Optin Bonus Genius

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How to train your child to think like a genius
By Megan Wong
www.gamesforfunkids.com
Train Your Child to Think Like a Genius. CLICK HERE NOW! www.gamesforfunkids.com
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How to train your child to think like a genius
Table of contents Page
Introduction
 What is child development? 3
Motor Development 4-10

 Gross Motor Development
 Fine Motor Development
 Perpetual Motor Development
 The Importance of Motor Development
 Activities to help develop Motor skills
 Learning Theory – Howard Gardner Multi Intelligences
Cognitive Development 11-25

 Stages of cognitive development
 Theory of Cognitive Development – Jean Piaget
 10 essential skills to help develop cognitive development
Social Development 26
 Stages of social development
Emotional Growth 28
 Erik Erikson on stages of emotional growth
Creative Growth 29
 The different process to develop creative thinking
DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES 31
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Introduction- What is child development?
Early childhood education is an exciting, fun and rewarding field. Early childhood is the period of life
from infancy through age eight and there have been many programs and philosophies educating on how
best to bring out the natural talents and gifts in children during this stage.
This e-book is written to equip teachers, parents and child care providers on the different aspects of
child development and has fun, enjoyable activities and tips to help children explore, develop and tap
into their individual gifts, talents, creativity and develop their thinking and learning skills.
One important factor which teachers, parents and child care providers must always remember is to
inject FUN whenever possible in their teaching as fun learning is effective learning.
Child development refers to how a child becomes able to do more complex things as they get older.
When we talk about normal development, we are talking about developing skills like:
1. Motor skills
 Gross motor skills where children use their large muscles to sit, stand, walk, run, etc., keeping
balance, and changing positions.
 Fine motor skills is the child's ability to use small muscles, specifically their hands and fingers,
to pick up small objects, hold a spoon, turn pages in a book, or use a crayon to draw, to eat, to
write.
2. Cognitive development
This is the children's ability and growth of skills to learn, solve problems, understand and
interact with the world around them through the interaction of genetic and learned factors.
Among the areas of cognitive development are information processing, intelligence, reasoning,
language development, and memory.
3. Social development
This is the stage where the children learn what behavior is acceptable and expected in an
environment, the ability to interact with others, including helping themselves and self-control,
having relationships with family, friends and teachers.
4. Emotional growth
This is the child's ability to deal with, manage, express and control their emotional states,
including anger, sadness, excitement, anxiety and joy.
5. Creative growth
Creativity is the mental ability to think creatively and using one's own imagination to create
new ideas, to be original, reform old ideas, develops a new business idea, composes a piece of
music, paints a new painting or designs something new and innovative.
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Motor Development
What is motor development?
Growth and movement are two of the most notable features of young children and basic motor skills
develop in the early childhood years and lays the foundation for movement and motor proficiency and
if they are not developed during their early years, these motor skills will often remain unlearned.
Motor development is a sequential stages of change in motor behavior based on the interaction of the
following -
 maturation
 prior experiences
 new motor activities
The following chart shows the sequential order of motor development during the early years. The ages
shown are averages and it is normal for these to vary by a month or two in either direction.
2 months – able to lift head up on his own
3 months – can roll over
4 months – can sit propped up without falling over
6 months – is able to sit up without support
7 months – begins to stand while holding on to things for support
9 months – can begin to walk, still using support
10 months – is able to momentarily stand on her own without support
11 months – can stand alone with more confidence
12 months – begin walking alone without support
14 months – can walk backward without support
17 months – can walk up steps with little or no support
18 – 24 months – able to manipulate objects with feet while walking, such as kicking a ball
3 years – can walk up/downstairs independently, running
3 – 5 years – jumping on two feet and hopping on one foot
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4 years – walk up/downstairs with continuous movement
5 years and up – running much faster
5 – 6 years – skipping
5 – 8 years – roller-skating/bicycling
Motor development follows a directional pattern as large muscles develop before the smaller muscles
which explains why most preschoolers are more apt at running than using scissors for cutting.
Parents can better foster children's motor development when they understand their temperament and
know what skills are suitable for their age. Temperament plays an important role in motivating and
stimulating interest in children to learn and practice motor skills. Some children are "motor driven" and
want to try everything while others are "motor cautious" and need time to watch others before trying
things themselves.
Gross Motor Development
Gross motor skills involve use of large muscle movements. Children use large muscle groups to crawl,
creep, roll, skip and run. Parents can pick activities which involve balancing, agility, coordination,
flexibility, strength, speed and endurance to enhance their current skills and foster the development of
emerging skills.
Fine Motor Development

