Is TV Bad For Your Child?

The issue of kids watching television has been a hot debate in recent years. Most experts agree that while TV isn’t inherently bad, it should be watched only in small doses. The AAP changed their policy a few years ago to recommend that children under the age of 2 watch no TV at all, and children over that age watch only small amounts, no more than an hour a day.

Still, for better or for worse television is a part of daily life in most homes. Most children do watch some television during the day, and there are benefits to be gained from watching the right programs. Experts agree that educational television is better than mindless entertainment. “If programs are age appropriate, and send children messages that you would want your children to have, then the watching can be entertaining and instructional”, says educational, health, and clinical psychologist Dr. Nancy Mramor.

On the other hand, studies have shown numerous unwanted effects of watching television. It has been linked with poor imaginative skills and can slow language development due to the use of visuals instead of words. “Even the better shows rely on visuals at the expense of talk” says author Jane Healy, PH.D. Children also learn to expect much more entertainment out of anything educational, and find it hard to adapt to school where they are expected to pay attention without the benefit of colorful cartoon characters and music. Their attention spans are shortened as a result.

While some studies show a link between watching television programming like Sesame Street and better academic performance later in life, these studies concerned children who watched the venerable children’s program in the 1980’s, when children watched far less television in general.

Today’s children watch on average of 2-3 hours of TV a day – and it isn’t all Sesame Street.

Experts generally recommend the following guidelines for television time:

-Keep television watching to an hour at most each day
-Select and monitor the programs your child watches and be sure you know the content
-Choose educational programming
-Select channels that do not advertise to children

The bottom line when it comes to television is that it can be bad for your children if they are spending too much time watching it at the expense of time spent reading books, engaging in physical activities or spending time as a family. But as long as your children only watch small amounts of age-appropriate, educational programming, it’s unlikely there will be any long-term problems as a result.

Protect, nurture your baby's brain

While we always have known that a baby's first years were important, we now are learning from many sources how important the early years of a child's life are. One study brings added emphasis to this fact.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York found the following:

_ Brain development before age 1 is more rapid and extensive than previously realized.

_ Brain development is much more vulnerable to environmental influence than suspected.

_ The influence of early environment on brain development is long-lasting.

_ Environment affects the number of brain cells, connections among them and the way connections are wired.

_ Early stress has a negative impact on brain function.

Each of these facts stresses the need to be sure that each child has a good start in life. Opportunities for learning need to begin right away because a baby is ready and needs to be stimulated to keep his capacity for maximum intellectual growth. In reality, if he doesn't use it, he loses it. The study also found that stress has a huge negative impact on the child.

Babies are born with billions of brain cells. During the first months of life, connections between these cells are constantly multiplying. Cells and the connections between cells that are not being used quit working. For this reason, the baby needs to have a chance to be stimulated from his very earliest months. Stimulating the child doesn't mean teaching the child. But it does mean taking time with him, reading to him, putting him on your lap and talking to him.

It means spending time ... "not just quality time but also quantity time."The evidence continues to accumulate. You are your child's most important teacher. What you do today does affect how your child will do tomorrow.

Why should a parent teach his/her baby how to read?

Because it is much easier to teach a little baby (6 to 24 month-old) to read at home than it is to teach a 6-year-old at school. Also, there are few activities as joyous for mothers and babies as reading ‘play’ sessions.

Reading is the basis of all learning and the acquisition of knowledge and success go hand-in-hand. By teaching your baby how toread, parents can open the door to all that is beautiful in this world insteadof turning the child over to the current educational system hoping that the
teacher will know what a brilliant mind this child has.

“Every child has, at birth, a greater potential intelligence than Leonardo Da Vinci ever used” Glenn Doman, author of ‘Teach Your Baby To Read’.
We expose children to reading too late! By six or seven years of age the ability to take in spoken or written facts without effort is just about gone.

In the same way that it is easier to teach a 5-year-old to read than
it is to teach a 6-year-old, it is easier at 4 than at 5 ...and easiest of all for
babies below one!!

So have you started on you baby? It's never too young to start !

What is multiple intelligence theory?

Dr. Gardner identified eight different Intelligences that every person would have, to varying degrees. These intelligences are verbal/linguistic, math/logical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical , interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.

