teach anything."
For infants aged between 8 and 16 months, every hour in a day that a child watched baby TV has an increasingly detrimental effect on their communicative development. It will also lower their IQ scores.
Children who watched the greatest amount of TV up to the age of 3 performed the worst on Maths and reading tests at the ages of 6 and 7.
The more time spent sitting on the couch watching TV means less time spent doing exercise, being out in nature, reading, and interacting with friends.
Resist the temptation to habitually use TV as a way of keeping your children busy so that you can pursue your own interests.
Here are the recommendations by age:
0-18 months : No screen time except video-chatting.
18 months-5 years : 1 hour of high-quality programs per day to be watched with parents, to help the content and how it is relevant to the world around them.
6 years and over : Sensible limits. Ensure that media does not take the place of sleep, exercise and other healthy essentials.
Everyone : Schedule media-free times together such as dinner or driving, and create some media-free locations at home such as bedrooms.
27) Video Games.
"Games are transforming the brains of people who play them in largely positive ways"
If you are a keen gamer, you are probably very intelligent. Gaming can help control spatial navigation, strategic planning and working memory. There is also an improvement among gamers in there maths and verbal problem-solving skills.
Which types of games help develop the brain?
Games such as Angry Birds. Games such as Final Fantasy. Games such as StarCraft II.
You of course need to regulate gaming with your kids. They must not miss out on socialising, reading, sports and sleep.
Take care when children are playing online against/with strangers.
Bad signs are when they are very secretive online and offline.
Overtly violent games and games with adult content should be avoided.
OBSERVE THE AGE RATING FOR EACH GAME.
Go online to read reviews of games. Try www.commonsensemedia.org
Spend a while watching them play a game, and if it is unsuitable, return it.
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