This involves the small muscle movements of children hands and fingers in coordination with their
eyes and activities require dexterity, precision and manipulative skills. Playing with toys, sewing,
writing are activities that uses small muscles while learning to reach, grasp, hold, push and spin refine
these fine motor skills.
Perpetual Motor Development

Perception means the ability to know or to interpret information from the environment and motor
involves responding to it with movement. Perceptual motor development means a child's ability to
receive, interpret and respond successfully to sensory information.
The basic categories of perpetual motor development are :
 Gross motor activities (locomotor)
Moving the body from one place to another – rolling, crawling, walking, skipping, jumping &
landing, hopping, running, leaping, galloping and dodging
 Vestibular activities
Spinning, balancing, dancing, skipping, jumping
 Visual motor activities (Manipulative)
Involves more eye-hand and foot-eye coordination like catching, throwing, kicking. Temporal
awareness helps the children to predict time like dancing to a rhythmic beat.
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 Auditory motor activities

Auditory awareness includes the ability to understand and carry out verbal instructions and to
differentiate among a variety of sounds and helps children process information about language.
Singing, rhymes and chants are such activities.
 Lateralization activities
The child is able to perform bilateral (simultaneous or parallel), unilateral (one side of the body)
movements and cross lateral (simultaneous movement of different limbs on opposite sides of
the body like crawling) movements.
 Spatial awareness
This is a sense of the child's body relationship to space and knowing what their body parts can
do. Spatial awareness gives children the skills in drawing, doing puzzles, mazes. Children who
has a well-developed spatial intelligence are the artists as they think in pictures and images
which makes them imaginative and creative.
Why is motor development important?
There has been research conducted that demonstrates that improved perceptual motor development
can positively affect a child’s academic performance.
It can also enhances the children's ability to -
 find solutions to a problem
 respond appropriately at their own age and development level
 learning how to work with others
 learn to share
 learning to express themselves
 be creative
 has self-confidence
 develop strong muscles
 refine motor skills
 practice divergent thinking – having fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration are
important thinking tools for success in reading and language arts.
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Activities to develop motor skills
Gross Motor Development

 Throw or kicking a ball into a box.
 The game of hopscotch is a good gross motor skill activity.
 Swimming activities like jumping up and down in shallow water pools.
 Using a slide is a fun and good gross motor skills as they learn to climb up and down the ladder
and they have fun sliding down. It teaches the child to put one foot in front of the other when
they climb.
 Learning to skip is an essential gross motor skill preschoolers need to learn. This is an activity
that needs to be learned by rote and practiced on a flat, smooth surface. Most children learn to
skip by age five.
This is an activity extracted from “English Power is Fun” Series. CLICK HERE to find out how “Mind
Power is Fun” Series can help your child think like a genius!
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Fine Motor Development

 Shape sorter is a good game to develop fine motor skills
 Building a tower of blocks – start with two blocks progressing to six blocks
 Putting puzzles together – big non-interlocking puzzles are recommended
 Dot-to-dot drawings of pictures, objects, shapes, numbers, letters
 Match shapes, color, or pictures to a page and paste them within the outlines
 Tracing and coloring
 Create a card to practice writing or tracing skills, cutting and pasting
This is an activity extracted from “Brain Power is Fun” Series. CLICK HERE to find out how “Mind
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Learning Theory
Howard Gardner of Harvard has identified seven distinct multi intelligences. According to this theory,
we are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial
representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an
understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves. Where individuals differ is in
the strength of these intelligences - the so-called profile of intelligences -and in the ways in which such
intelligences are invoked and combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and
progress in various domains."
The below model is a simple grid illustrating the seven Multiple Intelligences.
Intelligence type Capability and perception

Linguistic Words, spoken or written
Logical-Mathematical Logic, reasoning, numbers
Musical Music, hearing, sound, rhythm
Bodily-Kinesthetic Bodily movement and physiology
Spatial-Visual Images, vision and spatial judgment
Interpersonal Interaction with others
Intra personal Self-awareness, self-motivated
Howard Gardner in his further research suggested additional intelligences.

