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How to Raise Smart Kids: 10 Secrets – Connections Academy®

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October 18, 2022 byAllison Brubaker

Every parent has dreams for their child’s future. Whether it’s watching them compete in the Olympics, celebrating their Nobel Prize, or sending them off to their dream college, most parents hope they will have a smart child who finds success in whatever path they choose.

Parents often wonder how to raise smart kids who grow up to achieve their dreams. While there may not be a magic formula for how to raise a genius, parents do play a key role in their kids’ success!

Research from the National Institute of Health shows that 50 percent of intelligence comes from genetics, while the other 50 percent comes from other factors, including the child’s environment. For the 50 percent that parents can control, they play a key role in supporting the cognitive development of their child.

Defining Success

How do you raise a brilliant child? While a great GPA is important, what does success look like for your unique child? What interests and hobbies do they have? And, does their school model allow them to pursue and succeed in those hobbies to the fullest? If not, you may want to consider alternate school options that allow your student to pursue their interests and achieve their goals.

Selecting a School

Whether it’s a virtual school like Connections Academy or brick-and-mortar school, a child’s learning environment plays a large role in success beyond the classroom.

10 Secrets on How to Raise Smart Kids

A parent or Learning Coach has more influence in their student’s future than anyone else. While there may not be one secret to raising smart kids, there are things you can do as a parent, guardian, or coach to help raise a smart child.

Based on research, below are 10 steps on how to raise smart kids.

1. Read to Them Early and Often

There is a significant body of evidence showing the benefits of reading to your child, starting when they are just babies. Reading helps young children develop language and listening skills, builds vocabulary, inspires creativity, and improves cognitive skills. Other NIH research demonstrates the connection between reading and intelligence. Reading leads to smarter kids.

While you will read to them when your child is very young, have them read to you as they grow older. This helps them develop a deeper understanding of the language and the story—and it’s a great time to bond. To help keep your child interested and engaged in reading, make regular trips to your local library and let them choose the books they would like to read.

2. Make Time for Unstructured Play

Can playing help your child get smarter in school? Children are naturally curious little explorers. They also learn best through play.

Giving kids unstructured playtime each day supports their cognitive and social and emotional development. The play should be child-led, which encourages creativity, builds problem-solving skills, and gives them a sense of independence. This time should be free from electronic devices so kids can realize the full potential of unstructured play.

As recess continues to get cut across the country in public brick-and-mortar elementary schools, many parents still want their child to experience more unstructured play to support learning. Many parents are looking for alternative school options like online school or homeschooling. With the flexible schedules these choices offer, parents can build in more unstructured playtime to their student’s day to support their intellectual growth and development.

3. Let Them Make Mistakes

It’s really hard to watch your child struggle—your natural instinct is to help them. But if you always jump in to solve their problems, they will never learn to solve problems themselves.

Research shows that failure is the best teacher when learning how to be smart. Kids learn and grow from their disappointments and mistakes, which leads to successes later in life. If they get into too much trouble, definitely jump in to guide them, but raising a smart child means sometimes letting them make mistakes.

4. Get Them Moving

Is movement a secret to raising smart kids? While we hear a lot about the physical benefits of exercise, there are also emotional and cognitive benefits. Aerobic exercise improves memory and our ability to learn. It can also help children focus better in school—when they get the wiggles out, they are more apt to listen and retain what’s being taught to them in the lesson.

To raise a smarter kid, make sure they have plenty of time to exercise. It can be as simple as taking 5-minute exercise breaks throughout the day.

Help your student find extracurricular activities that encourages them to exercise, such as joining a team sport or a local running club. Exercising the body is great for the mind!

5. Eat Dinner Together

With busy schedules and work commitments, it can be hard to squeeze in a nice family dinner. But family dinners are extremely important to your child’s emotional and cognitive development.

It’s not about serving an elaborate meal as much as it’s about taking the time to come together as a family. Studies prove that kids who eat regular meals with their families have higher communication skills, better self-esteem, and are less likely to engage in risky behavior later in life. They also have a more balanced diet, which is another key contributor to raising a smarter kid.

