How to Improve Thinking Skills in Children? Tips and Suggestions

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Hi,
Raising talented and gifted kids could be very risky and difficult considering their special needs and emotional requirements. Our elders always used to tell us to let our kids be kids first, at least in their first ten or twelve years. In a way, it could actually be true and real. But, today's highly competitive world demands the best out of our children as well.

I have read a number of stories in the news about gifted children and their special talents. While most of these stories are positive and energetic to parents, some of them show a darker side to these stories. There are gifted children whose life showed so much promise for their future, but ended up somehow spoiling their chances of shining bright in their life.

Recently, there was a disturbing news clipping appearing in leading dailies of the world. In what would be a fatal story and sad event, this reportage divulged information about a brilliant, promising and a highly gifted woman turning prostitute just northwest of London. Sufiah Yusof, a math prodigy was one of the youngest students to get enrolled in a prestigious Oxford university when she was barely 13. After three years of her study in the university, she ran away from the college to an unknown place. When she was found after a week or so, she explained that she was pressurized too much by her parents to study hard and get a degree.

Now, what are the real causes that drove Sufiah to work as a prostitute? Are there some issues that are not visible to us and her parents? Some people say that gifted children can easily get socially isolated and frustrated if not tended properly in their young age, while others feel that gifted children need an active environment like Oxford to stimulate and nurture their brilliance and talent. Now, it also raises the most important question of how much and to what extent we can push our gifted children in an academic sense? Is it possible for us to consider giftedness as a dangerous talent? There are too many questions but a few number of answers! Take care.

Thought for today:
"A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark " - Chinese Proverb

Best Regards,
Andrew Loh
Andrew Loh
Publisher & Editor, BrainyZine
andrew @ brainy-child.com

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How to Improve Thinking Skills in Children? Tips and Suggestions

Enhancing thinking skills in your kid can be real fun and thrilling! Nothing can be more effective than asking the right type of questions in an easy going manner. When you ask questions that lead to a mental stimulation of your kid's thought process, it can be really good for you as well as your kid.

Tips to Develop Thinking Skills for Your Kids

The extensive use of critical thinking is perhaps the most valuable skills that we can, as responsible parents, can teach our kids. Gifted children have the habit of making rapid progress and they always use the power of synthesis and evaluation to learn things without any proper teaching or training.

Thinking Games for Kids
By Cheryl Gerson Tuttle and Penny Hutchins Paquette

This exciting new edition of popular interactive book Thinking Games for Kids applies cutting edge research in cognitive learning to simple and creative games for children of all ages. Playful and family friendly, the guide provides you with entertaining and effective tools to sharpen reading, reading and math skills-- and develop valuable memory strategies--even in children as young as three years old.

Best of all, the games are fun. It also provides games to develop phonetic awareness, more number of games for broader ranges between ages of 3 and 12, more new strategies to enhance cognitive skills and a spectrum of new ways to modify these games so that children are challenged even more.

Thinking Tools for Kids: An Activity Book for Classroom Learning
By Barbara A. Cleary and Sally J.Duncan

Perhaps the first book of its kind written especially for young people, Thinking Tools for Kids describes the everyday challenges of grade school children which can be solved by a variety of quality tools. Each chapter starts out with a story that presents a problem that a child may encounter, such as unsuccessful science fair project.

The authors explain which tools can be used to overcome these problems, and give examples of how to apply these tools to other problems the child may encounter. The many illustrations and helpful glossary will aid in the understanding of the tools used throughout the book. At the end of each chapter the authors give a home connection which encourages kids to take what they have learned and apply it to problems at home.

Eating for brain health
Williams Lake Tribune Mar 28, 2008

Want a smart kid? Nutrition is one of the most important things to consider, along with brain stimulation. Food - good food - is the building material your child’s brain needs to grow and run properly. It needs carbohydrates for energy, and proteins and healthy fats to build connective pathways between the brain cells. Vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients help create the neurotransmitters that relay signals between these brain cells.

Six Nutrients for Success
Silver Lake News Apr 10, 2008

The kinds of nutrients your children get have a major influence on how the brain develops and functions. When taking stock on all your child’s school necessities, also take note of their diet. What your children do and don’t eat both play a major role on their school success.

Is music the key to academic gains?
BBC News Mar 29, 2008

We have heard of brain training computer games giving young minds a cerebral workout with impressive results, improving their maths and concentration skills in the classroom. But what about encouraging your child to learn a musical instrument to help stimulate their creative processes and possibly boost their school performance?

Mom's fish intake may boost child's brain power
Reuters UK Apr 1, 2008

Preschoolers whose mothers regularly ate low-mercury fish during pregnancy may have sharper minds than their peers, a study suggests. Researchers found that among 341 3-year-olds, those whose mothers ate more than two servings of fish per week during pregnancy generally performed better on tests of verbal, visual and motor development.

New Book Claims Children Who Start School Smarter, Stay Smarter For Life
PRWeb Apr 2, 2008

With appropriate help from their parents, children can easily start school smarter and have the benefit of being smarter for life. Scientific evidence as a result of worldwide research by institutions shows that the best learning period for children is from birth to three years of age. A new book, 'Raising Smarter Babies' by Susan Butler, explains how parents can easily assist their babies in becoming smarter.

In Pictures: How to Tell If Your Child is Gifted Slide Show
Forbes Mar 22, 2008

Gifted children are unique and special in their own way. More often, it is quite difficult to detect and identify gifted children because of various reasons. This wonderful slide show provide invaluable clues and ideas on how you can if your child is gifted or not. These slides provide a number of clues and ideas that are so special to gifted children. We hope that this slide show assist you in helping your child to nurture his or her gifts and talents to their best.

Prenatal Exposure To Drugs, Alcohol And Tobacco Affect The Brain Into Early Adolescence, Scans Show
ScienceDaily Apr 8, 2008

Now, a new study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans, led by Children's Hospital Boston neurologist Michael Rivkin, MD, suggests that prenatal exposure to cocaine, alcohol, marijuana or tobacco (alone or in combination) may have effects on brain structure that persist into early adolescence.

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