Intelligence type Capability and perception
Naturalist Nature and the environment
Spiritual/Existential Religion, life, death, and ultimate realities)
Moral Ethics, humanity, value of life
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Suggested activities to develop bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

1. Play the game of Simple Simon Says (can help to develop the linguistic intelligence)
2. Children use their bodies to form alphabets (can help to develop the linguistic intelligence)
3. Children dancing to a rhythmic music (can help to develop the musical intelligence)
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Cognitive Development
What is cognitive development?
This is the infant's and children's ability and growth of skills to learn, solve problems, understand and
interact with the world around them through the interaction of genetic and learned factors. Among the
areas of cognitive development are information processing, intelligence, reasoning, language
development, and memory.
The below grid depicts the stages of cognitive development in children.
Cognitive development
Age Activity
One month Watches person when spoken to.
Two months Smiles at familiar person talking. Begins to follow moving person with eyes.
Four months Shows interest in bottle, breast, familiar toy, or new surroundings.
Five months Smiles at own image in mirror. Looks for fallen objects.
Six months May stick out tongue in imitation. Laughs at peekaboo game. Vocalizes at mirror
image. May act shy around strangers.
Seven months Responds to own name. Tries to establish contact with a person by cough or
other noise.
Eight months Reaches for toys out of reach. Responds to "no."
Nine months Shows likes and dislikes. May try to prevent face-washing or other activity that
is disliked. Shows excitement and interest in foods or toys that are well-liked.
Ten months Starts to understand some words. Waves bye-bye. Holds out arm or leg for
dressing.
Eleven months Repeats performance that is laughed at. Likes repetitive play. Shows interest in
books.
Twelve months May understand some "where is...?" questions. May kiss on request.
Fifteen months Asks for objects by pointing. Starting to feed self. Negativism begins.
Eighteen months Points to familiar objects when asked "where is...?" Mimics familiar adult
activities. Know some body parts. Obeys two or three simple orders.
Two years Names a few familiar objects. Draws with crayons. Obeys found simple orders.
Participates in parallel play.
Two-and-a-half Names several common objects. Begins to take interest in sex organs. Gives full
years names. Helps to put things away. Peak of negativism.
Three years Constantly asks questions. May count to 10. Begins to draw specific objects.
Dresses and undresses doll. Participates in cooperative play. Talks about things
that have happened.
Four years May make up silly words and stories. Beginning to draw pictures that represent
familiar things. Pretends to read and write. May recognize a few common words,
such as own name.
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Cognitive development
Age Activity
Five years Can recognize and reproduce many shapes, letters, and numbers. Tells long
stories. Begins to understand the difference between real events and make-
believe ones. Asks meaning of words.
SOURCE: Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, 5 th ed.
and Child Development Institute, http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com.
Parents can enhance their child's intellectual development through environmental factors. They can
provide stimulating learning materials and experiences from an early age, read to and talk with their
children, and help children explore the world around them. As children mature, parents can both
challenge and support the child's talents. Although a supportive environment in early childhood
provides a clear advantage for children, it is possible to make up for early losses in cognitive
development if a supportive environment is provided at some later period, in contrast to early
disruptions in physical development, which are often irreversible.
Theory of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget was one of the most influential and exciting researchers in the area of child developmental
and psychology during the 20th century. There are two major aspects to his theory - the process of
coming to know and the stages children move through as they gradually acquire this ability.
He developed a new method for studying thought processes, rather than relying on standardized tests,
he adapted a method of question and response called “le methode clinique” which is basically a
technique where the adult asks questions, then adapts their teaching style and further inquiries based on
the children's natural ways of thinking.
Piaget identified four stages in cognitive development :
1. Sensorimotor stage (Zero to two years) This has 6 stages and intelligence is demonstrated
through motor activity without the use of symbols. Infants gain knowledge of the world from
the physical actions they perform on it. Knowledge is limited here but developing as it is based
on understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences such as seeing and hearing
with physical and motor skills. Some symbolic (language) abilities are developed at the end of
this stage.
2. Pre-operational stage (Two to six or seven years) During this stage, the child learns to use and
to represent objects by images, words, and drawings. Intelligence is demonstrated through the
use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed. The child is
able to form stable concepts as well as mental reasoning and believes in magic and fantasy.
Thinking is still egocentric, illogical and non-reversible and the the child has difficulty taking
the viewpoint of others.
3. Concrete operational stage (Seven to twelve years) During this stage is characterized by the
appropriate use of logic and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects.
Important processes during this stage are :
 Seriation - the ability to sort objects in a logical series according to size, shape, or any other
characteristic.
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 Transitivity - the ability to recognize logical relationships among things in a serial order, and
perform 'transitive inferences' (for example, If Mary is shorter than Jane, and Jane is shorter
than Ann, then Mary must be shorter than Ann).
 Classification – the ability to name and identify sets of objects according to appearance, size or
other characteristic, including the idea that one set of objects can include another.
 Decentering – the ability to find a solution to a problem.
 Reversibility – the ability to understand that numbers or objects can be changed, then returned
to their original state such as 2 + 4=6 and 6 - 4=2
 Conservation – the ability to understand quantity, length or number of items is unrelated to the
arrangement or appearance of the object or items.
 Egocentric thought diminishes.
4. Formal operational stage (12 years to adulthood) is the final of the periods of cognitive
development in Piaget's theory. In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated where individuals
move beyond concrete experiences and begin to think abstractly, reason logically, handle
proportions, algebraic, manipulation and draw conclusions from the information available, as
well as apply all these processes to hypothetical situations.
Many pre-school and primary programs are modeled on Piaget's theory. Discovery learning and
supporting the developing interests of the child are two primary instructional techniques. It is
recommended that parents and teachers challenge the child's abilities, but NOT present material or
information that is too far beyond the child's level. It is also recommended that parents use a wide
variety of concrete experiences to help the child learn.
It has been widely known that play is essential for all children’s healthy development and learning
across all ages, domains, and cultures because when children play, it provides the following:
 Enables children to make sense of their world
 Develops social and cultural understandings
 Allows children to express their thoughts and feelings
 Fosters flexible and divergent thinking
 Provides opportunities to meet and solve real problems
 Develops language and literacy skills and concepts
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Suggested activities to develop cognitive development in children.
1. Jean Piaget's theory is two-fold -

