Improving your child’s IQ

Some research suggests that poor people have an IQ (Intelligence Quotient) significantly lower than those of rich people, and conventional wisdom has attributed this, in large part, to a function of genetics. The view that a person’s intelligence is inherited has been widely held for many years. A depressing conclusion is that neither schooling nor programs to reduce poverty could achieve much success to raise IQ’s.

However, Richard Nisbett, in his new book, Intelligence and How to Get It, has demolished that theory and demonstrated that IQ is not inherited and that it is possible to raise the IQ of children, individually and collectively. Nisbett, who is a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, believes that intelligence is something that is expandable. For example, if children are told, and believe that intelligence is under their control and that they can get better grades if they work hard, then they will tend to perform better and they can raise their IQ.

When we first moved to Saipan, we were told by some well-intentioned people to not put our children in public schools because they would be a grade behind when we decided to move back to the United States. In the past 12 years, our seven children have attended public school, private school, and we even home schooled some for a few years. Even though the curriculum at some of the schools lack some courses we would have liked our children to take, we don’t feel their education was lacking. Our oldest daughter graduated with three associate degrees from NMC and earned a bachelor’s degree in Hawaii by the time she was 20 years old.

We have come up with our own conclusions about education and what can be done to improve a child’s academic performance. When we examined the schools and what they offered, we did not feel it was the school administrators or teachers that were to blame for any perceived lack of educational quality. We also felt that, overall, private schools did not have an edge over public schools. One can find outstanding teachers and administrators at both public and private schools.

The factor that we feel made the biggest difference is the motivation level of students to want to learn and that is a result of their home environment and parental involvement. Those students that tend to excel typically grow up in a home where education is a high priority. If that theory holds any water, it means that parents who earned a degree or continued to learn after high school will tend to encourage and support their children’s educational success. Likewise, those parents who do not consider education a priority tend to not encourage, and give less support to their child’s success in the classroom. Eric Turkheimer of the University of Virginia believes that a bad environment even suppresses a child’s IQ.

The reason children at private schools tend to do better is not because the children are more intelligent; it’s because the parents are more involved with their children’s education, and have made a financial investment to see their children succeed academically. Some parents cannot afford to put their child in a private school, but place a high priority on education. In practically every case, we would bet that their children would outperform children who grow up in a home that places a lower value on education. The exception would be those rare children who thirst for knowledge, despite being raised in an academically challenged home environment.

Here are a few suggestions that you, as a parent, can do to support your child and raise their IQ. Ask your child’s teacher what you can do to help the child at home and in the classroom. Ask to see your children’s school work and ensure that they do their homework. Become actively involved in the PTA program at your child’s school.

Praise their effort more than their achievement. If they are having difficulty in a subject and they make an effort to do better but fail, they may give up. However, if they try their best and don’t do as well as you hoped, but you are there to praise them for their attempt, then they will feel compelled to continue their effort.

Teach delayed gratification. In other words, it sometimes takes a sustained effort before the results are apparent. As your child develops better study habits over time, his or her academic performance will improve. We live in a world of instant gratification, but sometimes the best things in life take time to realize.

Help your child to explore their interests and take up new hobbies—especially during the summer months. Children’s IQ’s tend to drop or stagnate over the summer months if they are not actively engaged in some type of learning. Television, Internet, and video games can become an obsession with children and rob them of their time to pursue other interests. Children are naturally curious and want to explore and learn new things. Support them in their interests and allow them to express themselves and develop their talents. Imagine what would happen if education was really a priority at the government, community, and home level.