The Eight Intelligences Explained

1) Verbal-Linguistic
- The Writer/Speaker Children with strong Verbal-Linguistic intelligence will have a propensity to produce language and sensitivity to the nuances, order and rhythm of words. These students love to read, write and tell stories. They have good memories for names, places, dates and trivia. Professionals with strong VL intelligence will be writers, public speakers, teachers, and actors. Some historical examples include Abraham Lincoln, T.S. Elliot and Charlton Heston.

2) Math-Logical - The Scientist
Children with strong Math-Logical intelligence have the ability to reason deductively and can recognize and manipulate abstract patterns or relationships. Students who have strong problem-solving and reasoning skills will excel in this intelligence. Adults with this intelligence will work as scientists, mathematicians, computer programmers, lawyers or accountants. Some historical examples include Albert Einstein, Nicolae Tesla, Alexander Graham Bell.

3) Spatial - The Builder
Children with Spatial intelligence have the ability to create visual-spatial representations and can transfer them mentally or concretely. Students who exhibit this intelligence need a mental or physical "picture" to understand the information being presented. Professionals in this intelligence are typically graphic artists, architects, cartographers and sculptors. Some historical examples include Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso, and Bobby Fischer.

4) Musical - The Composer
Children with strong Musical intelligence have great sensitivity to the rhythm of sounds (e.g. pitch, timbre, composition). Students strong in this intelligence will enjoy listening to music and may ultimately work as singers, songwriters, composers, or even music teachers. Some historical examples include Ludwig van Beethoven, J.S. Bach, and Mozart.

5) Bodily-Kinesthetic - The Athlete
Children with strong Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence gravitate towards athletics; however, they also may use their bodies to solve problems, or convey ideas and emotions. Students with BK intelligence will be good at physical activities, have good hand-eye coordination and may have a tendency to move around a lot while expressing themselves. Professionals using BK intelligence will include athletes, surgeons, dancers and even inventors. Some historical examples include Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Andre Agassi.

6) Interpersonal - The Peacemaker
Children with strong Interpersonal intelligence work effectively in a group and understand and recognize the goals, motivations and intentions of others. Students with this intelligence thrive in cooperative, group work situations and are skilled at communicating, mediating and negotiating. Professionals in this intelligence may be teachers, therapists, and salespeople. Some historical examples include Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Ronald Reagan.

7) Intrapersonal - The Philosopher
Children who are strong in the Intrapersonal intelligence have the ability to understand one's own emotions, goals and motivations. These students have good instincts about their strengths and abilities. This intelligence will be highly developed in professionals who work as philosophers, psychiatrists or religious leaders. Some historical examples include Eleanor Roosevelt and Sigmund Freud.

8) Naturalist - The Earth Lover
Children with strong focus in this intelligence will exhibit an affinity for all things nature. These students will enjoy and thrive when learning about nature topics, such as flora and fauna. Some professions with focus on this intelligence will include forest rangers, botanists, farmers and biologists. Some historical examples include Charles Darwin, John Muir.

Please remember, while we have outlined some of the specific traits, professions and historical examples associated with each intelligence type, everyone has some level of proficiency in each and every intelligence, and it behooves us, as parents, to learn how to cultivate each of these intelligences in our children

5 Tips to Make Learning Math Fun for Kids

What can you do as a parent if your child develops math phobia? Every day after coming from school your child rants over doing his math homework or complains to you “What good is Math?” Or is it worse than this? He is never able to crack the Math test or thinks “Only nerds are good at sums”. It is undeniably a worrisome situation as numeral literacy is every bit as important as any other skill and you can’t let your kid remain a math phobic for the rest of his life. The more you dilly-dally the problem the worse it will be so you have to tackle the situation head-on. We’ve come up with 5 tips to make Math fun for your kid-

Tip1: Your first step is to assess your math skills: Does calculating percentage still sends you in frenzy? Chances are likely that you are unintentionally passing your math fear to your child. Do you quite often say “I was always bad at Math” and did your kid pick up on that uses it to his advantage? Your negative attitude toward numeric literacy can hamper your child’s progress towards learning math. When you start hearing your own negative words coming out of your kid’s mouth then start exploring alternative ways to make math fun for your kid.

Tip 2: Storytelling in Math: Kids love stories. Tell fairy tales and ask your child to count the characters or you act out the story and count the characters together. Sounds fun, isn’t it? There are many interesting math story books for children that make different math skills enjoyable and easy to learn.