 first- learning is a process of discovery, of finding out and guiding what the child needs to know
to solve a particular problem and
 second - knowledge results from active thought, from making mental connections among
objects and from constructing a meaningful reality for understanding.
Parents can encourage their children's thinking when they ask questions and parents must remember to
teach effectively, you must ask more often than to tell the answer. Using why, what, where, how, when,
what if to start a question is a fun and effective tool to use to harness children's (whatever their age)
natural curiosity to develop their thinking and cognitive skills. When parents teach and guide their
children on how to take charge of their own thinking when they discover new subjects, parents are
actually empowering them to understand with clarity and the “inside out” of the concepts and ideas.
Phrases which parents can use to help their children learn and think -
 What would happen if...?
 How can you find out?
 Can you think of another way to find the solution?
 What is happening?
 How would you feel if.........?
 What do you think the problem is about?
 What else can you use?
 What comes next?
 Tell me how you found the solution?
These phrases help the children :
 To think through subjects for themselves

 To establish links or relationships between what they already know and new topics
 Have the confidence to explore topics in their own creative way, using their own ideas.
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2. Classification is the ability to group like objects based on their characteristic – shape, color,
size,etc. Playing with your children on classification games increases their logical thinking
skills and reinforces maths vocabulary.
 Have four to five pairs of toy animals and scatter them on the table. Ask the child to sort or
classify the toy animals which are the same. Ask them why they think they are the same. What
makes each pair of toys different from the other pair.
 Have the child cut out pictures from magazines or newspapers and let them think through the
classification process and decide what categories they want to use. They can sort into transport,
people, nature or animal groups.
This is an activity extracted from “Math Power is Fun” Series. CLICK HERE to find out how
“Mind Power is Fun” Series can help your child think like a genius!
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3. Seriation is the ability to sort objects in a logical series according to size, shape, or any other
characteristic.
 Most Montessori materials are of this concept where children build pyramid towers in the order
from largest piece to smallest as it is being built. Parents can also use graduated measuring cups
and spoons and following a sequence – from big to the smallest size. Parents can also use
ribbons, ropes and ask the child to place from shortest to longest then reverse from longest to
shortest.
 Parents can gather about 4 to 5 animal toys of different size and ask child to place toy from
biggest to smallest size.
4. Numbers
Parents can help their children understand the concept of number by letting them have direct
experience with materials and objects.
 Parents can play this game with their children. Hold four apples, give three apples to your child.
Mary, you have three apples and I give you one more. How many do you have now?
Children under five need songs, rhymes and finger plays that include numbers – One little, two
little, three little Indians.
Once children can understand numbers, they are ready to use mathematical terms and other
forms of expression and mathematical knowledge is now being seen as an emergent
understanding of concepts.
This is an activity extracted from “English Power is Fun” Series. CLICK HERE to find out how
“Mind Power is Fun” Series can help your child think like a genius!
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5. Symbols
A symbol represents something else and to symbolize means learning to use one object to
represent something else.
 Parents can describe the sun by asking questions. “It is round, yellow, stays in the sky, very
bright and very hot. What is it?”
6. Spatial relationships
Fitting things together, take things apart ,rearrange things and navigation are activities which
develops spatial skills in children. Children with well developed spatial skills are very creative,
dramatic, artistic and musical.
 Parents can encourage their child to play with puzzles, constructing Lego, complete mazes, play
chess and play dough to create anything.
7. Time
Understanding time can be a Herculean task for children.
 Parents can play speed games with their children. Ask the children to run as fast as they can and
walk as slow as they can. Ask them how they felt? Explain to them what objects are fast like a
rocket- that is super-fast or a turtle – that is super-slow.
 Parents can help their children understand the concept of time by going through with them their
daily routine. At 7 in the morning, you wake up and by 9 in the morning you are in the school.
We always go to the park to play on Sunday because we are all at home.
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This is an activity extracted from “Brain Power is Fun” Series. CLICK HERE to find out how “Mind
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8. Decentering is the ability to find a solution to a problem. This can be best illustrated by this
example. You give your child a puzzle which seems very alien to them. To solve the puzzle, the
child has to understand it and to do that, they would explore parts of the puzzle, switch their
thinking in response to their discoveries, utilize all their previous knowledge and rotating their
thoughts until they understood the puzzle better. Then they proceed to solve the puzzle. The
ability to do all of this and at a great speed is what makes great thinkers.
 Parents can play the game of riddles “What is it?”. Riddles engage children in a great deal of
thinking activity and it is fun.
9. Reversibility is the ability to understand that numbers or objects can be changed, then returned
to their original state such as 2 + 4=6 and 6 – 4=2.
 Parents can use toys to play this game. Place 3 animal toys in a group and 2 animal toys in
another group. Ask child what happens if these two groups are put together. Once the child
understands this concept, parents can reverse this game by having 5 animal toys in a group, 3
animal toys in another group. Ask child how many more animal toys do you need to make up 5?
This is an activity extracted from “Math Power is Fun” Series. CLICK HERE to find out how “Mind
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10. Language development
Language is the ability to express oneself. Language is both :-

