SAM Ebook How To Raise An Intelligient Child 1

S E R I O U S LY A D D I C T I V E M AT H E M AT I C S
SERIOUSLY ADDICTIVE MATHEMATICS

How To Raise An Intelligent Child
How To Raise An
INTELLIGENT
CHILD
Why early math exposure is important

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for IQ and future success
This series is sponsored by

Seriously Addictive Mathematics
The New Age Parents Team

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2
CONTENTS
05 Why Early
Math Matters
08 Can IQ Be Improved By
Doing Maths?
11 How To Improve Your

Child’s IQ
15 4 Things To Do At Home To
Enhance Your Child’s IQ
18 Besides IQ: Important

Qualities Every Child Needs
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4
Why Early
MATH MATTERS
Copyright © New Age Consulting Pte Ltd and Seriously Addictive Centre Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. 5
Math is usually associated with science, as a surprise, but learning mathematics

technology and engineering. But beyond does not just help children to develop
the numbers, equations and formulas, their confidence and basic foundation to
the skills and critical thinking required to succeed in math, it also supports the de-
solve math problems help children master velopment of literacy.
other subjects as well. Math is not just the
foundation for careers in science or engi- When they are able to communicate effec-
neering; it is the pillar of a well-rounded tively in and with mathematics, it deepens
foundation for every child. their mathematical understanding and
develops their linguistic fluency such as
oral language abilities, vocabulary, critical
thinking and grammar complexity.
So if your child is exposed to math at a

young age, chances are they will be likely
to excel in their language too.
How to ensure that children have

a good understanding of math
connects and skills at a young age
• Give them exposure

Mathematical concepts are built one upon
another in a logical, step-by-step progres-
sion. When your child is being pushed to
learn addition and multiplication before
understanding the relationships between
numerals and quantities, they may end up
memorising math facts.
Strongest predictor for later success
Want to predict your child’s success as But when they are exposed to activities
they grow older? Your child’s math skills according to their ability and developmen-
will be the best gauge. In a 2007 study tal level, they can move naturally from one
on 35,000 preschoolers across the US, level to the next. They flourish best in lin-
Canada, and England, researchers found guistically rich and culturally meaningful
that early math skills were found to be the mathematical activities.
strongest predictive power for later suc-
cess. • Provide them with the right support
When children are placed in rich learning en-
Children become better readers, vironments with proper stimulation, guidance
writers and communicators and feedback, they are better able to exercise
If you had to choose between literacy and their knowledge and skills. This support can
math for your child to do well in school, come from yourself, from high-quality early
which would you choose? This might come math programs or motivated teachers.
6 Copyright © New Age Consulting Pte Ltd and Seriously Addictive Centre Pte Ltd. All rights reserved.
they may begin to understand the con-

• Start early
Can you recall a time when your baby was cept of numbers as early as three years
able to tell apart two sets of objects with of age.
varying numbers? Or how they were able
to locate objects within a designated Primary School level
space? Even at infancy, babies are able to Show your child that you value math, and
display core mathematical abilities. when they do well, acknowledge their
math achievement. Help them to foster
You don’t have to be an expert at math to an attitude that being good at math is not
infuse math into your child’s life. Here are about being born smart, but by working
some suggestions. smart consistently.
Infancy to Toddlerhood A study conducted by the University of

Introduce your child to numbers and Missouri (USA) revealed that children who
counting through reading storybooks, or do not grasp the meaning and function of
look out for shapes together around the numerals before they enter first grade fall
neighbourhood. behind their peers in math, and most do
not catch up. Most of them remained at
Preschool level heightened risk for low scores on math
Introduce math-related phrases such as problems through the seventh grade.
‘more than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’ by
doing activities that involve counting, All children have the ability and potential
adding and subtraction. Use toys or ob- to learn and excel in math.
jects for these activities. Even if they may
not be able to write or recite numbers, Give them the opportunity to do so today.
Can IQ Be Improved By
DOING MATHS?
8
Intelligence quotient, or IQ for short, is measure can be improved. The researchers