Tip 3: Play Math:Temporarily shift from the text books and math worksheets. Take out some dominoes, blocks, a deck of cards or a pair of dice to practice math skills. Remember that children have to be willing to develop their numeric skills so make the lessons more interactive, interesting and fun. You can also try playing board games that require logical thinking, adding, subtraction and more.

Tip 4: Help your kid notice Math in everyday life: Tell your kid that Math is a part of our daily lives. As you plan meals, clean your house, order food from the local restaurant or keep score during games, emphasize the necessity of math skills to your kid. Make your child understand that Math classes are not intended to make his life boring but they enable him to learn a skill that is a practical necessity.

Tip 5: Study together system: Arrange a weekly study together. Kids can explain things to each other in a way that makes them comprehend the math facts better. It will be learning cum fun activity that kids will definitely look forward to every week.

Preview Learning Math with Albert to help your child to start off with Math.

No Time to Read to my Child!

Have been meeting parents for the past decade, I realise there is something that is common that I encounter which most of the parents feel that they do not have enough time to read to their child. They may not aware they need not spent long time reading to their children as the child is not be able to concentrate that long.

It's not how long you read to your child and it is how often you read to them.

If we as a parent don't read to our children- Don't expect your child to read.

If we don't buy toys for our children - our children will not play toys.

If we don't on T.V. for our children- our children will not watch T.V.

We need to read often to create the reading habits for our child.

By Adam Khoo: Children of Singapore

A very interesting and revealing article that Singaporeans and their kids should read ....

By Adam Khoo: The expats will rule Singapore

I have a prediction. My prediction is that in a couple of years, the
expatriates (from China , India , US etc...) will rule Singapore . They
will increasingly take on more leadership roles of CEOs, directors,heads of organizations, award winners etc... If you observe closely, it is
already happening now.

Last year's top PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) student is a China
National. Most of the deans list students and first class honours students in the local universities are foreigners and more and more CEOs, even that of go vernment link corporations are expats. The top players in our National teams are expats.

As a Singaporean, I am not complaining. I think that in a meritocratic society like Singapore , it is only fair that the very best get rewarded, no matter their race, religion or nationality. Like Lee Kwan Yew said, I rather have these talented and driven people be on our team contributing to our nation than against us from their home country. The question I have been asking is, 'why are the expats beating the crap out of Singaporeans?

What I noticed is that these expats have a very important quality that many Singaporeans (especially the new Y generation lack). It is a quality that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers (who came from distant lands) had that turned Singapore from a fishing village to the third richest country in the world (according to GDP per capita). Unfortunately, I fear this quality is soon disappearing from the new generation of Singaporeans.

This quality is the HUNGER FOR SUCCESS and the FIGHTING SPIRIT!!!

Expats who come here today have the same tremendous HUNGER for success that our grandfathers had. They are willing to sacrifice, work hard and pay the price to succeed. They also believe that no one owes them a living and they have to work hard for themselves. They also bring with them the humility and willingness to learn.

Take the case of Qui Biqing, the girl from Qifa Primary school who topped the whole of Singapore in last year's PSLE with a score of 290. When she came to Singapore 3 years ago from China , she could hardly speak a word of English and didn't even understand what a thermometer was. Although she was 10 years old, MOE recommended she start at Primary 2 because of her lack of English proficiency. After appealing, she managed to start in Primary 3. While most Singaporeans have a head start of learning English at pre-school at the age of 3-4 years old, she only started at age 10.. Despite this handicapped, she had the drive to read continuously and practice her speaking and writing skills, eventually scoring an A-star in English!

This hunger and drive can also be seen in the workforce. I hate to say this but in a way, I sometimes think expats create more value than locals.

Expats are willing to work long hours, go the extra mile, are fiercely loyal to you and don't complain so much. They also come a lot more qualified and do not ask the moon for the remuneration. Recently, I placed an ad for a marketing executive. Out of 100+ resumes, more than 60% came from expats. While locals fresh grads are asking for $2,500+ per month, I have expats with masters degrees from good universities willing to get less than $2,000! They know that if they can come in and
learn and work hard, they will eventually climb up and earn alot more. They are willing to invest in themselves, pay the price for future rewards. Sometimes I wonder how some of the locals are going to compete with this.

Of course, this is just a generalization. There ARE definitely some Singaporeans who create lots of value and show fighting spirit.