Carve out days each week to come together and eat dinner as a family to help your child achieve future success.

6. Establish a Good Bedtime Routine

Getting enough sleep plays a significant role in a child’s cognitive development. Research shows a direct correlation between intelligence and sleep. Children who get the proper amount of sleep perform better on assessments. When trying to raise smart and successful kids, it’s important to ensure they are getting the optimal amount of sleep.

The general recommendations typically suggest between 10–13 hours of sleep for preschool-aged kids, 9–12 hours of sleep for elementary school children, and 8–10 hours of sleep for middle and high school students.

7. Give Them Chores

Sometimes it’s life experience outside the classroom that teaches kids how to get smarter in school. Chores are an important part of child development. Studies that followed 25 years of data showed that teenagers who started doing chores at three or four years old were more likely to have higher intelligence and better relationships. Parents can now rejoice in knowing that by assigning chores, they are raising a smarter kid!

Chores provide kids with a sense of connection and purpose. By doing chores, children are contributing to the household. They are learning responsibility and problem-solving skills. They are also getting hands-on experience in things they will have to do when they are older and out in the world on their own, which contributes to their future success.

8. Exercise Their Brains

Just like the body benefits from exercise, the brain needs exercise too. To raise a brilliant child, play board games with them.

Games like checkers, chess, and backgammon make kids think and solve problems as they try to win, which builds cognitive abilities. Give your child things like blocks, Legos, and Lincoln Logs to tap into their creativity to make new structures. Other activities like puzzles, word searches, and riddles are also great ways for a budding genius to exercise their brain.

If you have high schoolers, mix it up with technology and embrace virtual reality. Check out these free virtual STEM education activities that give teenagers a virtual reality experience—while secretly teaching them a lesson or two on science and math.

9. Enroll Them in Music Lessons

While listening to music has a calming effect on the brain and helps relieve stress, studies show that learning to play an instrument builds cognitive abilities. Taking music lessons leads to improved reading comprehension skills, and some studies have shown it also improves math skills.

Additionally, learning to play an instrument or learning to sing is fun! Learning to play music is a great creative outlet for your child, in addition to the educational benefits.

10. Go Exploring

What if a secret to raising smart kids involves heading outside of the classroom? Kids love field trips! Getting out and exploring is a great way to expand your kid’s mind through new experiences. Taking a nature hike, visiting a museum, zoo, or aquarium, or going to see a play offers children a hands-on, immersive experience that supports learning.

To get started, research local points of interest. You may be surprised by some hidden museums or state parks in your area for you to explore with your child—and learn something new! It’s also a great way to spend time together.

Can’t get outside today? Try a virtual field trip to the moon to launch their curiosity in a quick astronomy lesson on the planets and stars.

Raising a Brilliant Child

Parents often focus on raising a smart and successful child or how they can get smarter in school. But there are many ways to lead a successful life that aren’t tied directly to notable achievements. Helping others, being empathetic to those in need, being kind to people, and volunteering are examples of how our children can find a different kind of success—and be a positive force of change in the world.

School choice matters. From Olympians, business owners, professional ballet dancers—you name it—our K–12 alumni have been embracing their gifts and changing the world in their own way.

Raise your children your way. Learn more about our proven, virtual school curriculum with over 20 years of experience and see if we’d make a good fit for your family.

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November 23, 2022 by Emily Ewen
November 22, 2022 by Christopher E. Nelson
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November 18, 2022 by Connections Academy

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How To Make Your Kids Smarter: 10 Steps Backed By Science

I’ve explored the science behind what makes kids happier, what type of parenting works best and what makes for joyful families.

But what makes children — from babies up through the teen years — smarter?

Here are 10 things science says can help:

1) Music Lessons

Plain and simple: research show music lessons make kids smarter:

Compared with children in the control groups, children in the music groups exhibited greater increases in full-scale IQ. The effect was relatively small, but it generalized across IQ subtests, index scores, and a standardized measure of academic achievement.