the relationship between a person’s po- found that fluid intelligence, which is the
tential and the statistical normal of all ability to solve abstract problems without
possible results. depending on previous knowledge, skills or
experience, can be improved with specific
How is IQ measured? and targeted training of working memory.
They are tested based on a person’s con-
crete and abstract reasoning in subject ways, Understanding and dealing with a wide
based on age and development norms. variety of abstract relationships between
concepts, objects and things in our environ-
It usually consists of a number of tasks ment – also referred to as relational skill – is
measuring various measures of intelli- necessary for children and adults to func-
gence. These include short-term memo- tion and perform at school, at work and in
ry, analytical thinking, mathematical abil- our daily lives. In academics, relational skills
ity and spatial recognition. However, the are necessary for math and language skills
purpose of an IQ test is not an attempt to emerge. The concept of more than or less
to measure the amount of information than is one example of relational skill need-
one has learned, but rather it attempts to ed to understand mathematics.
measure their capacity to learn.
How can we help our children
Not fixed at birth have better relational skills?
IQ was initially considered to be genetic and Doing math will help because it develops
fixed. However, a study at Michigan Univer- their ability to notice relationships be-
sity revealed that at least one aspect of IQ tween numbers. A strong co-relation has
also been found between a child’s rela- steps to make learning math easier.
tional skills and IQ scores. Through math
practice, your child not only sharpens However, practice alone is not enough, and
their relational skills, they also sharpen practice with little understanding of the
their own learning process and capacity concepts can be ineffective. It is the brain
to learn. storming process; the understanding of
concepts, problem solving, critical thinking
Building up on intelligence and IQ and logical reasoning, on top of person-
A study by Stanford University School alised training and practice that deepens
of Medicine found that personalised-tu- and improves their understanding.
toring, coupled with arithmetic practice
helped children to remember better. The Are these processes fostered in your
findings also suggest that when children child? Are they engaged in dialogue and
are able to solve basic arithmetic problems encouraged to exercise problem solving,
from memory, their brain is more prepared critical thinking and logical reasoning?
to tackle more complex questions.
If your child has a low or average IQ score,
How can we ensure that our don’t be disheartened. It does not mean
children start off with the the scores will remain the same. It simply
right foundation? means there is potential for them to do
Find an approach that combines the ben- better.
efits of personalised training with the
discipline of self-learning and self-dis- IQ can be improved. All you need is to ex-
covery; an approach that is designed to ercise your brain. And early exposure to
introduce new concepts in incremental math can go a long way.
10
How To Improve Your
CHILD’S IQ 11
Contrary to popular thinking, developing a words. For older children, introduce con-
child’s IQ is not about getting them to do cept stories to expand their vocabulary and
tons of IQ questions or assessment books. encourage imagination. This helps them to
Neither is it about improving their memory. have better grasp of more abstract con-
cepts.
It is the everyday activities of what parents
do and you say that matters. Here are 5 2 Play with Blocks To Improve
things you can do to improve your child’s Spatial Intelligence
intelligence. Puzzles, blocks, memory games, crafts, toys
figurines – these are tools every child should
1 Read To Improve Verbal and grow up with. Give your children ample time
Linguistic Intelligence and space to play with these tools when
Linguistic intelligence is the ability to pro- they are in preschool. Block and construc-
cess information using words and language. tion play is particularly important and ben-
eficial as it gives your child multiple learning
Compared to processing images or speech, opportunities.
reading is more challenging as parts of our
brain are making connections. When we When building structures or engaging in
read, we are also required to construct and block play, children discover spatial aware-
imagine. Reading not only helps to improve ness and develop their spatial intelligence.
language, which is necessary for communi- Spatial intelligence is the ability to imagine
cation and to get on with tasks of everyday pictures in your mind. When deciding how
life, it also keeps our mind sharp. to stack blocks, under, above or perpendic-
ular – children are engaged in using their
Starting to read early may not only help in spatial intelligence.
the growth of your child’s literacy, but it
may also benefit a wider range of cognitive Studies have shown that developing spatial
abilities that are crucial later in their life. skills support later learning in science, tech-
nology, engineer and math. Young children
Early start in reading is important in pre- who are better at visualising spatial rela-
dicting a lifetime of literacy experience. In a tionships have also been found to develop
study done by Professors Cunningham and stronger arithmetic abilities in primary
Stanovich, they found that students who school.
had a quick start in reading were more likely
to read more over the years. The results also
revealed that reading volume had a signif-
icant contribution to vocabulary, general
knowledge, verbal fluency and spelling. In
a nutshell, reading does make you smarter!
If you have young children just starting to

