The Role of Parents and Guardians in Raising Gifted Children

Raising Gifted Children

With a mission to restore children’s rights, as well as their survival, development and protection, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has done, and continues to do all that it can to better the lives of children around the world.

For millions of children, a basic protection of basic human rights and dignity is all that they wish for. Yet for million others, the goal is to raise the bar to excellence. The disparity is stark between basic survival and excellence. It doesn’t have to be this way. Our future depends on children. The world depends on children. To have a better world we must raise children of excellence – smart, gifted, strong, emotionally sound and talented. The question is how? It all begins with parents, guardians and care-givers.

Before looking at unique strategies that will move children to a place of excellence, a basic starting point would be to recognize the immense dedication and sacrifice that it takes to raise gifted children. Parents are the rock on which a child stands. As long as a child lives, the work of a parent is never done. Children do not raise themselves. They are guided by the parents and other adults they encounter along the path of their growth. Everything a child knows, he or she learned from an adult. Adults therefore play a fundamental role in children’s lives. It goes without saying that parenting is a huge responsibility. It is not to be over-looked, and it is not to be underestimated.

Parents themselves should never take their children for granted by assuming that a child will excel on their own. Do you love your child? Will you do whatever it takes to give your child a chance at greatness? What are you willing to do? And to what extent will you go to achieve it? Parenting is work – hard work. It is work that comes with the decision to have a child. It takes sacrifice, commitment, dedication, and an investment of time.

Parenting is similar to goal-setting in the sense that you set a goal for where you want your child to be, and then work towards meeting that goal. The decision to fully commit to doing whatever it takes to raise a child of excellence lays a solid foundation for creating a better world, and ensuring a future where every child not only feels safe, but is empowered to achieve big goals and big dreams.

There are several things that parents can do to raise well rounded gifted children.

1- Listen to your child
There is no better way to know a child’s likes and dislikes than by listening to them, and observing their actions. Usually, these will give key indications of the child’s interests, which a parent could use to prod the child in the right direction.

2- Interact with your child
Cuddling, hugging, interacting and playing with a child is extremely crucial to their growth. Scientists have even argued that it develops their intelligence. The loving, one-on-one connection formed between a parent and child helps provide a solid foundation for developing self-confidence and higher thinking skills.

3- Independence
Teaching a child to be independent at a young age assists with analytical and critical-thinking skills. This is because they rely less on the parent’s own thinking and encourages them to use their good judgment when making decisions. Encouraging a child to think through their homework problems independently with minimal parental assistance also helps with thinking skills. It’s important to provide a child with a quiet environment where they can independently complete homework assignments with no distractions.

4- Read to your child
At a young age, it’s important to read daily to your child. This helps them not only develop a love for reading, but it also helps to develop fluent readers. Ask questions as you read the text and also ask the child to make predictions about what will happen in the text. These simple steps help boost comprehension skill now and in later grades.

5- Exercise
Give your child several opportunities to stay active. Physical exercise is known to make a child strong and smart! Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and builds new brain cells.  Exercise is good for adults’ mental sharpness, but it has a more long lasting effect on the child’s developing brain.

6- Bedtime
Several scientific studies indicate that children require 11 hours of sleep. Beyond that, studies also indicate that an established routine with regular, consistent early bedtime goes a long way to helping a child’s brain development. Consistent with the idea of teaching children independence, it will be useful to let them set their own alarm clocks and wake themselves up.

7- Music
The value of music in a child’s life cannot be underestimated. In fact, it is universally acknowledged that making music a part of a child’s life can boost memory, attention, motivation and learning. Simply starting with a basic instrument like the piano is sufficient. Children can then build on their music skills after learning to read music and play up to 10 notes at a time. Learning to play a musical instrument has an effect on the brain’s proportional thinking and spatial temporal reasoning that lay the foundation for abstract math.

8- Be a good role model
Children learn by modeling adult behavior. It is crucial for a child to witness an adult doing smart positive things. Children are a reflection of their parents. So setting a good example for a child is key to setting them on the right path. If a child sees a parent engaged in reading books, writing, making music, or doing creative things, they will imitate emulate that parent, and become smarter in the process.

9- Educational computer games
With parental supervision, education computer games can teach a child about letters, math, music, phonics and many others. It also develops their hand-eye coordination and prepares them for tomorrow’s technology. More importantly, the child learns these while they play. Learning and having fun at the same time is the best way for your child to learn

10- Healthy Meals
Feeding your child a healthy meal is good for their brain development. A protein-rich diet (egg, fish, meat, beans, peanuts, etc.) improves their attention, alertness, and thinking. Carbohydrates are necessary to fuel the brain and assist it for effective thinking skills. Certainly, vitamins, minerals, whole grains and fruits are also extremely important as well. Sweetened drinks, processed carbohydrates and other sugar sources have bad effects on attention span, focusing, ability, and activity level.

Raising gifted children goes beyond the child’s intellectual capacity. It includes their talents as well – what they are able to accomplish with their hands. It is therefore important to expose a child to a wide variety of stimulating activities – both intellectual and physical.

Dr. Nicoline Ambe’s website is www.nicolineambe.com

(Courtesy DUNIA print Magazine, issue 1)

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