In fact musical training helps everyone, young and old:

A growing body of research finds musical training gives students learning advantages in the classroom. Now a Northwestern University study finds musical training can benefit Grandma, too, by offsetting some of the deleterious effects of aging.

(More on what the music you love says about you here.)

2) The Dumb Jock Is A Myth

Dumb jocks are dumb because they spend more time on the field than in the library. But what if you make sure your child devotes time to both?

Being in good shape increases your ability to learn. After exercise people pick up new vocabulary words 20% faster.

Via Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain:

Indeed, in a 2007 study of humans, German researchers found that people learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster following exercise than they did before exercise, and that the rate of learning correlated directly with levels of BDNF.

A 3 month exercise regimen increased bloodflow to the part of the brain focused on memory and learning by 30%.

Via Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain:

In his study, Small put a group of volunteers on a three-month exercise regimen and then took pictures of their brains… What he saw was that the capillary volume in the memory area of the hippocampus increased by 30 percent, a truly remarkable change.

(More on how exercise can make you and your kids smarter and happier here.)

3) Don’t Read To Your Kids, Read With Them

Got a little one who is learning to read? Don’t let them just stare at the pictures in a book while you do all the reading.
Call attention to the words. Read with them, not to them. Research shows it helps build their reading skills:

…when shared book reading is enriched with explicit attention to the development of children’s reading skills and strategies, then shared book reading is an effective vehicle for promoting the early literacy ability even of disadvantaged children.

(More on things most parents do wrong here.)

4) Sleep Deprivation Makes Kids Stupid

Missing an hour of sleep turns a sixth grader’s brain into that of a fourth grader.

Via NurtureShock:

“A loss of one hour of sleep is equivalent to [the loss of] two years of cognitive maturation and development,” Sadeh explained.

There is a correlation between grades and average amount of sleep.

Via NurtureShock:

Teens who received A’s averaged about fifteen more minutes sleep than the B students, who in turn averaged fifteen more minutes than the C’s, and so on. Wahlstrom’s data was an almost perfect replication of results from an earlier study of over 3,000 Rhode Island high schoolers by Brown’s Carskadon. Certainly, these are averages, but the consistency of the two studies stands out. Every fifteen minutes counts.

(More on how to sleep better here.)

5) IQ Isn’t Worth Much Without Self-Discipline

Self-discipline beats IQ at predicting who will be successful in life.

From Charles Duhigg’s excellent book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business:

Dozens of studies show that willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success… Students who exerted high levels of willpower were more likely to earn higher grades in their classes and gain admission into more selective schools. They had fewer absences and spent less time watching television and more hours on homework. “Highly self-disciplined adolescents outperformed their more impulsive peers on every academic-performance variable,” the researchers wrote. “Self-discipline predicted academic performance more robustly than did IQ. Self-discipline also predicted which students would improve their grades over the course of the school year, whereas IQ did not.… Self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent.”

Grades have more to do with conscientiousness than raw smarts.

Via How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character:

…conscientiousness was the trait that best predicted workplace success. What intrigues Roberts about conscientiousness is that it predicts so many outcomes that go far beyond the workplace. People high in conscientiousness get better grades in school and college; they commit fewer crimes; and they stay married longer. They live longer – and not just because they smoke and drink less. They have fewer strokes, lower blood pressure, and a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.

Who does best in life? Kids with grit.

Via Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

The best predictor of success, the researchers found, was the prospective cadets’ ratings on a noncognitive, nonphysical trait known as “grit”—defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.”

(More on how to improve self-discipline here.)

6) Learning Is An Active Process

Baby Einstein and braintraining games don’t work.
In fact, there’s reason to believe they make kids dumber.

Via Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five:

The products didn’t work at all. They had no positive effect on the vocabularies of the target audience, infants 17-24 months. Some did actual harm. For every hour per day the children spent watching certain baby DVD’s and videos, the infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them.

