Surprising Things That Can Help Your Child's Development

Your child’s development comes down a lot to their first years with you and the things you encourage them to do. School is important, of course, but when they are young you have a real window of opportunity to encourage their development and influence the beliefs that will help them later on in life. This is your chance to get them into a positive growth mindset early on, and ensure they grow into happy, fulfilled adults!

Here are a few surprising things that can help your child’s development while they are young:

Reading With Your Child, Rather Than To Them:

You’ve probably heard all about the benefits of reading to your child, but this is actually incorrect. Of course you should introduce your child to great books and literature, but rather than reading to them, read with them.

Make sure they are engaged, and point out words to them. When they can read a little, encourage them to have a go themselves, and listen to them read regularly. This is far more beneficial than doing all of the work yourself!

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Playing Video Games:

Video games can get a bad reputation, but only if people are playing too much of them. Your children can actually benefit from video games in numerous ways. If they play 30 minutes per day, you can help them to reduce things like anxiety and depression (yes, your child’s mental health is important too), and you can help them to improve their coordination and focus.

Try finding a game suitable for their age range, like https://FinalFantasyXVapp.com or Mario Kart. Play with them if you like and you can both have fun and enjoy the benefits!

Encouraging Effort Over Success:

In other words, don’t call your kids smart willy nilly. Praising them for their intelligence alone can make them believe that things should come easy for them, and make them not want to try anything new because they are scared of failing and disappointing you. They need to know that it’s effort that really matters.

Don't Solve All Of Their Problems For Them:

You need to allow your kids time to think for themselves and they will foster better problem solving skills and confidence. Whether it’s untying their shoe or thinking of something for them to do when they are bored, let them mull it over for a bit. Solving all of their problems for them will make them get complacent.

Feed Them A Nutritious Breakfast:

A nutritious breakfast is key to their development, so avoid toast, cereals, and other foods with little nutritional value!

Encourage Them To Learn A Second Language:

Your kids are at their learning peak before puberty, and are able to learn a second language with perfect fluency and pronunciation. Take advantage of this!

Eating One Meal Together Every Day:

Breakfast, dinner, or supper, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is eating one meal together per day where you can communicate, catch up, and bond. Children who eat meals with their families were shown in studies to do better at school and avoid peer pressure to do things like smoking.