Unfortunately, I have found that more and more young Singaporeans lack this hunger for success. Instead, they like to complain, blame circumstances and wait for others to push them. Some hold on to the attitude that the world owes them a living. I shake my head when I see local kids nowadays complain that they don't have the latest handphones, branded clothes and games. While I acknowledge that
the kids of today are much smarter and well informed than I was at their age (my 4 year old daughter can use my Macbook computer and my iphone), I find that they lack the resilience and tenacity they need to survive in the new economy. Some kids nowadays tend to give up easily once they find that things get tough and demand instant gratification. When they have to work first to get rewards later, many tend to lack the patience to follow through.

So, how did this happen? Why is our nation of hardworking, hungry fighters slowly becoming a nation of complaining softies? I think the problem is that life in Singapore has been too good and comfortable. Kids today have never seen hunger, poverty, war and disasters. What makes it worse is that parents nowadays give kids everything they want and over protect them from hardship and failure. Parents often ask me why their kids lack the motivation to study and excel. My answer to them is because they already have everything! Giving someone everything they
want is the best way to kill their motivation. What reason is there for them to fight to become the best when they are already given the best from their parents without having to earn it?

It reminds me of the cartoon movie MADAGASCAR where Alex the Lion and his animal friends were born and raised in the Central Park Zoo. They were well taken care of and provided with processed food and an artificial jungle. When they escaped to Africa , they found that they could barely survive in the wild with the other animals because they had lots their instincts to fight and hunt for food. They could only dance and sing.

I see the same thing in the hundreds of seminars and training programmes I conduct. I see increasing more and more expats attending my Wealth Academy and Patterns of Excellence programme in Singapore . Not surprisingly, they are always the first to grab the microphone to answer and ask questions.

While many of the locals come in late and sit at the back. The expats (especially those from India and China ) always sit at the front, take notes ferociously and stay back way after the programme is over to ask questions. I feel ashamed sometimes when I ask for volunteers to ask questions, and the Singaporeans keep quiet, while the foreigners fight for the opportunity.

For my "I Am Gifted!' programme for students, I have the privilege to travel &
conduct it in seven countries ( Singapore , Indonesia , Hong Kong , China ,
Malaysia etc...) and see students from all over. Is there a big difference in their attitude and behaviour? You bet!

Again, I feel really sad that in Singapore , most students who come are usually forced by their parents to come and improve themselves, Some parents even bribe them with computer games and new handphones to attend.

During the course, some adopt the 'I know everything' attitude and lack the interest to succeed until I kick their butts. It is so different when I go to Malaysia , Indonesia and once in India . The kids there ask their parents to send them to my programme They clap and cheer enthusiastically when the teachers enter the room
and participate so willingly when lessons are on. I still scratch my head and wonder what happened to my fellow Singaporeans to this day.

So mark my words, unless the new generation of Singaporeans wake up and get out of their happy over protected bubble and start fighting for their future, the expats (like our great grandfathers) will soon be the rulers of the country. At the rate at which talented and hungry expats are climbing up, our future prime minister may be an Indian or China PR or may even be an Ang Moh!

Home Schooling for your child?

Secrets to homeschooling:
• Homeschooling can be complete fun, if you enjoy learning with your kids. You can try to make boring things more enjoyable like providing exciting examples to your child. Let your child learn the way he/she feels comfortable because that is the way they will love to enjoy learning.

• It is essential to devote your valuable time to your child’s learning. Avoid doing your tasks while they are studying because it will help them to concentrate on their studies. Your concentration towards them will be rewarded later. Keep your child’s learning time sacred and do not involve yourself with your friends when they are studying.

• If your child is not doing well, or you are messed up with some problems at home, don’t give up, just try reading. Reading is the best way for your kids to learn and retain. Reading aloud delights little ones. You can record your reading and the toddlers can listen to them again and again while you complete your household tasks.

• Make use of educational products to enhance your child’s capability to learn faster. Such products help your child to gain self-confidence and have a better learning experience. Moreover, practical learning helps your child to judge better and make them good test-takers.

• Many of us believe that children are empty vessels waiting for the information to be poured into them. This is a wrong perception. Homeschooling parents should sit with their children and explore each of their textbooks to get the bigger idea of the picture. Try to understand the purpose of the textbook, chapter by chapter, heading by heading and word by word. Once your child is doing chapter by chapter work, you can bring them back to the big picture and then relate the importance of the information given in the textbooks.