Real learning isn’t passive, it’s active.

What does Dan Coyle, author of The Talent Code recommend? Stop merely reading and test yourself:

Our brains evolved to learn by doing things, not by hearing about them. This is one of the reasons that, for a lot of skills, it’s much better to spend about two thirds of your time testing yourself on it rather than absorbing it. There’s a rule of two thirds. If you want to, say, memorize a passage, it’s better to spend 30 percent of your time reading it, and the other 70 percent of your time testing yourself on that knowledge.

(More on how to teach your child to be a hard worker in school here.)

7) Treats Can Be A Good Thing — At The Right Time

Overall, it would be better if kids ate healthy all the time. Research shows eating makes a difference in children’s grades:

Everybody knows you should eat breakfast the day of a big test. High-carb, high-fiber, slow-digesting foods like oatmeal are best, research shows. But what you eat a week in advance matters, too. When 16 college students were tested on attention and thinking speed, then fed a five-day high-fat, low-carb diet heavy on meat, eggs, cheese and cream and tested again, their performance declined.

There are always exceptions. No kid eats healthy all the time. But the irony is that kids often get “bad” foods at the wrong time.
Research shows caffeine and sugar can be brain boosters:

Caffeine and glucose can have beneficial effects on cognitive performance… Since these areas have been related to the sustained attention and working memory processes, results would suggest that combined caffeine and glucose could increase the efficiency of the attentional system.

They’re also potent rewards kids love.

So if kids are going to occasionally eat candy and soda maybe it’s better to give it to them while they study then when they’re relaxing.

(More on the best way for kids to study here.)

8) Happy Kids = Successful Kids

Happier kids are more likely to turn into successful, accomplished adults.

Via Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents:

…happiness is a tremendous advantage in a world that emphasizes performance. On average, happy people are more successful than unhappy people at both work and love. They get better performance reviews, have more prestigious jobs, and earn higher salaries. They are more likely to get married, and once married, they are more satisfied with their marriage.

And what’s the first step in creating happier kids? Being a happy parent.

(More on how to raise happy kids here. )

9) Peer Group Matters

Your genetics and the genetics of your partner have a huge effect on your kids. But the way you raise your kids?
Not nearly as much.

Via Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference:

On things like measures of intellectual ability and certain aspects of personality, the biological children are fairly similar to their parents. For the adopted kids, however, the results are downright strange. Their scores have nothing whatsoever in common with their adoptive parents: these children are no more similar in their personality or intellectual skills to the people who raised them, fed them, clothed them, read to them, taught them, and loved them for sixteen years than they are to any two adults taken at random off the street.

So what does have an enormous affect on your children’s behavior? Their peer group.

We usually only talk about peer pressure when it’s a negative but more often than not, it’s a positive.

Living in a nice neighborhood, going to solid schools and making sure your children hang out with good kids can make a huge difference.

What’s the easiest way for a college student to improve their GPA? Pick a smart roommate.

Via The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work:

One study of Dartmouth College students by economist Bruce Sacerdote illustrates how powerful this influence is. He found that when students with low grade-point averages simply began rooming with higher-scoring students, their grade-point averages increased. These students, according to the researchers, “appeared to infect each other with good and bad study habits—such that a roommate with a high grade-point average would drag upward the G. P.A. of his lower-scoring roommate.”

(More on the how others affect your behavior without you realizing it here.)

10) Believe In Them

Believing your kid is smarter than average makes a difference.

When teachers were told certain kids were sharper, those kids did better — even though the kids were selected at random.

Via The Heart of Social Psychology: A Backstage View of a Passionate Science:

…Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson (1968) did the same study in a classroom, telling elementary school teachers that they had certain students in their class who were “academic spurters.” In fact, these students were selected at random. Absolutely nothing else was done by the researchers to single out these children. Yet by the end of the school year, 30 percent of the the children arbitrarily named as spurters had gained an average of 22 IQ points, and almost all had gained at least 10 IQ points.