 receptive – listening, understanding, responding and
 expressive – articulation, vocabulary, grammar and graphic language.
Receptive Language
Receptive language is a child's ability to understand spoken, written or visual communication or
when they learn to listen and understand the language that is presented to them.
It is what they hear and with this skill children are able to understand directions, answer
questions and to follow a sequence of events. They develop some mental pictures as they listen.
Parents can develop receptive language by -
 Giving clear and brief directions. “Please sit near the table.” instead of “Please sit over there.”
 Encourage the child to ask questions and answer appropriately. Rephrasing the child's last
sentence into a question “You drank what?
 Give instructions in a sequence. “Brush your teeth, then rinse with this cup of water. Then wipe
your face”. Parents can also ask their children what they think they should do next.
 Encourage your children to think out loud. “What do you think will happen to the snowman
after winter?”
 Parents are encouraged to use poetry and nursery rhymes as they are fun and enrich a child's
vocabulary through their short, simple texts. Rhymes stay with us as they are passed from one
generation to another. Nursery rhymes have a musical quality incorporating language rhythm,
patterns and rhymes in every verse which fascinates children to develop their language.
 Listen and pay attention when your child is talking with you and not to rush them.
Expressive Language
Expressive language is the ability of the child to communicate with others through language and
the child can express language through speech, sign language, pointing to words and pictures on
a book, gestures.
Expressive language in the early years includes -
 words – children's first words are often “ma-ma or pa-pa.”
 grammar – parents can help their children by communicating with them in simple sentences as
they are listening to learn
 elaboration – as the child's language develop, their language expand through description,
narration, explanation and communication.
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The chart below shows a child's typical language development but parents must remember that every
child is unique and vary quite considerably with regards to the rate at which they reach the various
speech and language “milestones”. Parents should not feel alarmed if their children is not behaving at
the ages stated. This chart only serves as a yardstick to monitor your child's progress and if parents feel
that their child seems to be behind in language development, it is advisable to discuss it with your
child's physician.
This page contains an article about speech and language development.

