ONE – Meditation

Skin conditions, of all things, along with depression, diabetes, insomnia, asthma, high blood pressure, pain, anxiety disorders, and immune system weakness can all be ameliorated by meditation. Just exactly what is meditation? It can best be described as turning your mind into itself for deep contemplation and deep relaxation.

Researchers have discovered some surprising matters regarding the brains of meditators by hooking them up to brain-imaging machines. They saw that, during meditation, the subjects’ brain cells all fire at the same time, while in non-meditators the brain cells fired in a random and unsynchronized manner. Generally, when talking with meditators and non-meditators, the researchers found that meditators spoke of themselves as being at ease and creative more often than the non-meditators.

Meditators also show a commotion of brain activity in the left prefrontal cortex. That area of the brain has been associated with positive emotions. Folks who have the most activity in that brain area also had high levels of immune system efficacy.

Some other surprising physical differences were discovered, too. Meditators had thicker cerebral cortexes in brain areas associated with sensation and attention span. And it wasn’t because of more brain cell growth, but rather that the brain cells had more connections with each other, that there were a larger number of support cells, and that the blood vessels were larger. Because of the increased attention abilities and focus acuity, meditators were adept at cognitive tasks. They required less mental exertion with these cognitive tasks as well.

TWO – Music

Did you know that playing classical and soothing music can increase the milk yield of dairy cows? Among humans it can help with a number of afflictions: Anxiety. Insomnia. High blood pressure. It also can soothe patients suffering with dementia and help premature babies gain weight so they can leave the hospital sooner.

Music has many components: Volume. Pitch. Timbre. Melody. Rhythm. The auditory cortex analyzes these musical components. However, there’s more to music’s interaction with the brain than just the raw sound. Music can also activate your brain’s reward centers and depress activity in the amygdala, that area of the brain associated with fear or a number of other negative reactions or emotions.

Certain areas of the brain are bolstered by by musical training. The motor cortex, cerebellum and corpus callosum (it connects the brain’s two sides) are all bigger in musicians than in non-musicians. In string players, the sensory areas of the brain that help us feel vibrations through our fingers are larger than those who don’t play that type of instrument. It’s arguable that musical training makes one smarter, but children that receive that sort of training do have better spatial reasoning. And music lessons during childhood increase the sensitivity of the brain stem to the sounds of human speech. Even for kids who don’t have a “musical talent”, such training aids the fine-tuning of this part of the brain used to detect the subtleties of sound.

THREE – Video Games

Mental dexterity, along with superior hand-eye coordination, depth perception and pattern recognition, are traits enjoyed by most gamers. Gamers also have superior attention spans and information processing abilities. In one study, non-gamers agreed to spend a week playing video games and their visual-perception skills improved markedly. In another study, a researcher found that white-collar professionals who played video games are more confident and more social, giving lie to the perception that gamers are greasy, antisocial loners.

Some negatives must be mentioned. Gamers’ brains are less responsive to images of graphic violence, suggesting that these gamers have become somewhat desensitized to those images. And other research revealed that gamers had patterns of brain activity consistent with aggression while playing.

Video games activate the brain’s reward circuits, recent research has found. But this was true more so in men than in women. Hooked to MRI machines, men and women played a video game. Both women and men performed well, but the men showed more activity in the brain area that is associated with

reward processing. What is more, the men showed greater connectivity between the structures that make up the reward circuit, and the better this connection was in a particular player, the better that player performed. No real connections of this nature occurred in women. Of course, men are more apt to confess to being addicted to video games than are women.

Meditation, music, and video games may seem an unlikely group that boosts brain power and brain sustainability; they are all beneficial. Of course, we don’t want to give too much credibility to gamers, so we’ll tell them that moderation is good in all things. In other words, “Get off that game and get busy with your homework!” And, we all know that music soothes the savage beast. Meditate on that.

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One of the best ways to freshen up the odor of paint is to mask its odor with a more powerful scent. There are few chemicals that can completely mask the odor of fresh paint:

1.      Vanilla extract.Vanilla is a very pleasant odor, and does not discolor most paint types. A few drops of vanilla extract can go a long way. Make sure you don’t pour the whole bottle in, because vanilla extract is rather expensive.

2.      Peppermint oilis a cheaper essential oil that you can use in place of vanilla extract. Peppermint oil has a very pleasant minty odor; because the oil is clear, it will not add a dull shade to a painted surface.