Sum Up

Music Lessons
The Dumb Jock Is A Myth
Don’t Read To Your Kids, Read With Them
Sleep Deprivation Makes Kids Stupid
IQ Isn’t Worth Much Without Self-Discipline
Learning Is An Active Process
Treats Can Be a Good Thing — At The Right Time
Happy Kids = Successful Kids
Peer Group Matters
Believe In Them

One final note: Intelligence isn’t everything. Without ethics and empathy really smart people can be scary.

As P.J. O’Rourke once said:

Smart people don’t start many bar fights. But stupid people don’t build many hydrogen bombs.

So if you want to learn how to raise a happier kid go here and a more well-behaved kid go here.

I hope this helps your child be brilliant.

Good Parenting Skills: 7 Research-Backed Ways to Raise Kids Right
How To Have A Happy Family – 7 Tips Backed By Research
How To Raise Happy Kids – 10 Steps Backed By Science

This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Join 45K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

Read next: The Secret to Learning a Foreign Language as an Adult

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12 Ways to Raise Smarter, More Successful and Happy Kids

1. Watch or read the news together and discuss it

Children should have at least some understanding of current issues, from politics to climate change. “Parents should watch the news with their children so that they are aware of issues that may be discussed in the classroom. Talking about important events will help students form their own opinions and develop critical thinking skills,” says Katherine Palmer, a teacher in Calgary, Canada.

2. Show how to deal with failure

Many feel frustrated when they fail, but the ability to keep going is an important skill for students. “Parents can help their children succeed by working with them to develop a growth-mindset approach to education. It will teach students to understand that mistakes are part of learning and should not be ashamed,” said Erin Thomson, an online teacher at Compass Charter School in California.

3. Instill good character traits

When children at an early age begin to strive to be good friends and surround themselves with worthy people, they are more likely to do the same in adulthood. “Teach your kids every day to be kind to others, to help the teacher, to notice a child in the playground who looks sad or lonely, and to keep him company,” advises Carl Roberts, Compass Regional Coordinator.

4. Make Internet use positive

“If your child uses social media, teach them to be a positive influence,” says child psychologist Rina B. Patel. She suggests using the abbreviation THINK ("think"): before posting a post on a social network, a student should ask himself whether it is T (true - "true"), H (helpful - "useful"), I (inspiring - "inspiring"). ”), N (necessary - “necessary”) and K (kind - “good”). If this is not the case, then he should revise the content of the post or refuse to publish it at all.

5. Praise for effort

According to Brian Galvin, a teacher at Varsity Tutors in Seattle, research shows that giving gifts for good grades doesn't have much effect on students. “When parents reward effort, enthusiasm, and a willingness to try new things (and possibly fail), kids are more likely to try hard,” he points out.

6. Back up your words with actions

“Parental support helps young people find their own source of strength. But it does not appear as a gift, it must be acquired on your own. For this reason, parents need the courage to let their children learn from their mistakes. Leading by example will help guide the student, verbal messages are less effective,” says Mary Jo Podgruski from the Academy of Adolescent Health.

7. Set up a workspace for homework

Set a time and place for homework. “Students progress when they have a routine and can mentally prepare themselves for work,” says Francis Queller, a New York-based college admissions expert. He recommends exercising in a well-lit area with no distractions.

Photo: Unsplash

8. Let the children teach you

When you are excited about something, you want to tell the world about it - the same thing happens with children. “Permission to be a ″teacher″ will allow the student not only to tell what he learned at school, but also to enjoy the knowledge he has received. Celebrate every achievement your child has, no matter how big or small,” says April J. Lisbon, a Virginia school psychologist.

9.

How many times have you been asked to remember what it was like to be a child? There is a reason for this. “Play is children’s work, that’s how children learn about the world. They should come out of early life with a love of learning and play, and the ability to ask and answer questions. When kids do what they love, they will be more enthusiastic about more formal learning and personal challenges,” said Benjamin Newton, co-founder of New York-based child care company Vivvi.

