Can you really make your child smarter?

With my child going to playschool, I have come across so many instances where parents would actually ask teachers whether there were ways in which they could make their child smarter. Unfortunately, it almost seemed like a farce considering that the intent was not to understand their child's potential or of improving his/her abilities, but about competing with other kids. Nonetheless, here's my take on what I think is possible.

Most of us believe that there are certain inborn abilities within every child. These could be anything from mathematic calculations, exemplary understand of colors and forms, etc. So what can we do to nurture these abilities? Remember, there aren't any quick, simple ways to turn your child into a genius, but your actions as parents do have a big influence on your child's intellectual capacity.

This influence primarily comes in through direct actions and the examples you set. This is because, kids respond well to parental interest in their activities and such interest gives your child confidence to continue exploring. But you must provide your child with a measure of freedom — it's best to be an active, but not interfering guide, as they build most of their smartness when allowed to discover things on their own.

For example, by a certain age, children believe at a subconscious level that many of their parents attributes are their own; for instance, a girl whose mother is afraid of storms is likely to assume that she, too, is afraid of storms. Children whose parents show an interest in words and books are likely to believe they have a similar interest, and a genuine interest often grows out of this belief. Although these effects can be powerful, children tend to honor what their parents do rather than what they say. If you pay lip service to being curious and asking lots of questions but don't do it yourself, there likely will be little effect on your children.

So if you're truly interested in improving your child's intellect, play with him/her in ways where you can stimulate his thinking and senses.