3.      Charcoal is a tried-and-true odor removal technique that can be used to deodorize any powerful chemical odor. It’s an excellent room deodorizer because of its large surface area, and its odor-adsorbent qualities. You can use activated carbon, but ordinary cooking charcoal is usually enough to remove the solvent odors from a freshly-painted room. Here’s how you can use charcoal to remove the paint smell from a room

a)      Lightly crush whole pieces of wood charcoal into small pieces. It’s OK to pulverize the charcoal into fine powder, but the particles may float around and stick to the wet paint.

b)      Place the charcoal pieces inside a bucket together with some pieces of wet paper towels or rags.

c)      Place the bucket in the middle of the room and leave it there overnight. The charcoal will then absorb the odors and fumes from the solvent, leaving you with a fresh-smelling room the next day.

4.      One time-tested way to get rid of solvent fumes from a freshly-painted room is to light a candle or a match to burn out the fumes. A trick used by many veteran house painters is to light a candle in the middle of the room and let it stay there for about three hours. The open flame will burn out the flammable substances in the solvent, like benzene and other hydrocarbons. Candles and matches still pose a potential fire hazard, especially if you’ve just painted an enclosed space. To minimize the risk of fire, place the candle on top of a bowl or a saucer of water to catch the hot wax, and prevent fire from spreading. It may also help to make a small dome out of wire netting to catch candle soot, especially if you’ve painted your ceiling.

5.      If you don’t want to risk a fire hazard by lighting a candle to burn off the fumes, you can simply place a few buckets of water in the middle and around the room to absorb the solvent vapors. While not as effective as a candle, it is a safer option especially if you’re painting a room finished or made with wood. The odors will be removed overnight, although you’ll still have a faint smell of solvent that will linger and will go away in time.

6.      If you’re using traditional latex paints, you may want to tone down on the amount of paint thinner you use. Three-quarters of a small bottle of paint thinner for every three gallons of paint is usually enough to act as a solvent for the paint. The more paint thinner you use, you’ll end up with runny paint with a very strong odor. Go easy on the paint thinner; don’t add more paint thinner than you actually need. Like any ingredient added to a mixture, it’s easier to add more paint thinner than to remove the excess. A nifty trick you can use is to add thinner a splash at a time, and then mix the paint to check its consistency. The paint should be thin enough to spread evenly on the surface, but should be thick enough not for the paint to run.

7.      The many hydrocarbons found in paint and paint thinner can cause diseases and illnesses when inhaled. Prolonged exposure to paint vapors can lead to lung disease, weakened tissues in the lungs and windpipe, and breathing problems. The vapors can also cause you to faint or be hospitalized if you’re particularly sensitive to them. Always wear a breathing mask, or wear a handkerchief or scarf to cover your nose and mouth, to prevent yourself from inhaling paint vapors. A freshly-painted fence or wall may look good, but the smell of paint is hardly appealing. With these hints and tricks to remove paint odors, do-it-yourself house painting does not have to be a toxic and noxious affair. If you liked reading this article, you might as well read how to get rid of paint scratches and how to remove paint from carpet.

Photo by USACE Europe District

Music has a sublime power over human emotions and is a great benefit to our mental and physical selves. Music seems to be as important to human life, culture, and communication as is language and gesture. Some studies have shown that the motor regions of the brain, responsible for physical coordination and “fight or flight” action, become highly active in response to music. Hence, through the brain, we have the rhythm and the swaying of the body that leads to dance.

“Self-medication” may not be a term you would associate with music, but nearly every one of us has used music to enhance or alter our mood at various times. Children seem to be born with the ability to interpret music. Parents use this innate characteristic to soothe their children with lullabies or nursery rhymes. Medical professionals have known for some time that music can be a powerful tool to relax patients about to undergo procedures such as surgery or childbirth. The analgesic effects (like aspirin or other pain relievers) of music has been seen to continue for sometime after the procedure has ended and the music has stopped, thus lessening soreness. Music has been used to soften or control the behavior of folks with varying degrees of dementia.

Witnessing the actions of those exercising, or on the dance floor, or feeling the effects of worship services, certainly shows us that music can pump us up. Music is very often used to enhance or give reason to any number of social activities, so it is very likely that it brings us together and enhances our feelings of community and cooperation; which is probably very important to our survival, maybe even our superiority, as a species. Perhaps singing “Happy Birthday” is a lot more than just good wishes for the celebrated person. Elevator or shopping mall music does have a profound affect, admit it or not, on our behavioral reactions regarding institutional or commercial venues.

