Why you should encourage questioning skills in kids for better cognitive development? #FeedIQ

Encourage questioning skills in kids. The ‘whys’, ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ will eventually help in their cognitive development. In other words, if you want smarter kids, let them ask questions. #FeedIQ

Do you have a pre-schooler or a ‘threenager’ who keeps asking you “what is that” for everything? Does your toddler baffle you with all the ‘whys’, ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ everyday? Don’t get too worked up on it, these questions can have a deeper effect in the long run – you could be raising a smarter kid, actually. Encourage questioning skills in kids – the more they ask, the more they think, the better is the cognitive development. Yes, as a mom you have to be a friend who can and ‘is willing’ to answer his questions.  You are in fact, helping in building a good IQ in your kid. Question and answers are one of the best ways to #FeedIQ.

What is Cognitive Development?

Every time you come across this term ‘cognitive development’ you must be wondering – what is it and why is it a big milestone for a child. Cognitive Development in kids is in fact, the construction of thought process. It includes factors like inquisitiveness, perception, remembering, decision making, and problem solving. In other words – it is one of the most important development that you want to see in your child which will help him throughout the life.

Should you wait for a certain age for stimulating cognitive development?

It might sound strange, but even newborns can be stimulated for cognitive development. Many newborns can distinguish the mothers voice from all other sounds around him. The more you interact, play, sing with the baby they develop better perception.

But you can interact with your baby better when they start picking up a language and talk to you. Kids are inquisitive in nature, they want to find out what’s there around him, what’s happening in the house and can even throw random questions like ‘why is the sun yellow’, or ‘why do you need to sleep’. As long as these questions are coming it’s all good.

Why you should encourage questioning skills in kids?

My son, who’s going to be three later this month is in that phase of asking questions all the time. We have this thing in the house where we encourage to ask questions – any questions, any amount of time – ask to your hearts will. Why do I do this? I had a lot of questions as a kid. While my dad was patient with them, my mom often asked to stop talking so much! That’s something that didn’t go down too well with me and at one point of time I thought the friends at school were better to ask questions. But no, it’s better you get all your answers from the person you consider your guide – which were my parents, in my case.

I have noticed, my son has started reasoning and comparing at this tender age. He’s able to say, ‘I can’t sit on the floor because its dirty’, when he has spilled some water. He even tests me by asking ‘what does a duck do’ (asking about the sounds) and if I happen to say it wrong, to test him, he corrects me with “no a duck does not do cluck cluck, a duck does quack quack”.

Asking questions and getting those answers form the crux of complex mind processes like critical thinking, reasoning, logic building. It even helps communication skills and social skills. So keep the questions coming.

Role of a mom in promoting your child’s cognitive development? #FeedIQ

A mother is often the most important caregiver, teacher and facilitator in a kid’s life. A kid trusts his mother blindly – what you will say will form the foundation of his thought process. Moms play an important role in enhancing a baby’s cognitive development. The more a mother interacts with her baby, since infancy, the more rapid is their development. But don’t jump into helping your kid in his critical thinking or decision making at the first go. As a mother it’s important that you encourage in letting the child think and reason on his own without your help.

How to encourage questioning skills in kids?

#1 Play Time:

There’s no better way to learn than play and learn. When you make the learning process fun through toys, puzzles, colors, and play time, it becomes fun and kids tend to learn better. Let them name their toys.

#2 Read Books:

I have been reading fairy tales and other books to my son since he was an infant. Picture books and stories enhances their curiosity. When you ask questions about the story or what they see on the page can often lead to interesting answers. Books will allow your child to think, and thereby to question.

#3 Allow them to make mistakes:

‘Every mistake you make is progress’. Allow the trial and errors instead of telling that ‘you have to do it.’  I allow my kid to make mistakes and then learn from it. He fell down from a stair once and got hurt because he was rushing. I explained that he needs to be careful while climbing stairs. Post that incident – he always remembers to climb one step at a time and hold the railing.

#4 Talk and Sing:

Songs are great for teaching how to remember. You can sing songs, rhymes, or even make up some tune.

#5 Ask Questions:

Kids learn by examples. What they see, they do. Ask questions to him in his way. Show him fruits and ask their names, ask him colors, cartoon characters, vehicle names or whatever the child gets to see around. When you ask questions they get encouraged to ask you questions too.

#6 Don’t reject their questions:

Children can ask repetitive questions or even silly ones. Don’t get worked up on that. It might sound silly to you, but it’s the beginning of their learning journey. The more they ask questions the better they continue to expand their knowledge. If you ask him to stop it might lead to lower confidence and reclusiveness.

So don’t get tired, encourage questioning skills in kids for better cognitive development. After all, you as a mum only want the best for your kid.