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If your child is between 4-9Indira Chatterjee | June 24, 2010

This is a delightful age to watch children and talk to them as they respond and react, and also retain a fair bit o

vocabulary to express their thoughts. It's a fun time for parent and child.

Give them a wide canvas: This is the time to be a typical "soccer mom" and expose your child to a plethora

activities. Don't force him, but give lots of choices from soccer and swimming to painting, music and dance

lessons. Says Dr Sen: 'Be observant and see where your child's interest lies. If your child wants to be a crickete

enroll him or her for a cricket coaching class.'

Academics, but your way: To develop his potential in academics, move away from school books but pick up

topics from the curriculum and develop puzzles and games with beads and matchsticks, perhaps, or even Math

concepts (if your child has an inclination for numbers) around them. Read aloud to your child from a variety of

reading material, from storybooks, non-fiction, even interesting bits from the newspaper - this will allow you to

gauge where his interests lie. Allow him to ask questions; don't rush in with explanations.

Widen horizons: Reading, poetry and theatre workshops may help you figure out whether your child has any

potential in that field. Ameetha Singh who runs 'Kid's Studio' in Navi Mumbai with her partner Anna Dhulekar,

says, 'Books expand a child's imagination.

Reading a book is like planting a seed in a child's mind; this seed will eventually grow and take root in the child

consciousness' Ameetha conducts her workshops in small groups and gives all children equal opportunities. S

says if children are given an environment that nurtures self-esteem and helps them find their own way, they

work wonders, are responsible and express themselves more freely.

Talk of inspiring relatives: This is the right age to talk to your child about relatives and incidents surroundin

them so that they get a sense of family and are inspired to seek out their own talents and strengths A great

aunt who loved to play cricket, or a grandfather who survived a ship wreck and floated for seven days before

being rescued - all this is bound to generate interest and motivate.

Boost their EQ: Current research says that IQ is a crude measure of intelligence; a student with a high IQ ma

do well academically in school and college; but it's not enough to ensure success later in life. On the other hand

people with a high emotional quotient (EQ) are better able to succeed and reach their potential in professional

and personal spheres, which is why it's important to give children a nurturing environment in their early years.

Observe and guide: This is a time when a child's individuality comes to the fore. Observe how children are

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wired; some children are able to learn well through a visual medium, while some learn through class lectures a

yet others learn by doing projects, such as science experiments and so on. Identify such traits in the pre-teen

years to help you develop your child's skills. It's also important to know the motivators in a child, at times it ma

be a teacher, a peer group or a group activity which will fire up the imagination of a child. Guide him in that

particular direction. Watch out for new talents and emerging interests. It could well be that he's bored of art

class and shows interest in karate instead. Let him shift gear.

Give him a gentle nudge: This is the time when you need to nudge him to stick to an activity of his choice fo

a fixed time-frame, agreed upon beforehand. For instance, if he shows an interest in playing the guitar, arrang

for him to get the best coaching you can and explain to him that you are happy to encourage him and pay the

money for the classes, but that he must give himself a fair chance. If at the end of that time, he finds he has n

interest in the activity, let him have his way. If he excels in it but still doesn't want to continue, try persuading

him to give it some more time; also, find out what he can do with his talent and discuss it with him. If after all

this, he still doesn't want to continue, let it be. (Yes, Serena and Venus Williams may have been pushed to exce

however, sometimes the price one makes one's children pay for success that they may not have chosen, is too

high.)

Introduce academic discipline: Continue to nurture studies at home by adding visual learning tools from

Times Life, Encyclopaedia Britannica or subscribe to online resources such as MSN Encarta. Enroll them for

Abacus and Brain Gym classes; they will be useful for improving their concentration and focus. At this stage,

build in some discipline and work out a few non-negotiable rules with your child: For example, he has to sit at h

desk and study for an hour/two hours every weekday.

Use the TV as a "good" tool: This is an often underestimated tool to help your child. Let him view it as much

as a fun, "knowledge-gaining" device as it is an "entertainment box". Of course, timings have to be regulated. S

with him and watch some programmes together, commenting on things that you see. You may discover he has

an avid interest in wildlife, and can guide him to explore his interest to make it a hobby and even shape out a

career in it. Video games too, are interactive and encourage analytical thinking. So buying a PSP or an XBox is

good idea. Choose the games judiciously, though.

The school needs to contribute: Schools need to provide a creative platform for children: Projects for buildi

clay, wood or paper models, or as a group activity are excellent. So are art-appreciation workshops, a

performance by a musician, story writing with cues, interactive theatre workshops and science experiments.

Activities should be interesting enough to draw in children; then, the teacher must enforce enough discipline to

keep them at it sincerely, for at least a year. This gives them enough time to see whether the child's potential l

in that particular field. A child may find a social work project interesting enough to pursue it make a career of itin NGOs or other such organisations.