speak and read, read with them daily to ex-
pand their vocabulary. When you read with
them, explicitly bring attention to certain
12
3 Do Math and Physical Exercise Besides early exposure to Math, research

To Improve Fluid Intelligence also suggests that physical activity can
To think abstractly, reason and identify pat- also improve fluid intelligence. It was found
terns, solve problems and discern relation- that certain hormones were released during
ships without using your prior knowledge physical activity, and these hormones are
– this is known as fluid intelligence. Gener- beneficial to the hippocampus, a region of
ally, we use our fluid intelligence when we the brain linked to learning and memory. So
encounter a new situation. take your children out to run, play and tum-
ble around!
Can fluid intelligence be taught? For young
children, you can start by using concrete
4 Believe in them
Whether your child is truly smart or smarter
examples to show the relationship between
than average, does not matter or make a dif-
objects.
ference if you do not express it. A study was
done where elementary school teachers told
If you are teaching your child the difference a group of randomly selected students they
between a square and a rectangle, show were smart. There was no special test done to
them real square and rectangular objects single out these children as ‘smart’, and noth-
around the house. Get them to see and ing was added or changed in the classroom.
touch the objects to feel the difference.
Yet by the end of the school year, the chil-
Instead of simply writing or showing the num- dren who were told they were ‘smart’ by the
ber ‘2’ to a child, show them real objects by teachers gained a higher average IQ score
using blocks or toys. To demonstrate the con- than the rest of their classmates. It is your
cept of ‘3 more than 4’, place 4 bears on the words and your belief in them that will im-
table in a line, then add 3 more bears slowly. pact them for life.
5 Praise Their Efforts To Develop they found that students who were praised
A Growth-Mindset for their intelligence shied away from a chal-
Praise is most effective when it is focused lenging assignment far more than the stu-
on the process and commitment, not the dents who were praised for their process.
end result. Your child’s learning process and
effort should be the main emphasis of your How can you communicate a praise that
praise. encourages a “growth-mind set”? Instead
of praising them for their results, “Wow,
Carol Dweck, a Professor at Stanford you scored full marks, you’re so smart!”
University, came up with two views of in- say this instead, “I saw that you really put
telligence learners might have. One view in the time and effort to do your home-
is the “fixed-mind set” that has the belief work. I like the way you tried a lot of dif-
that intelligence is a fixed trait. The oth- ferent methods on that math question
er view is the “growth-mind set”, where until you finally got it. I’m really proud
process is focused rather than talent or that you stuck through it and didn’t give
intelligence. up!” It pays to be specific in your praise
as well. Real learning is active. Real learning
In a study she conducted, it was found that is emotional.
praise focused on intelligence encouraged a
fixed mind-set compared to students who Children need a good dose of encourage-
were praised for their process. When she ment to spur their learning. As a parent,
and her researchers asked a group of fifth you have a huge influence over your child’s
graders questions from a nonverbal IQ test, learning.
14
4 Things To Do At Home To
ENHANCE YOUR
CHILD’S IQ 15
Can we enhance our child’s IQ through picture books out there to read to your
a stimulating environment at home? preschoolers. Here are recommended
Research shows it is possible to create books for children aged 4 – 6.
a highly conducive environment for
cognitive and emotional growth. COUNTING
 Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews. What
A child surrounded by books and can you do with ten black dots? This
educational toys will leave positive imprint counting book shows your child the
on their brain, which will follow through many unique ways that dots can make.
into their late teens.
 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam.
Improving your child’s intelligence This book takes readers on a counting
requires organising and streamlining your adventure as they demonstrate twelve
child’s thought process to suit and match witty and imaginative ways to get to
a stimulating setting. eleven.
How can you do so? Through math SHAPES

