Some signs your child is intelligent (or even a genius) are the following:
- Quick learner
- High level of appetite and stamina for learning
- Unusual curiosity (your child asks too many questions)
- Higher level of awareness compared to other kids (especially when it comes to self and social situations)
If your child seems to be way ahead than other children at his/her age, your child is likely to be intelligent. If you want to know if your child is gifted, a standardised test is often required to prove it.
How to raise a smart child
Once you’re sure that your child is smart or you see a lot of potential, your role as a parent is to support your child’s learning.
One way to do that is by ensuring your home is filled with fun and stimulating learning materials and toys. The early learning centre should also have that so that the home and centre’s learning environment complement each other in supporting your child’s rapid learning and development.
It’s also good to ensure your child gets a variety of experiences through playtime and extracurriculars. Both structured and unstructured learning experiences help. For structured learning, this helps ensure your child will promptly achieve most of the developmental milestones. For unstructured learning, this will help further with the development of your child’s initiative and independence.
It also helps to emphasise social skills. This way, your child can better get along with other children and participate more and have more fun in playtime and extracurricular activities. This will help expand your child’s learning experiences. This is good for your child’s rapidly developing brain especially during the early years.
In other words, your role as a parent is to facilitate and support your child’s learning and development. This way, your child will have more resources and acquire more experiences. Your child will then get an amazing start which will help him/her in the big school and beyond.