As the child’s mind develops, he/she becomes more intelligent. How intelligent the child becomes will depend on two main factors.
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Genes – these control the amount of natural intelligence he/she has.
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Environment – the uses the child makes of his/ her intelligence will be very much influenced by the environment in which he/she grows up.
Throughout childhood, the genes and environment continuously interact to produce people whose minds develop in a great variety of ways. E.g., some children are very artistic or musical talent, some are talented at languages or maths, high academic ability, cleverness with the hands and some have a good understanding of people and their problems.
You should help develop your child’s mind by:
- Talk to the child.
- Play with them.
- Sit him/her up somewhere were they could see what is going on around them.
- Let them play with toys and other objects to handle and investigate.
- Allow him/her to practice new skills.
- Read and tell them stories and show them pictures.
- Listen to storeys
- Look at books and eventually learn hw to read.
Investigating and exploring
From 3months onwards the child will want to explore with more objects and places/ They will want to see more things and be able to handle different types of objects. When they start to learn how to move they will want to wander off by themselves to see what they can find. Letting the child do this in a safe area will allow the child to pick up information which will help their intellectual development.
Asking questions
When the child starts to talk the child will ask simple questions that they don’t understand like, ‘Who?’, ‘What?’, ‘When?’, ‘Where?’, ‘Why?’, and ‘How?’ These questions will be demanded and are continual until they get an answer. Answering these questions for the child will give them information to take in.