Shower Your Child With Love
A child who doesn’t feel loved and supported may turn inward, making it difficult for them to explore the world around them. Parental love is the foundation that instills confidence, encouraging children to actively explore and stimulating neural connections that promote healthy brain development.
This love is more than a warm feeling; it’s about taking concrete actions that help children form vital connections in their brains. A child who feels loved is more likely to engage with and explore their surroundings, fostering not only cognitive development but also emotional growth.
There are many ways to show love. For instance, when your child cries, offer a quick embrace. This not only soothes your child but also strengthens the bond between you.
Take 10 minutes each day to sit with your child, discuss the day’s events, or simply hold them close without saying a word. These moments help children feel your presence and care, creating a safe environment for their growth.
Skin-to-skin contact is especially crucial for children under six. It not only provides warmth but also stimulates the production of oxytocin, the love and connection hormone. So, create more intimate moments, such as hugs, caresses, and play, to sow the seeds of happiness in your child’s heart.
Plant Seeds of Curiosity
Curiosity is the seed of wisdom. It’s essential for parents to know how to prepare the soil and create opportunities for each seed to take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit.
When children step into nature and encounter various creatures, seeds of curiosity are silently sown.
New experiences evoke emotions like “cute,” “scary,” “interesting,” and “wanting to touch and see.”
These emotional responses can activate the A10 neuron system in the brain, helping children focus and become more intelligent.
So, take your child to different places, create more “first times,” and spark their desire to know more. At the same time, pay attention to what piques their interest, and then read relevant books and materials together to create a deeper exploration environment.
By connecting real-life experiences with book knowledge, you can form a closed loop that deepens their thinking system.
Let Your Child Experience Failure
As Theodore Roosevelt said, “The man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” Failure is as important as success and is an integral part of learning and growing. If children don’t experience failure, they won’t develop problem-solving skills and the essential life skills that challenges demand.
For example, when your child is learning to tie their shoelaces, it might not go well at first. But if they want to do it, give them the opportunity and time to try and make mistakes. This teaches them not only how to fix their errors but also builds patience and confidence.
Gradually, they’ll learn to optimize the process until they succeed, turning each failure into an essential stepping stone.
People find the path to success through continuous trial and error. This is true not just for tying shoelaces but for every aspect of life.
When children face challenges, they learn to analyze, think creatively, and find possible solutions. These experiences not only enhance their problem-solving skills but also foster independent thinking.
This process nurtures their natural curiosity and spirit of exploration. From a brain science perspective, repeated mistakes create neural pathways. As these pathways become larger and denser, tasks like tying shoelaces become effortless.
It’s important to encourage children to view every experience, even failures, as valuable lessons. Instead of focusing solely on the outcome, guide them to explore the process and the lessons learned from their mistakes.
Let your child experience failure and learn to get back up.
Praise Your Child Often
When children do something well and achieve excellent results, most parents are quick to offer praise. However, it’s worth noting that when children make mistakes, fail, or don’t perform well, many parents complain, scold, or even punish them.
This reaction can make children feel insecure, causing them to become anxious and fearful when facing challenges.
Therefore, even when things don’t go as planned, acknowledge your child’s efforts. Recognizing and praising their specific attempts, no matter how small, will make them feel valued and encouraged.
These words of encouragement are like building blocks of confidence, helping children accumulate smaller successes over time.
From a brain mechanism perspective, when children are praised for their efforts and progress, their brains release hormones like dopamine, triggering feelings of happiness and motivation.
This acts as a reward system, fostering a desire to learn and grow. Children will become more intrigued by the idea of exploring new things.
Moreover, nurturing children with positive praise not only promotes their mental development but also lays a solid foundation for their social growth.
When children feel loved and respected, they communicate better with others, build healthy relationships, and confidently engage in community activities.