Cite it as: Bowen, C. (1998). Ages and Stages: Developmental milestones for receptive and expressive
language development. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/devel2.htm on (date).
Receptive Language
Learning to Listen, and to Understand Language
Birth
Language learning starts at birth. Even new babies are aware of the sounds in the environment. They
listen to the speech of those close to them, and startle or cry if there is an unexpected noise. Loud
noises wake them, and they become "still" in response to new sounds.
0-3 months
Astoundingly, between 0-3 months babies learn to turn to you when you speak, and smile when they
hear your voice. In fact, they seem to recognise your familiar voice, and will quieten at the sound of it
if they are crying. Tiny babies under three months will also stop their activity and attend closely to the
sound of an unfamiliar voice. They will often respond to comforting tones whether the voice is familiar
or not.
4-6 months
Then, some time between 4 to 6 months babies respond to the word "no". They are also responsive to
changes in your tone of voice, and to sounds other than speech. For example, they can be fascinated by
toys that make sounds, enjoy music and rhythm, and look in an interested or apprehensive way for the
source of all sorts of new sounds such as the toaster, birdsong, the clip-clop of horses' hooves or the
whirr of machines.
7-12 months
The 7 to 12 months period is exciting and fun as the baby now obviously listens when spoken to, turns
and looks at your face when called by name, and discovers the fun of games like: "round and round the
garden", "peep-oh", "I see" and "pat-a-cake" (These simple games and finger plays will have regional
names and variants). It is in this period that you realise that he or she recognises the names of familiar
objects ("Daddy", "car", "eyes", "phone", "key") and begins to respond to requests ("Give it to
Granny") and questions ("More juice?").
1-2 years
Now your child points to pictures in a book when you name them, and can point to a few body parts
when asked. He or she can also follow simple commands ("Push the bus!") and understand simple
questions ("Where's the bunny?"). Your toddler now likes listening to simple stories and enjoys it when
you sing songs or say rhymes. This is a stage in which they will want the same story, rhyme or game
repeated many times.
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2-3 years
By now your toddler will understand two stage commands ("Get your socks and put them in the
basket") and understand contrasting concepts or meanings like hot / cold, stop / go, in / on and nice /
yucky. He or she notices sounds like the telephone or doorbell ringing and may point or become
excited, get you to answer, or attempt to answer themselves.
3-4 years
Your three or four year old understands simple "Who?", "What?" and "Where?" questions, and can hear
you when you call from another room. This is an age where hearing difficulties may become evident. If
you are in doubt about your child's hearing, see a clinical audiologist.
4-5 years
Children in this age range enjoy stories and can answer simple questions about them. He or she hears
and understands nearly everything that is said to them at home or at pre-school or day care. Your child's
ability to hear properly all the time should not be in doubt. If you are in doubt about your child's
hearing, see a clinical audiologist. If you are in doubt about language comprehension, see a speech-
language pathologist.
Expressive Language
Learning to Speak, and to Use Language
Birth
Newborn babies make sounds that let others know that they are experiencing pleasure or pain.
0-3 Months
Your baby smiles at you when you come into view. He or she repeats the same sound a lot and "coos
and goos" when content. Cries "differentiate". That means, the baby uses a different cry for different
situations. For example, one cry says "I'm hungry" and another says "I have a pain".
4-6 months
Gurgling sounds or "vocal play" occur while you are playing with your baby or when they are
occupying themselves happily. Babbling really gets going in this age range, and your baby will
sometimes sound as though he or she is "talking". This "speech-like" babbling includes many sounds
including the bilabial (two lip) sounds "p", "b" and "m". The baby can tell you, using sounds or
gestures that they want something, or want you to do something. They can make very "urgent" noises
to prompt you into action.
7-12 months
The sound of your baby's babbling changes. This is because it now includes more consonants, as well
as long and short vowels. He or she uses speech or other sounds (i.e., other than crying) in order to get
your attention and hold on to it. And your baby's first words (probably not spoken very clearly) have
appeared! ("MaMa", "Doggie", "Night Night", "Bye Bye")
1-2 years
Now your baby is accumulating more words as each month passes. he or she will even ask 2-word
questions like "Where ball?" "What's that?" "More chippies?" "What that?", and combine two words in
other ways to make the sentence types ("Birdie go", "No doggie", "More push"). Words are becoming
clearer as more initial consonants are used in words.
24
2-3 years
Your two or three year old's vocabulary is exploding! He or she seems to have a word for almost
everything. Utterances are usually one, two or three words long and family members can usually
understand them. Your toddler may ask for, or draw your attention to something by naming it
("Elephant") or one of its attributes ("Big!") or by commenting ("Wow!").
3-4 years
Sentences are becoming longer as your child can combine four or more words. They talk about things
that have happened away from home, and are interested in talking about pre-school, friends, outings
and interesting experiences. Speech is usually fluent and clear and "other people" can understand what
your child is saying most of the time. If stuttering occurs, see a speech-language pathologist. Stuttering
is not a normal part of learning to talk, and neither is persistent hoarseness.
4-5 years
Your child speaks clearly and fluently in an easy-to-listen-to voice. He or she can construct long and
detailed sentences ("We went to the zoo but we had to come home early because Josie wasn't feeling
well"). He or she can tell a long and involved story sticking to the topic, and using "adult-like"
grammar. Most sounds are pronounced correctly, though he or she may be lisping as a four year old, or,
at five, still have difficulty with "r", "v" and "th". Your child can communicate easily with familiar
adults and with other children. They may tell fantastic "tall stories" and engage strangers in
conversation when you are out together.
Suggested activities to develop language in children
Play is how children learn. It is the natural way for them to explore, to become creative, to learn to
make up and tell stories and to develop social skills. Play also helps children learn to solve problems—
for example, if her wagon tips over, a child must figure out how to get it upright again. When they
stack up blocks, children learn about colors, numbers, geometry, shapes and balance. Playing with
others helps children build their interpersonal skills.
1. Parents can use books with large prints and colorful pictures for poems, fingerplays and songs
and read or sing to your child every day.
2. Create your own menu with your child – what is for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Decorate your
menu with pictures or better still ask the child to draw them.
3. Play “ I spy with my eagle eye, something beginning with “a”. This is a great and fun game as it
develops observation, awareness and language.
4. Encourage your child to imitate your actions like clapping you hands, stomp your feet, and
playing finger games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and the itsy-bitsy-spider.
5. Parents can while shopping for groceries, tell your child that you are making spaghetti for lunch
and ask them what they think you need to buy, how many you need. Discuss the size (large or
small), shape (long, round, square), and weight (heavy or light) of the packages.
6. When parents are cooking in the kitchen, ask the child to help out by finding the kitchen
utensils (make sure they are safe to handle) and what they are used for.
25
26
Social development
This is the stage where the children learn what behavior is acceptable and expected in an environment.
Some children do not learn social skills easily and some of them may require repeated instruction and
reinforcement of learning. It is also possible for children to have well-developed social skills in one
area but not in another. For example, they may be able to work co-operatively on a group project, but
lack the self-confidence to approach a group of children in the playground.
In the early years, children are taught -