While we must recognize that there are sources of music outside of the human experience, the production and use of music as a tool is uniquely human. Indeed, the hum of insects on a sunny afternoon, bird songs, maybe even the bangings of monkeys on tree-stumps, could arguably be called music, but there is a form of communication, beyond the threshold of the animal accidents of communication, that humans have taken to be their own special art form of rhythm and tone.

The machinations of the human brain are so important to a human’s actual and sensual health. The brain is capable of many things, it is the control center of these machines, our bodies, that carry it around. Meditation, psychosomatic techniques, acupuncture and other therapies depend on the persuasion of the brain to feel good and healthy – music is one of its more powerful tools.

Photo by MITO SettembreMusica

Copper acts as a catalyst in  the formation of hemoglobin, which is the oxygen carrying component of our body. Therefore lack of it will result to insufficient oxygen and nutrient supply to our brain, since oxygen is also needed in the synthesis of essential nutrients. The health benefits of copper include proper growth, utilization of iron, enzymatic reactions, connective tissues, hair, eyes, ageing and energy production. Apart from these, heart rhythm, thyroid glands, arthritis, wound healing, red blood cell formation and increasing beneficial cholesterol are other health benefits of copper.

The health benefits of copper are crucial for our healthy existence, as this mineral enables normal metabolic process in association with amino acids and vitamins. Copper cannot be produced within our body and hence we needs it to source our from external food origins. It is the third most prevalent mineral in the body and it is mostly carried by our blood plasma protein, ceruloplasmin. In order to enjoy health benefits of copper, we must  include it in our diet. Do you know that copper is widely known as a brain stimulant? It is also otherwise called “Brain food”. However, copper content in the diet has to be in right proportions. Too much of copper is also not healthy for the brain. The presence of copper in our body plays in the proper functioning of our brain, hence the need for balance.

If you are pregnant and nursing an infant through breast feeding, your body increases the the need for copper. We may not know it, but copper is essential for the fetus inside the womb as well as infants for normal growth and development. Nature did not forget that because it has devised a way for the fetus to get copper from the mother via the placenta and for infants, via breast milk.

Since the best source of copper and other essential micronutrients during the first year of life is human milk, our newborn baby can get the much needed copper from fortified baby formula. However, cow’s milk contains very low amounts of bioavailable copper and should be supplemented with copper during the first year of life.

As adults, we can obtain copper from various food sources such as liver, meat, seafood, beans, whole grains soy flour, wheat bran, almonds, avocados, barley, garlic, nuts, oats, blackstrap molasses ,beets and lentils. It can also reaches our body by drinking water from copper pipes and by using copper ware when cooking. One of the richest source of copper is the oyster. But when food materials are stored in tin cans, copper content of foods gets lost because of the high acid content of tin cans.

It is very rare to discover both a deficiency and an excess of copper. Deficiency in copper is not severe enough to cause detectable diseases or injury but may impair good health in subtle ways. The World Health Organization is more concerned with this. Lowered resistance to infection, reproductive problems, general fatigue or weakness, and most especially, impaired brain function are all related to copper deficiency.

It is good to take note of all the healthy benefits of copper to our body and brain. And it all starts in a healthy diet during pregnancy. As infants are born, we are getting used to the idea of using baby formula as replacement for breast milk. With this preference, we are denying the optimum normal growth and development of our children. The optimum growth of the brain can only be achieved if we use all opportunities for our children to get what they need from what Mother Nature has naturally provided.

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In an experimental eye research, MSG showed no significant effects to the laboratory animals. But after three to six months of continued usage, there was observable damage. Therefore, we can think that if we consistently include MSG in our line of flavor enhancers, there is the possibility of us experiencing the above mentioned adverse reactions and face the future with the likely incidence of having any of the degenerative disorders of the  brain, such as Alzheimer’s. Difficulty in learning, obesity and other endocrine problems appear with continued use. Very young children easily gets affected because their blood brain barrier is not fully developed. While in the elderly, the blood brain barriers are less functional to keep excessive amounts of MSG from getting to the brain.

It was in 1980 that MSG was proved to cause brain lesions in laboratory specimens. These brain lesions further develop into stroke, epilepsy, degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. We really cannot easily avoid this flavor enhancer, since it is present in almost everything found in the grocery store. A restaurant may claim not to use MSG on food but the choice of raw materials for cooking plays a role.  How?