and unstructured play activities. Such
 My Very First Book of Shapes by Eric
experiences will help develop their fluid
Carle. This book allows children to iden-
intelligence, sharpen their creativity and
tify, find and match pairs together.
capacity to learn.
 The Shape of Me and Other Stuff: Dr. Se-
Here are more ideas on how you can
uss’s Surprising Word Book by Dr. Seuss.
create a stimulating home to boost your
This book encourages children to pon-
child’s IQ.
der on shapes they may never have con-
sidered before through the whimsical
1. Open their world to maths rhymes and pictures of Dr. Seuss.
through stories
Be expressive and use gestures while
telling the story, and encourage your
kids to gesture and do the actions.
Studies show children are more likely
to remember words, numbers and
events when they gesture with their
hands. Mimicking actions will also help
them learn techniques such as facial
recognition, anticipation, analysing and
evaluating.
A simple yet effective way to pique your

child’s interest in math is picture books.
Picture books are great tools to help
young children learn math concepts and
language. There are many great math
16
PATTERNS 4. Weave maths into your

 Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins. This conversations
book has great pictures and uses hu- Demonstrate concepts of numbers such
mour to complement a simple storyline as “You have three candies, I’ll give
of a fox and hen to show readers the you two more, now you’ll have five” or
concept of patterning. “Dinner will be ready in five minutes”.
Not only does this train their cognitive
 Teddy Bear Patterns by Barbara Bar- skills, it also builds your child’s problem-
bieri McGrath. This book uses rhyming solving and language skills.
verse and brightly coloured teddies to
teach sorting and patterning. According to psychologist John
Protzko, kids that get early exposure to
2. Create a construction or art educational resources will gain higher
corner at home level of IQ and give them a leg up on
Set aside an area where your child can their peers. The idea is to have early
build, stack, draw, paint, or sculpt. You exposure to maths and make learning
can part of their room into a craft and fun and memorable. Having a good
construction corner, well-stocked with maths program can engage children
paint, paper, blocks, clay, cardboard with dialogue, probing questions,
and other recycled materials. Let this props, games and a healthy dose of
be your child’s safe space to take apart encouragement.
and put together things and get all
messy!
Let them have time to play or create

freely, because play helps in a child’s
brain development. As they draw, paint,
mould and build, they are working on
their imagination, creativity, and spatial
skills. Spatial skills have been shown
to rely on neuronal networks partially
linked with mathematics.
3. Reinvent everyday objects

There is no one correct way to play. A
cardboard box can be a fort to your
3-year-old. A plastic water bottle can
be a rocket ship to your daughter.
Finding creative uses for everyday
objects allows children to be more
flexible, stimulating their brain growth.
It exercises their brain’s flexibility,
and teaches them to engage without
preconceptions.
Besides IQ:
IMPORTANT
QUALITIES EVERY
CHILD NEEDS
18
Studies have shown that IQ results them to a car show. When you teach
can be a strong predictor of a child’s them how to count or spell, weave
future life outcomes, such as academic their favourite cars or trucks in. A
achievement, income and health. University of Chicago study found that
the common trait among exceptionally
Besides IQ, research also reveals other high-achieving athletes and artists was
factors involved in determining a child’s having parents who recognised their
success later in life. Here are two big interest and provided support during
qualities that will complement a child’s IQ. their early years.
1. Love For Learning • Make it relevant to everyday life

Having a positive attitude towards learning Learning is not just teaching our children
plays a huge part in future success. to reach certain academic standards. It is
Children begin exploring their bodies and a process, a series of “Oh I see!” moments.
their capabilities at a very early age. They For example, if you want your child to
may not know that this is “learning” but it learn about maths, show them how math
is exactly what they are doing when they ties to real life. Help them understand
see, hear, taste and touch anything they that two $10 Lego figurines cost $20 (two
come in contact with. Here’s what you can sets of ten rather than just memorising
do to nurture their love for learning: the multiplication table (10 x 2).
• Foster their interest • Never shoot down their ideas