 How to participate – learn how to get involved in a group, approach another child
 How to interact – learning to share and cooperate, taking turns or waiting for your turn, follow
rules, communicate their needs and ideas
 How to deal with difference – learning to include others, helping, offers help or suggestions,
give praises when someone has done well
 How to manage conflict – learn how to manage aggression, disagreements and problem solving
Ages and stages of social development
The following grid shows social skills development appropriate to various ages and parents must bear
in mind that all children are unique and might not behave as stated in this grid and social skills develop
over time.
Age Social behaviors
 Social awareness is very limited. They like to play alone but are closely
observing and copying adults and other children. Direct interaction is
2
minimal, apart from squabbles over toys!
 They start to have some interaction - playing alongside with other

children.
 Beginning to learn how to share materials, equipment, other children,
3 friends, teachers and ideas.
 How to take and wait for their turns.
 Beginning to learn to handle physical aggression.
 Children start to learn to co-operate as they play in groups.

 'Special' friendships begin to form, having a group identity (Ms Mary's
group)
 Learning how to play fairly and abide by rules.
4-5
 Learns how to take part as a team and not as an individual.
 Begins to learn to be assertive and to ask others to stop if they are being
disturbed.
27
 Learning how to solve conflicts in ways other than retreat or force.

 Learns how to be helpful to other children with tasks and information or by
modeling behavior..
 Interactive skills and how to sustain a relationship
 Learns to communicate in verbal and nonverbal ways, when to talk and
listen
6-8
 Conversation skills developing: how to listen to others and take turns
talking etc.
 Negotiation skills: including others in decision-making, learning to decide
together and make suggestions rather than boss others around.
 Learns ways to manage socially awkward and difficult situations.
28
Emotional growth
Emotional growth is the child's ability to deal with, manage, express and control their emotional states,
including anger, sadness, excitement, anxiety and joy.
Erik Erikson was a Danish-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his
theory on social development of human beings and he explains the stages of emotional growth in
children.
Infancy stage ( 0 – 1 year)

The infant depends on their parents for basic essential needs like food and comfort. Parents are
encouraged to show warmth, love, care and affection to enforce the feeling of trust reliability and
dependability to their child.
Toddler stage (2 – 3 years)