Similar to the processed food we purchase, these restaurants also utilize processed foods. Where? The broth cubes or bouillon cubes we use. The salad we enjoyed which we thought was a healthy one as well as the barbecue sauce has MSG in it. Canned, dried or frozen food, flavored potato and tortilla chips, all of these are MSG-laden. We are not aware but MSG is hidden in product labels, especially those that are processed. We cannot help but be concerned.

Most number of people who experienced bodily reactions to MSG manifest migraine. A throbbing headache that we usually experience after enjoying a tasteful meal. This was also termed Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS) which includes nausea with that migraine you complained. It was associated with Chinese Restaurants since most of the tasteful and flavor-rich foods are cooked in Chinese Restaurants. If you have felt this, it is attributed to consuming large amounts of MSG.

Though most testing for MSG effects was conducted on animals, we should not make ourselves behave like guinea pigs not to believe the harmful effects it can do to our brain and go on consuming such foods. If research efforts produced conclusive evidence the harmful effects it does to animal subjects, it is almost always sure that it will have the same harmful effects to humans. All testings even for developments on medications, exhaust all possible effects to the animal subject before launching it to public consumption.

“Large doses of MSG fed to animals damaged nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls appetite, body temperature and other key functions. The additive was also found to damage reproductive organs. It has caused female animals to conceive less frequently and to give birth to smaller litters. Some evidence also links MSG with learning disabilities in laboratory animals,” said Dr. Susan Baker of the Boston Children’s Hospital, the world’s largest pediatric research center.

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In this essence, aromatherapy seeks to capitalize on this nose-limbic system connection to enhance mental and physical well-being. Typically, its practitioners use essential oils which volatile organic oils derived from plants to bring these changes about. A few people are skeptical about the use of aromatherapy. Let us put it this way, many literatures are widespread on the effects of inhaling pollutants and chemicals in the environment. A number of research results showed the effects of these pollutants both to the lungs and the brain when they are inhaled. Then I don’t see why the effects of plant oils being purposely inhaled brings doubt, considering the fact that these plants are also the sources of medicines chemically processed, manufactured and marketed today.

The brain naturally experiences chemical changes as a reaction to various scents. Majority of the changes aromatherapy aims at is deep relaxation, invigoration or elation. Each response can have significant influence on a person’s health. There are a few of us who finds it difficult to relax because we are living in an urban community. Even our sleep which is supposedly used to revive our tired mind and body is occassionaly bothered by the bark of the neighbor’s dog at a passersby, the vehicle who passed by our community, boisterous youngsters in the streets. A deep relaxing sleep is a commodity for an optimum function the next day. The advent of aromatherapy helps us relax easier. It conditions our mind by inhaling scents that relaxes like lavender. It useful for reducing stress. If we want stress, we could just sit in the middle of the road and inhale the fumes of vehicles. Therefore, inversely, we can reduce stress with the proper scents. Some of the plants used today in aromatherapy are: vanilla which lifts our mood, ginger that promotes alertness and stimulate cognition and citrus scents that amazingly makes us feel energized. Some companies uses lemon essential oils in offices to negate the effects of the post-lunch dip on alertness

Elements used in aromatherapy may include essential oils taken from plant extracts, absolutes oils taken from flowers or other fragrant plant tissues, volatile organic compounds that can rid the body of some microbes, hydrosols that are created when a plant is distilled and infusions created by steeping plant material in water.

In many cases, aromatherapy may include using carrier oils. The oils help to dilute essential oils while providing a convenient vehicle for applying the fragrance. The fragrances may be sprayed into the air, placed in a diffuser, or burned in candle wax. Some approaches require the individual to inhale the scent directly, especially for decongestion.

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But what about anger? Is it healthy to suppress it or let it flow? If you suppress it, will it manifest in other unguarded situations? If you let it flow, will it be effective enough not to hurt yourself or hurt anyone or worst, lose your job?

What happens to our body when we get angry? An investigation lead by scientists from the University of Valencia analyzed changes in the brain’s cardiovascular, hormonal and asymmetric activation response when we get angry. The study revealed that when we get angry, the heart rate, arterial tension and testosterone production increases, cortisol, the stress hormone decreases, and the left hemisphere of the brain becomes more stimulated.  The results, published in the journal Hormones and Behavior, reveal that anger provokes profound changes in the state of mind of the subjects “they felt angered and had a more negative state of mind” and in different psychobiological parameters. There is an increase in heart rate, arterial tension and testosterone, but the cortisol level decreases.