• It is suggested to keep in touch with home school mentors and researchers. These people are a great help to mothers’ homeschooling their kids for the first time. Involve yourself with a group or some good library. Even a good education magazine can do wonders.

• Get into some social outings and trips to enhance the learning power of your child. But do not overdo it, as it might kill interest of learning at home.

• Observing your child helps you to know your child’s best capabilities and talents. Children thrive in an environment that encourages independence and autonomy. Thus proper surroundings and tools should be provided to the child.

Is your child gifted?

Signs of giftedness in a preschooler
Your 2- to 4-year-old may be gifted if he:

• Has a specific talent, such as artistic ability or an unusual facility for numbers. For example, children who draw unusually realistic pictures or who can manipulate numbers in their head may be gifted.

• Reaches developmental milestones well ahead of peers.

• Has advanced language development, such as an extensive vocabulary or the ability to speak in sentences much earlier than other children his age.

• Is relentlessly curious and never seems to stop asking questions.

• Is unusually active, though not hyperactive. While hyperactive children often have a short attention span, gifted children can concentrate on one task for long periods of time and are passionate about their interests.

• Has a vivid imagination. Gifted children often create a vast and intricate network of imaginary friends with whom they become very involved.

• Is able to memorize facts easily and can recall arcane information that he learns from television shows, movies, or books.

Other signs of giftedness may be a little harder to discern. By age 3 or 4, for example, some gifted children begin to realize that they are "different" from their peers. This can make them feel isolated and withdrawn; it may also make them likely targets for bullying.

They may begin to experience intense frustration because they can think more rapidly than they can express themselves, verbally or physically. If your child appears unusually angry or frustrated, you may want to consult a mental health professional.

New born babies learn even in their sleep

New born babies are such fast developers because they keep learning even in their sleep, researchers have found.

Even though infants may stay awake for just a few hours a day, their brains keep working around the clock, scientists said.

They believe that the brain is constantly adjusting and adapting to the physical world despite appearances that they are dozing.

The discovery was made by experts at the University of Florida after simple experiments with 26 sleeping newborns.

Researchers played a tune to them, and then followed it with a gentle puff of air to the babies' eyelids. After about 20 minutes, 24 of them had learned to anticipate the puff by squeezing their eyes shut.

The babies' brain waves also changed.

Dana Byrd, a psychologist, said, "We found a basic form of learning in sleeping newborns, a type of learning that may not be seen in sleeping adults.

"They are better learners, better 'data sponges' than we knew. While past studies find this type of learning can occur in infants who are awake, this is the first study to document it in their most frequent state, while they are asleep.

"Newborn infants' sleep patterns are quite different to those of older children or adults in that they show more active sleep where heart and breathing rates are very changeable.

"It may be this sleep state is more amenable to experiencing the world in a way that facilitates learning."

The results, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could be used to identify babies that are not developing properly such as those at risk of dyslexia or autism, she added.

The ABC's of Good Behaviour

If there is one desire that virtually all mothers and fathers share, it is the wish to raise a good child. But ask any dozen parents to define “good” and you are bound to get a dozen different answers. One parent cares strongly about manners and politeness. Another will cite responsibility and obedience to family rules as the essence of virtue. A third parent upholds self-control and cooperativeness as the most admirable of character traits, and fourth emphasizes such qualities as honesty, kindness and trustworthiness. But in truth, good behavior is all these things and more, and given the proper opportunity, your youngster will be able to make all of them a part of his own character.

As a loving parent, what strategies can you use to encourage character building? For one thing, you can give your child plenty of reasons to trust you and to feel secure in your care. For another, you can be a good role model, demonstrating the values and types of behavior you want him to adopt. You can also set reasonable limits and positive expectations, appropriate to his age and temperament. You can be firm, fair, consistent and loving disciplinarian without resorting to harsh punishment. And you can help him find his way within the larger community of friends, school and strangers - explaining, interpreting, guiding and lending a sympathetic ear as he meets each new social challenge. But you cannot make your child be good - that in end, is up to him.

Excerpt from "Teaching Good Behavior" - part of " A Child's First Library of Values

Choosing the right reading material for your child.

