Discerning Parenting

082 - Three More Surprisingly Simple Ways to Boost Your Child's Brain Development (Plus a Bonus Tip)

• Victoria Ang-Nolasco, MD • Episode 82

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If you're eager to find easy and effective methods to support your child's brain development, you've come to the right place. Today, we're continuing our enlightening discussion with three more simple yet powerful tips that you can implement immediately.

These strategies are designed to seamlessly fit into your daily routine, making a significant impact on your child's cognitive growth. Plus, be sure to stay tuned until the end for a special bonus tip that will further boost your child's brain power.

Let's dive in and explore these invaluable insights together!

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 Ready for more easy and effective ways to boost your child's brain development? Today, we're continuing our discussion with three more surprisingly simple tips that you can start using right away. And stick around till the end for a bonus tip that will enhance your child's cognitive growth even further.

 Welcome to Discerning Parenting, the podcast for parents of kids age 12 and under who have learned the hard way that a one size fits all approach to parenting won't shift the needle for you, your child, or your family. Together, We'll explore intentional strategies that see both you and your kids thrive. 

Parenting strategies based on well conducted research in the areas of child development, brain science, and neurodiversity need practical for you.  What if you let go of perfect and embrace discerning parenting in your family instead?  If you feel like you've been stumbling your way through. And you're ready to leave behind fight or flight mode parenting.

Then this is the podcast for you.  I'm Dr. Victoria Angolasco, developmental and behavioral pediatrician and positive parenting coach, on a mission to help you release your parenting guilt,  so you can become laser focused on what will truly work for you.  

In our last episode, we explored three simple ways to boost your child's brain development. If you haven't listened to that episode yet, I highly recommend you check it out. Today, we're adding three more surprisingly simple yet powerful tips to your toolkit,  plus a bonus tip at the end.

So let's dive in.  Tip number one, talk along with everyday activities.  Talk about what you're doing. Share with your child what you're thinking.  If there are times we don't have the answer or we're not sure what to do, we can share our thought processes with our kids. Now, the way we do this can be different at different ages.

For young kids, we will talk along even with the simple activities and that can help. And of course, as our kids grow older, we may need to do this less and less. And this is a great way to model decision-making skills. These talk alongs and think alouds are a busy parent's best tools for helping kids build brain connections. 

Now, we said that kids learn all the time, even if it's not during a structured learning activity. Also, kids learn best through meaningful experiences.  When we do talk alongs and think alouds, this is exactly what we're doing. We help them learn through meaningful everyday experiences.  And as I said, when we're younger, we can even go as simple as, Oh, I am tying your shoes.

Look at these shoelaces.  See how I'm looping them together.  I'm wiping the table. Let's wipe the table together. And, of course, if you have a 7-year-old, we're not going to do this anymore, but it still helps to share our thought processes with them, like if we're deciding whether or not to buy something, that can model our decision-making skills. 

And you can also encourage your child to think aloud. Research shows that this improves reading comprehension and it can help them express themselves better.  And when we do this, we surround our kids with rich language experiences that can significantly boost their brain development.  So let's talk to our kids.

Let's narrate what happens. Tell them about our days.  This helps them build their vocabulary, relates it to the real world, and helps them understand the world around them. For more on this, check out my book, Toddler Talking, Boost Your Child's Language and Brain Development in 3 Easy Steps. It's filled with practical advice to support your child's development.

And if you already have a Kindle Unlimited account, this book is included. We'll link to this book in the show notes. or head over to discerningparenting. com slash books.  Tip number two, encourage curiosity and allow downtime. Curiosity is the engine of cognitive growth. So let's encourage your kids to ask questions, explore their environment, and engage in new experiences safely. 

Not only does this stimulate their brain, but it also fosters a lifelong love of learning.  So for example, when our kids ask why, or they ask those difficult questions, we can take them as opportunities to explore and learn together. We don't have to have all of the answers. for joining us. But we let them know that it's all right to ask questions, it's all right to be curious. 

And what better way to build curiosity than to allow downtime?  Kids need this downtime too. It's okay for them to get bored. It's okay for them to have times that they don't have planned activities because it's during this time that their curiosity, creativity, and imaginations can soar. There's an  observational study of over 400 kids that showed that the more that parents dictated what kids do, the less they were able to control their emotions and behavior.

Now, of course, there are many caveats in interpreting a research like this. Like, is it because they have a harder time controlling? That's why parents feel they need to dictate, or vice versa. Or maybe the two factors influence each other. But, what does this tell us?  This suggests that we don't need to dictate our kids activities all the time.

Now, I know this can feel impossible right now, so be sure to watch out for our next episode of the Discerning Parenting podcast  where we talk about some ideas we can try so we don't need to keep entertaining and dictating our kids activities all the time.  And now, for the bonus tip, limit screen time. 

Now.  I realize I'm opening an entirely new topic with this tip. There are so many emotions that come up when we talk about screen time,  and I know that  many times we're tired of hearing limit screen time.  So I encourage you to go back to some of our previous episodes about this in the Discerning Parenting podcast, which we'll link to in the show notes, but this is not just simply empty advice. 

And I know that limiting screen time can be different.  depending on where you are, what your situation is. So I say this with  kindness and with empathy and with love.  Because while technology can be a useful tool at the right age and when used in a discerning way,  Too much screen time can hinder brain development.

 We can set boundaries, encourage other activities like reading, playing, exploring the outdoors, and in the next episode, we'll also talk about more ideas for independent playing.   Now, which strategy resonates most with you?  Maybe it's something you're already doing or one that you're excited to try. I'd love to know what happens.

Email me at hello at discerningparenting. com. And don't forget to subscribe to the Discerning Parenting podcast. For next episode, we'll talk about independent play.  📍 And with every episode, we aim to provide you with valuable insights and actionable  tips to make your parenting journey better.  a little easier.

Thank you for joining me today. Keep nurturing, keep discovering, and keep discerning. Until next time, happy parenting.