On the contrary, psychologists from Boston College, Maya Tamir and Christopher and James Gross of Stanford University tested whether people prefer to experience emotions that are potentially useful, even when they are unpleasant to experience, such as anger. Some participants preferred activities that were likely to make them angry like listening to anger-inducing music, recalling past events in which they were angry, when they expected to perform confrontational tasks, like defending a project or engaging in a debate. On the other hand, some participants preferred more pleasant activities when they expected to perform a non-confrontational task. The researchers found that angry participants performed better than others in the confrontational game by successfully killing more enemies while  angry participants did not perform better than others in the non-confrontational game, which involved serving customers. “Such findings,demonstrate that what people prefer to feel at any given moment may depend, in part, on what they might get out of it.”

If you notice, the physiologic changes brought about by anger are also bodily changes brought about by excitement with the exception of the cortisol hormone. Suppression of anger on the other hand will also generate the same effects and it may double itself since it is a form of stress that is not released or processed and so remains in the body. When such stress accumulates, like a volcano, it explodes and molten lava flows and it would be difficult to retract hurtful words uttered or apologize for an unprofessional display of emotions.

It is healthy to release anger in other forms. You can break a glass, break a pencil, take a walk in the park, punch a punching bag, anything to release that pent-up anger. Anger that accumulates mean tension that increases. And any tension produces stress that will later on manifest through illness.

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Compared to twenty-five years ago, the solvent emissions in a gallon of paint are up to ninety percent less. However, most paints still contain harmful fumes if inhaled or absorbed. In fact, most of us are unaware of the effects that one coat of paint may have. Low levels of vapors from either formaldehyde, benzene, butane, propane, and fluorinated hydrocarbons found in can or spray paints are released on a daily basis for the first thirty days after application. But even year’s later small amounts of toxic fumes can continue to leak into the air. Over a period, exposure to these fumes can be harmful to the brain.

Another danger is exposure to lead-based paint. Although most lead-based paints have been pulled from markets, over eighty percent of homes built before 1978 still have lead paint in them. Lead is a poisonous heavy metal. If lead-based paint is disturbed by sanding, scraping, or abrading, fumes and particles may be produced. These fumes and paint chips, if inhaled or ingested over time, can cause lead poisoning and change brain chemistry. Lead poisoning can be contracted at any age but has a greater impact on children who can suffer learning disabilities, visual and hearing impairments, IQ deficiencies, and behavior problems. Keep in mind that the fetus of a pregnant woman can be affected as well. Lead poisoning may occur gradually with no obvious symptoms. If you suspect lead-based paint, have the paint tested. Other preventative measures are to have the paint removed or coated with a sealant or gypsum wallboard, but try not to stir up fumes or dust. Wiping the surface periodically with a high phosphorous cleaning solution can be helpful if no other alternative. Painting over the lead-based paint with non-lead paint does not prove to be effective since eventually the paint can wear off or produce a mixture of toxic fumes.

What happens to the brain with over-exposure to paint fumes is the destruction of brain cells and disruption in normal brain activity. When toxic paint fumes are inhaled (be aware that paint can soak into the skin and cause the same problems as inhaling the vapors), these toxins target fatty tissues such as the myelin sheath of the brain. Over time, this protective covering of the brain becomes removed, reducing brain cells and damaging axons. Presently, the process of demyelination is irreversible and decreases nervous system activity effecting neurological and behavioral functions. Abnormalities in brain areas are apparent such as, if there is damage to the cerebellum, involved movement can be affected, or if the cerebral cortex is damaged, cognitive dysfunctions can occur. Also, brain-imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can detect lesions or size reduction in areas of the brain including the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem. A serious solvent abuse among teens, and some adults, is called “Huffing”. This is where paint fumes, especially from spray paints, are deeply inhaled. The toxins enter the blood stream quickly and then are distributed throughout the brain and body. The fumes have a direct effect on the central nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord giving the person a high. Every huff is dangerous and can lead to brain damage, or worse Sudden Sniffing Death (SSD). SSD can occur when the inhaled fumes take the place of oxygen in the lungs and brain of the central nervous system.

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Do you know singing causes our brain to be more capable of processing information?