So your child has started to read. She may be slow and stumble over a few words but they can manage. Fluent reading will not be far behind. Here are some tips for selecting the appropriate reading matter


Children enjoy reading texts that are aimed at their age and interests, whether it is about football, fairies, ghosts or outer space.
Those with illustrations add to the interest and are often the quickest way into the text.
Your child can choose from different types of text. For example, story books or factual texts, depending on the appeal to his/her imagination and his/her character. Story books provide a way into reading through a combination of words and pictures. Factual texts will interest the curious reader who wants to find out about the world. Some high-quality magazines contain an attractive combination of fiction and non-fiction and create a continuous relationship with a young reader.
It can be reassuring for a child to reread a picture book that is familiar from a very early age.
A good book does not have to be long.
A good book can be put down for a while, but will be easy to pick up again later.
Let him/her choose books which you yourself may not find very interesting

Enhancing Skills for your child!

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. Questions that you ask should have simple and proper wordings. 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. One of the most important things to remember while asking probing questions to your kid is to creating questions by using different types or levels or platforms of thinking.

Enhancing thinking skills is best performed in a systematic and well calibrated manner. Your kid will not be ready to think on many aspects of life. Your main goal should focus at motivating his or her inner level of consciousness. Experts in human psychology grade thinking skills in humans into six categories. These thinking skills are common to all individuals and you will need to modify or restructure the questions in such a way that your kid will understand and comprehend the meaning very easily.

Knowledge skills include remembering, recalling or retrieving correct, right and appropriate and previously learned information or details to bring or draw out factual and data based answers which may either right or wrong.

To develop this skill:
You will need to use right words, phrases and sentences like: “when”, “how”, “what”, “how much”, “how many”, “where”, “tell me”, “detect”, “identify”, “list” etc. These wording are simple to understand and comprehend and they can help you kid to answer with a fair degree of certainty.

Early Learning Program has 49 skills for your childs.

Wiring of the Brain

“Wiring of the brain” refers to the explosive burst of the connections between the various synapses of the brain cells after birth. Synapses are the telephone lines that enable brain cells to communicate. Trillions are formed during the First 2 years of life. It is believed that they are overproduced to guarantee that enough are available to form neural networks for vision, speech, thinking, emotions, and other mental capabilities.

Some parts of the brain (example, the visual cortex) are wired rapidly in the First year of life and need little coaxing other than exposure to people, objects, and movement to develop. The auditory cortex, which processes sound, explodes with new connections after birth and maintains this high level of activity until about age 12. Many experts now believe this is the best time for learning music and foreign languages.

The prefrontal cortex, which is involved in processing higher thoughts and motivation, undergoes an initial growth spurt after birth, but it does not appear to be fully developed until early adolescence. This may be the best time to teach such things as calculus. The great explosion of synapses after birth enables the brain to learn how to make it work from the experiences it encounters.

Synapses that are not activated by sounds, touch, sight, smell, or taste are discarded. Nearly half of the connections eventually are pruned away when they are not incorporated into neural networks.

The most formative year are before a child enters school!

The habit of Reading and the love of Learning are developed at home!

Your child spent twice at much Time at Home as in School!

School alone does not prepare your child for an increasingly completitive world!

Children’s Reading Voyage

Parents know that reading is important for school success. Sometimes, though, parents aren't clear about the process of learning to read or how to help their child make this reading voyage.

Infants and Toddlers. Children crawl before they walk; they learn language before they read. Talking sets the stage for language development. Even though your child may not understand the words she hears, she's storing up the sounds of language for the day she'll put the sounds and words together and say them herself.

Start developing book habits early. Infants and toddlers often just want to chew on a book; mouthing and exploring are important book behaviors for very young children.

Read to your infant or toddler until he is bored, then put the book away for another time. As your toddler becomes more interested in books, let him make more book choices, hold the book, and turn the pages. Make these book times pleasurable and fun.

Preschoolers and Kindergartners. Preschoolers and kindergartners like to have fun with language. They like silly rhymes and verses, singing a song, dancing, and sharing a story through finger play. These are ways they develop language and literacy skills.

Children at this age are learning more about letters, print and books. They know many letters of the alphabet. They begin to match letters to their sounds, which is important for learning to read.

Many preschool children will pretend to read books, telling the story as they turn the pages, look at the pictures and identify some print on the page. They learn that print in books moves from left to right. Kindergarten children are getting better at matching letters to sounds and know many words from sight.