10. Don't forget to take care of yourself

Self-care is not just a buzzword, it's something parents should practice daily. “You may not realize it, but your own anxiety affects the way a child sees the world. Often, taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for children,” notes Alyssa Ostern, a New Jersey psychologist.

11. Allow children to experience negative emotions

Parents often try to keep their children from any negative emotions. Usually this desire is dictated by love - it is difficult to see your child upset. “When a parent tells them not to cry, or says everything will be fine, the child may understand this as a need to let go of negative emotions. But kids have to learn to deal with a range of experiences,” Ostern adds.

12. Emphasize good nutrition

Food can energize or drain us, so it's important to choose wisely when choosing food for children. “While helping children develop a healthy relationship with food, we also teach them important life skills such as the ability to explore, be open to new things and be prepared to take risks. I believe that nutrition affects the leadership qualities of children throughout their lives,” concludes Saskia Sorrosa, founder and CEO of Fresh Bellies.

Source.

Top 10 tips for making your child smart and gifted

In this competitive age, parents often worry about whether their children are smart enough and if they can help them do something that could help in development of their intelligence. It is believed that Amount of Stimulation Compliance at an early age greatly enhances a child's mental capacity. Thus, the early years are the best time to focus on a child's intellectual development. Here are some practical tips to help you make your child smart.

1. Discuss with your child

communication A basic skill needed to increase a child's intelligence. It also allows your child to better communicate with you and develop. Self-esteem and trust. Encourage your child to improve their communication skills by engaging them in verbal activities. Talk to your child about what you are doing, how his day went, or anything else. Turn on descriptive language and he will be tempted to use it in his own conversation. Good language skills are always associated with higher intelligence. So let your child take advantage of this skill.

2. Be honest

A safe child tends to be more self-confident and therefore more receptive to life's challenges. Get started on the right path by creating a safe and happy environment at home. Skin-to-skin contact and baby massage allow you and your baby to bond. Tickle him, let him climb on you and play with you, cuddle him, put him on your lap.

3. Motivate him with simple games at the right age.

Although there are many game companies focused on children's products, not all of them suit the intellectual abilities of every child. Some of them can overwhelm and upset your child. So, analyze if the game is suitable for his abilities at the time before submitting it. The right games will play with him, motivate him, and provide great learning tools.

4. Play with your child.

Guided play with your child This will direct his attention and provide new opportunities for exploration and understanding. Take time to play regularly with your child. Reach his level of understanding and indulge him in activities he enjoys. Gradually offer new play ideas that encourage him to think beyond what he knows. Since kids love to imitate this, it won't be long before your child develops in talents and shows off their new skills.

5. Read together

الكتب This is a great tool to develop your child's thinking skills. Read to your child every day. Choose bright books with lots of simple textures and pictures that interest him. At first, your child may prefer the same book, but gradually he will learn to explore more options. The more your child becomes familiar with letters and pictures, the more he will be inclined to read on his own as he gets older.

6. Encourage him to explore

Let your child experience new and unfamiliar environments and encourage him to explore and understand them more. Share what you see and get excited about the new things you come across. Even going to the supermarket can bring visual benefits to a child. The more experience you give your child, the more he will learn and the better his intelligence will be.

7. Get your child used to letters and numbers from the very beginning.

Don't wait until your child is in school to learn numbers and letters. Start counting at home during game sessions and mark letters on boards and signs. The more familiar your child is with the written word, the easier it will be for them to understand and learn it when the time comes. Verbal and physical cues, such as sign language, will improve his ability to understand and relate to a topic. This will naturally allow him to associate himself with what he sees and thinks about himself as he grows.

8. Create opportunities to connect with other children.

Social interaction is an encouraging experience and also prepares your child for challenges and situations as they grow. Set up play dates with kids his age or just take him to the park to play with other kids. By watching him interact at this stage, you can gently guide and support him so that he finds good friends. As he learns valuable lessons about interacting with others, he will also be better prepared to deal intelligently with unpleasant situations as he gets older.

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