News Herald – Juliann Talkington
Researchers now say the foundation for success is built between birth and the time a child reaches puberty.
Babies’ minds are like open slates – filled with trillions of connections that are either used and then further refined or unused and discarded. Experts, like Dr. Lise Elliot with the Chicago School of Medicine, believe unused connections are eliminated at puberty.
As a result, it is critical that young children use as much of their brains as possible.
In other words, they need to develop both their IQ (intelligence quotient) and their EQ (emotional quotient). IQ is a person’s cognitive ability. EQ is self-motivation, an awareness of one’s emotions and the ability to control them, understanding the emotions of others and relationship skills.
In 1995, Daniel Goleman, a Harvard educated psychologist and author, wrote that EQ was far more important than IQ. However, in the mid 1990s, the world was a very different place than it is today. The Internet was in its infancy and it was still cumbersome to access and exchange data and information.
Fast forward to 2015. Now there is so much information available, it is impossible to process all of it. And it is not uncommon for people living in Asia, Europe and the US to work together, remotely.
As a result, IQ has become much more important. It now almost as easy for a company to hire someone in India as it is for them to employ someone living a few blocks away. Therefore, for success, it is imperative that youngsters not only learn how to interact with other children and adults, but that they also have a good understanding of math, science, the arts, language and culture.
So how can you enhance both your child’s EQ and IQ in the short 11 or so years from birth to puberty?
It takes a combination of home and school efforts. A good school can help with IQ and many EQ issues, providing exposure to advanced academic topics and opportunities for children to interact with others.
However, for a child to fully develop his/her IQ and EQ, there must be reinforcement at home. Parents must establish expectations and boundaries and teach their child how to be self-motivated. They need to reinforce the behavioral norms necessary for success in the classroom and in life. And finally, parents need to find ways to expose their child to new and different things.