What makes a gifted child?

The battle between nature and nurture – at least in terms of how they affect intelligence – is far from over.

An Australian study, which was published in the journal PLoS Medicine earlier this month, found that children born to older men did worse on intelligence and cognitive tests from infancy to seven years of age when compared to children of younger fathers.

Whether the legacy of nature outweighs the latter-day efforts of nurture or the other way round, Dr Joanne Staunton, a cognitive psychologist from the Thomson Paediatric Clinic, identified five things parents can do to help develop their child's intelligence.

Teach your child to approach things in a systematic, or step by step, manner.

Encourage your child to group similar items together so he can learn to discuss and explain their similarities and differences.

Teach your child to follow instructions.

Show your child how to complete patterns.

Develop your child's language skills by reading to him and asking him questions.

A person's intelligence is most commonly measured by an IQ, or intelligence quotient, test.

Average scores for children range between 80 and 119.

Those scoring between 90 and 109 form roughly 50 per cent of the population while children who obtain a test score of more than 130 are described as "of very superior intelligence" and make up the top 2 per cent of the population.

The concept of a gifted child was mooted by Stanford University's Lewis Terman, who developed one of the first tests to measure intelligence, in the early part of the 20th century.

However, paediatricians Mind Your Body spoke to do not advocate putting children through IQ tests unless required.

Dr Chong Shang Chee, an associate consultant in the division of paediatric neurology, developmental and behavioural paediatrics at the University Children's Medical Institute in National University Hospital, said: "IQ is not the best measure or predictor for everyone or for success."

IQ tests measure a child's verbal comprehension, reasoning, working memory and information processing speed.

Dr Staunton said that parents should take their child for an IQ test only if they suspect he or she has learning difficulties, high intelligence or low intelligence.

She said: "At the moment, the IQ test is viewed as the best measure of intelligence although there are many who say that intelligence tests do not fully measure intelligence.

"All IQ test results need to be viewed with caution as they do have a margin error in the score and need to be interpreted in relation to your child and not as an isolated score."

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times

The Importance of Reading to your Baby

Once a parent bring home their newborn baby, they should waste no time in helping them learn. A baby will begin learning things right away and parents must make sure that they have the necessary tools to assist their child. One way parents can develop a baby’s learning capabilities at a very early age, is by reading to them.
Reading to your child is a great way for them to hear how words are pronounced. When you begin reading to your child, you may not get much of a reaction from them at the beginning, because they are just hearing the words for the first time. As the child begins to grow and parents continually read to them, they will become engaged in the stories and will begin to respond to the words.

Books that contain pictures are an entertaining way to read to your child, as they will be able to get a visual representation of what is happening in the storyline. Many picture books either depict important life lessons or can focus on academic concepts, like mathematics. These books are a great way for parents to not only spend time with their child, but to also ensure that their child is beginning to form good learning skills. Stories that teach your child how to count or learn their ABC’s are great beginner books.

As you are reading to your child, you will notice an increased interest in their desire to be read to. Eventually your child will begin to read by themselves and will use the skills that you have taught them. If you child has a great interest in reading, consider purchasing interactive workbooks that are designed to increase their learning. These books also provide a parent with the opportunity to spend quality time with their baby.

It is important to read to your child and nurture their desire to read, as it is the foundational block for their future success in school. By reading to your child at an early age, you will notice that they are able to develop the necessary learning skills they need, at a much faster rate

A Reading Environment at your Home!

Home environment plays an important role in the development of early readers. According to Jim Trelease, author of "The New Read-Aloud Handbook", two major studies (one from the 1966 and one from 1975) have been done on early readers as well as students who respond to early education without difficulty. These studies show that the following four indicators were present in the home environment of nearly every early reader.

The child is read to on a regular basis. This reading included not only books, but billboards, signs, labels, and more. The parents, by example, were avid readers.
Books, newspapers, magazines, and comics were always available at home.
Paper and pencils were also available anywhere because the starting point of curiosity about written language was an interest in copying objects and letters of the alphabet.
Adult in the child's home answered endless questions, praised the child's efforts, used their local library frequently, bought books, wrote stories that their child dictated and displayed their child's work prominently.

Having setup a good home environment for reading, you have to ensure your child has good hearing!

So do you have a reading enviroment for your child?

Rap your ABC song for your child!

Ms Tan shares how she start to read to her child from young!