Raising an Einstein

Let’s face it, every one of us hopes our child or offspring grow up to be wonderfully artistic, gifted and intelligent. We all know how important certain skills and traits are in ensuring they are successful later in life, so early development is always a big talking point when parents get together.

Plenty of stimulating activities are recommended from the start

Although their strengths are largely related to the genes passed down by the parents, you’re child isn’t going to turn to be a genius like you unless they are given correct guidance, stimulation and learning. In their early years you’ll be unable to really gauge whether their character takes after their mum or dad, even if they look alike. Whether they have your engineers mind or their mum’s musical ability, for example, only becomes apparent once they reach schooling age.

But, there’s no harm in accelerating their learning and development right from the beginning, and little ones can never get too much of this. They are constantly taking in an enormous amount of stimuli from their first weeks and continue right through to acquiring hand-eye co-ordination, language and speech development and social skills.

A key factor in the success of this is your own patience to play with them, creating activities, giving them creative materials such as drawing crayons and building blocks, or taking them on ‘field trips’, which can include a stroll around the garden or a visit to a museum.

There are whole books written on the subject, and as a dad this can be a particular responsibility you take on. We’ll offer some basic suggestions and guidelines here to get you started and list some books in the resources section. If you feel mother did all the hard work in the early months and years, you can make it up by actively organising games, workshops, and family rituals like bedtime stories. Whatever you do, don’t be prat and imagine this is all too childish for you.

Remember that characteristics such as confidence, comfort, consistent attention, traumatic free support and a stimulating environment will all contribute to enhanced development. A popular example is the effect of classical music in the background which has been proven to stimulate mental activity (although don’t expect a guaranteed Mozart prodigy mate!)

First three months

At first your boy will be getting used to the new world around him and his own body. It might all be quite confusing with all the comings and goings, as he learns routines like feeding, burping, bathing and nappy changing, but these are all important learning experiences (for both of you). Talk to him constantly so he learns to recognise your voice, allow him to kick or move his limbs, respond positively to his expressions, and above all give him plenty of love, spending time each day with him.

By the end of it he might be able to mimic basic actions, smile, recognise voices and remain content if he knows you are nearby. Once the bonding is firm they will begin to treat you as a mentor in a basic way.

Three to six months

After the third month babies are more comfortable and confident with their environment and respond well, actively participating in learning. They become fascinated with colourful objects and can begin playing with simple things that rattle and react with noise. Now’s the time to go shopping for all those fun toys that have educational value but don’t get too carried away. Read the age advisory on the packaging. All this helps their hand-eye co-ordination which is full steam ahead in development. They begin to smile and even chuckle when they see you, make rudimentary sounds and begin to sit up and even crawl a little by month six, so you ought to patiently encourage all these bit by bit.

Six months to a year

During the next six months they make enormous leaps forward and now is the time to really actively learn methods to help with their development. They will be relying on you as an early teacher and your participation is critical. Continue talking to them all the time, consistently and in a soft tone. By the end of the first year they’ll be saying their first words, standing and almost walking, responding to specific words and commands and even mimicking some things. They’ll start bonding with a favourite soft toy, playing with small toys, such as building blocks and recognising objects that go together (like a cup and saucer). By his first birthday he’ll be playing with other children, which takes the babysitting pressure off you.

Year two

There is an enormous amount to cover in this critical year and your efforts towards development and learning call for more detailed direction. Children start to develop their personalities which are, to a large extent, based on the way they are treated by their parents and minders. It’s important to be patient with them and encouraging rather than scolding. Discipline certainly is required but a child’s confidence is maintained by constant input from mum and dad, allowing them to make their own choices and learn the consequences.

Smart kids need plenty of effort from their parents early on

Once they start walking their scope of stimulation greatly increases but so does their destructiveness and they just love handling anything they can get their fingers on, sometimes with disastrous results. A parent who minds over them patiently will serve much better than denying them the exploration from the start. Memory, concentration and social skills all develop quite quickly and by the end of the second year they are able to string together very basic sentences with a vocabulary of about a 1000 words. The learning really is astonishing at this age and it helps if you treat them as being slightly ahead of their development, never underestimating their ability to develop quickly. Don’t push them however.

By the end of the second year not only will they have learnt a great deal but so will you, and you’ll find yourself enjoying activities together, like drawing, building with lego and creating shapes with plasticine, among others. He’ll soon be ready for playschool and a whole new world in learning, meanwhile you’ll be applying everything you’ve learnt to child number two!

Child care and play school
The cost of kids
The paper work