The power of music to affect our memory is quite intriguing. Most recently brain-imaging studies have shown that music activates many diverse parts of our brain, including an overlap in where the brain processes music and language. This simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes our learning and retention of information. The information we are studying activates the left brain while the music we are listening to activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes our brain to be more capable of processing information.

Our ear converts sound waves into movement by vibrating specific parts of the middle and inner ear. This movement is then converted into electrical signals that travel in our eighth cranial nerve to the brain. From the ear, auditory information travels first to the brain stem, then to the thalamus, and then to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe on both sides of the brain.

Damage to the temporal lobe of our brain may cause us to have problems with singing a song, playing an instrument or keeping rhythm. Sometimes this damage causes problems related to recognizing music, but no problem with hearing speech and other sounds. This type of condition is called amusia. People with amusia have trouble recognizing melodies.

Some research has suggested that music is processed by the right cerebral hemisphere. Other research has shown that the left hemisphere is also important. Listening to music and appreciating music is a complex process that involves memory, learning and emotions. It is likely that there are multiple areas of the brain that are important for the musical experience.

In 1982, researchers from the University of North Texas performed a three-way test on postgraduate students to see if music could help in memorizing vocabulary words. The results simply showed that  our learning does not absolutely guarantee recall but music can possibly improve it. Background music in itself is not a part of the learning process, but it does enter into our memory along with the information learned. Apparently, our recall is better when the same music used for learning is used during recall.

Patients with lesions on the left sides of their brains showed improvement with music therapy. Before the therapy, these stroke patients responded to questions with largely incoherent sounds and phrases. But after just a few minutes with therapists, who asked them to sing phrases and tap their hands to the rhythm, the patients could sing “Happy Birthday,” recite their addresses, and communicate if they were thirsty. The underdeveloped systems on the right side of the brain that respond to music became enhanced and changed structures. However, success varied depending on how recently a person had had a stroke and the severity of the damage. But several patients were eventually able to teach themselves new words and phrases by turning them into tunes, and few were even able to move beyond simple phrases and give short speeches.

Evidently, music is an alternative to stimulate the parts and lobes of the brain that before were not involved in any other activities of our daily lives.

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Do you know how to stimulate your child's brain for development?

Children’s minds are synonymous to sponges. They absorb everything around. Be it a good information or a junk, their brain is non-selective. Because the early formative years in the life of children affect their later choices in life, parents should nourish them well during their formative years. Several developmental researches prove that nature and nurture are the two predictors in determining the learning of patterns of children. Although the nature provides the innate and uncontrollable factor, parents can modify the expression of the genes through proper nurturing. Here are the ways to maximize the development of the brain.

Provide a Loving Environment

If you want to maximize the brain development of your children, nurture them with love and care. If you need to discipline their actions, talk to them and explain the misbehavior. Never resort to spanking. In a study conducted at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University, researchers found out that spanking leads to aggressive behavioral problems and lower scores on mental development. Parents who choose physical punishments are most likely the stressed, single, depressed or uneducated individuals. Instead of piling up abusive behavior with your children, create a loving environment and aim to build happy memories for them to recall when they grow up.

Play with them

Play is the children’s way of learning. Creative play and ordinary play are two different things. To stimulate your child’s brain development, choose the creative play. This kind of interaction provides room for kids to development their artistic nature and allows their imagination to work. Previously, parents overwhelmed their children with books with the belief that only school can provide the education they need. However, nowadays, researches prove how the life outside the four corners of the classroom can affect the abilities of people. Instead of the traditional experiences, provide innovative and enjoyable ways to stimulate their mind to work.

Read

You do not have to wait until your children reach the pre-school age to read to them. No child is too young for reading. You can start the habit even with infants by showing colorful and simple pictures. You can progress with the difficulty of the subjects as the child grows older. By providing room for reading, you can expect better growth and development of their brains when they are ready for the formal education.

Protection from Secondary Smoke

A study in Environmental Health Perspective authored by Kimberly Yolton showed that children exposed on household with smokers have reduced IQ points by as much as two to five. The exposed kids displayed lower scores on math, reading and visual spatial skills than children with no exposure. The result of the study is just one of in the long list why parents should keep their children from second hand smoke.

The first few years of life are the formative years for learning. By providing your children ways to nurture their intelligence, you can raise a genius in your family. Keep in mind that your actions today will bear their impact on your children ten or twenty years from now.

Photo by Photo8.com/ Sam Photo8.com