During this stage they start to explore their surroundings. The parents' patience and encouragement
helps foster autonomy in the child and a sense of being able to manage problems of their own.
Restrictive parents are more likely to instill the child with a sense of doubt and reluctance to attempt
new challenges and if they do not empower the child to perform tasks within their capability, the
children may not develop the self-confidence about their ability to handle problems.
Pre-school ( 4- 6 years)
During this stage, the child learns to do tasks on their own and develop their leadership and
independence skills. Activities sought out by a child in this stage may include risk-taking behaviors,
such as crossing a street on his or her own or riding a bike without a helmet; both examples involving
self-limits.
If the child develops a sense of frustration or hopelessness when not able to achieve their goals, they
may exhibit negative behaviors like aggressiveness, rudeness such as yelling, throwing objects or
fighting with other children. Parents are encouraged to support their children's efforts, guiding them to
make realistic and appropriate choices but if parents discourage the pursuit of independent activities or
dismiss them as silly and bothersome, children may develop guilt about their needs and desires.
29
Creative growth
Creativity is the mental ability to think creatively and using one's own imagination to create new ideas,
to be original, reform old ideas, develops a new business idea, composes a piece of music, paints a new
painting or designs something new and innovative.
Children are bubbling with creativity and parents can help their children develop this natural gift by
exposing and given opportunities to explore through appropriate activities and games.
This process of creative thinking opens up the children's mind to the possibility of creating something
new and original -
1. Critical thinking
Improves thinking skills of children by training them how to think and not what to think (refer to
chapter on suggested activities to develop cognitive development). Encourage your children to play
chess as it is a brilliant game for developing thinking skills.
2. Flexibility and fluency skills
Parents are encouraged to develop these two skills in their children. Flexibility is the ability to switch
from one idea to another and fluency skill is the ability to create many ideas. “ How many uses can you
find for a brick?” is one method parents can use to train their children.
3. Imagination.
Imagination and creativity are the steps that progress your children to become better thinkers.
Children who are imaginative and creative are efficient solvers of problems, are budding
innovators and creative thinkers.
Activities parents can play with their child to develop their imagination -
 hand puppets and pretend toys that help your children to tell stories, make-believe, role-play.
 read story books, nursery rhymes, poetry to your children.
 develop their musical intelligence by learning to play some musical instruments
 teach your child how to cook or prepare simple meals – preparing sandwich for lunch.
 ask your child to design a better school bag. Ask them to think of 3 things they like and dislike
about their school bag and design a new kind of bag they or their friends would like to use and
carry. Parents can guide them by asking questions like what color, shape and special features
their design would have. Probe them to remember what complaints and comments their friends
had when they were carrying their school bags.
30
4. Willingness to take risks and explore new ways of thinking

Parents can empower their children to be open to thinking differently or seeing things
differently is an essential tool to imagination and creativity.
Parents can use this activity and ask the child how many squares can they see? There are 5 squares
altogether. Progress to more complex patterns. Encouraging your child to think about problems in
different ways is fun and they get to see different relationships and connections when they are allowed
to shift and rotate their thinking.
31
DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES
The information presented herein represents the views of the author as of the date of publication. The
author reserves the rights to alter and update her opinions based on the changing and new conditions.
This report is for informational purposes only and the authors do not accept any responsibilities for any
liabilities resulting from the use of this information. While every attempt has been made to verify the
information provided here, the authors and their affiliates cannot assume any responsibility for errors,
inaccuracies or omissions. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every
situation. It is the complete responsibility of the reader to ensure they are adhering to all local, regional
and national laws.

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How to train your child to think like a genius

How to train your child to think like a genius

Table of contents Page

Motor Development 4-10

Cognitive Development 11-25

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES 31

Introduction- What is child development?

3 months – can roll over

4 months – can sit propped up without falling over

6 months – is able to sit up without support

7 months – begins to stand while holding on to things for support

9 months – can begin to walk, still using support

10 months – is able to momentarily stand on her own without support

11 months – can stand alone with more confidence

12 months – begin walking alone without support

14 months – can walk backward without support

17 months – can walk up steps with little or no support

3 years – can walk up/downstairs independently, running

3 – 5 years – jumping on two feet and hopping on one foot

4 years – walk up/downstairs with continuous movement

5 years and up – running much faster

Gross Motor Development

Fine Motor Development

Perpetual Motor Development

 Auditory motor activities

Why is motor development important?

Activities to develop motor skills

Gross Motor Development

Fine Motor Development

Intelligence type Capability and perception

Howard Gardner in his further research suggested additional intelligences.

Suggested activities to develop bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget identified four stages in cognitive development :

Suggested activities to develop cognitive development in children.

1. Jean Piaget's theory is two-fold -

These phrases help the children :

 To think through subjects for themselves

10. Language development

Language is the ability to express oneself. Language is both :-

This page contains an article about speech and language development.

Suggested activities to develop language in children

In the early years, children are taught -

Ages and stages of social development

Age Social behaviors

 They start to have some interaction - playing alongside with other

 Children start to learn to co-operate as they play in groups.

 Learning how to solve conflicts in ways other than retreat or force.

Infancy stage ( 0 – 1 year)

Toddler stage (2 – 3 years)

4. Willingness to take risks and explore new ways of thinking

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES

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