If your child loves cars and trucks, read Create a safe environment to allow children
stories to them on cars and trucks. Take to develop their ideas, express their
feelings, take risks, and make choices. As doing something, they feel embarrassed
parents, we wear many hats in this process. and tend to avoid these activities. Isn’t this
As an observer, we listen and watch. As a the same for adults too?
supporter, we accept and encourage. As a
facilitator, we assist and inspire. As a role The solution? Focus on effort and
model, we demonstrate and surprise. strategy. Praise children for their
effort. Remind them and point out their
2. Motivation progress of how they struggled initially
A study revealed effective studying and then succeed. You could say, “You
techniques and those who were self-driven used to have trouble with these kinds of
that had the most improved math skill. problems, but now you really get them!”
A simple sentence like this can empower
So how can parents help children build children to feel more capable.
internal motivation? According to
Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the Next, equip them with study strategies
University of Rochester, addressing to address skills gaps. For instance,
these needs can help to build children’s if they always get a certain math sum
intrinsic motivation. wrong, find out what is the cause of the
mistake instead of quickly prescribing
• Competence them to more math practice. It could be
Being able to master a skill is extremely a misunderstanding of a certain concept
motivating. When children are bad at that they might need to relearn.
20
If your child tends to make careless building your memory skills so you can learn
mistakes or jump in without reading the to remember more important things.”
instructions, show them how to circle or
underline key instructions. • Connection
A powerful source of motivation is
• Autonomy relationships. Children are motivated to do
When children feel that they are being things that bring them closer to parents or
restrained, their motivation is thrown out peers. When they are low in motivation, there
the window. We cannot offer children total could be underlying negative emotions. It
freedom, but we can minimise resistance could be feelings of being judged unfairly by
by offering choices. Don’t overwhelm them an adult, or having feelings being left out in
with too many alternatives. Keep your a social setting.
options to just two or three.
Having a role model can help children with
Sometimes, children don’t understand their motivation too. It can be parents, or a
the reason why they need to do certain beloved teacher. It could also be being part
things. Providing a rationale that makes of a team or a peer group that inspires them
sense and relates to their life might help. to try hard.
For instance, if your child laments the purpose It takes time and growth to muster intrinsic
behind learning “stuff” that he’s never going motivation, especially for mundane and
to use later in his life, you can reply, “It may tasks that are less fun. Always exercise
not seem relevant or important to you now, patience, reasonable expectations and
but it gives you a chance to practice skills shower children with encouragement. Who
that will be useful in your life in the future. For knows, your child might just surprise you
example, getting your work done on time, one day.

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S E R I O U S LY A D D I C T I V E M AT H E M AT I C S

SERIOUSLY ADDICTIVE MATHEMATICS

Why early math exposure is important

This series is sponsored by

The New Age Parents Team

Marketing Head And

Web Development Director

11 How To Improve Your

18 Besides IQ: Important

Seriously Addictive Mathematics

Math enrichment program in

S.A.M Singapore Math

Calibrated learning plan based on

Classroom engagement through

Small class size so each student

Worksheet reinforcement and

I see significant improvement in I went from being a girl who didn’t

Math is usually associated with science, as a surprise, but learning mathematics

So if your child is exposed to math at a

How to ensure that children have

• Give them exposure

they may begin to understand the con-

Infancy to Toddlerhood A study conducted by the University of

Intelligence quotient, or IQ for short, is measure can be improved. The researchers

How To Improve Your

If you have young children just starting to

3 Do Math and Physical Exercise Besides early exposure to Math, research

How can you do so? Through math SHAPES

A simple yet effective way to pique your

PATTERNS 4. Weave maths into your

Let them have time to play or create

3. Reinvent everyday objects

1. Love For Learning • Make it relevant to everyday life

• Foster their interest • Never shoot down their ideas

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