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Washington, May 6 (ANI): A new study has found that long-term, exclusive breastfeeding boosts children’s cognitive development.

In a study of 17,046 children, the team found that breastfeeding exclusively during the first year of life was associated with an increase in a child’s intelligence by first grade.

Previous studies have reported that children and adults who were breastfed as infants have higher scores on IQ tests and other measures of cognitive (thinking, learning and memory) development than those who were fed formula, according to background information in the article.

However, the evidence has been based on observational studies, in which children whose mothers chose to breastfeed were compared with those whose mothers chose not to breastfeed. The results of these studies may be complicated by subtle differences in the way breastfeeding mothers interact with their infants, the authors note.

Michael S. Kramer, M.D., of McGill University and the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial of a breastfeeding promotion program involving patients at 31 maternity hospitals and affiliated clinics in Belarus.

Between June 1996 and December 1997, clinics were randomly assigned either to adopt a program supporting and promoting breastfeeding or to continue their current practices and policies.

A total of 7,108 infants and mothers who visited facilities promoting breastfeeding and 6,781 infants and mothers who visited control facilities received follow-up interviews and examinations between 2002 and 2005, when the children were an average of 6.5 years old.

Mothers who visited a facility promoting breastfeeding were more likely to feed their infants only breast milk at age 3 months (43.3 percent vs. 6.4 percent in the control group) and at all ages through 1 year. At age 6.5, the children in the breastfeeding group scored an average of 7.5 points higher on tests measuring verbal intelligence, 2.9 points higher on tests measuring non-verbal intelligence and 5.9 points higher on tests measuring overall intelligence.

Teachers also rated these children significantly higher academically than control children in both reading and writing.

“Even though the treatment difference appears causal, it remains unclear whether the observed cognitive benefits of breastfeeding are due to some constituent of breast milk or are related to the physical and social interactions inherent in breastfeeding,” the authors write.

Essential long-chain fatty acids and a compound known as insulinlike growth factor I, both found in breastmilk, could be responsible for the cognitive differences.

On the other hand, the physical or emotional component of breastfeeding may lead to permanent changes affecting brain development. Breastfeeding also may increase verbal interaction between mother and child, which could improve children’s cognitive development.

“Although breastfeeding initiation rates have increased substantially during the last 30 years, much less progress has been achieved in increasing the exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding,” the authors write.

“The consistency of our findings based on a randomized trial with those reported in previous observational studies should prove helpful in encouraging further public health efforts to promote, protect and support breastfeeding,” they conclude.

The study appears in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (ANI)

Source:  http://in.news.yahoo.com/ani/20080506/r_t_ani_hl/thl-breastfeeding-boosts-kids-iq-3b18f0d.html

How to raise “genius” children: smart, wise, happy, health, motivated, secure
by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore

Stop suffocating the genius in your children!
As a teacher, principal, city school superintendent, college and university professor, dean and president, I constantly wondered why we don’t have more Johannes Keplers, Sir Isaac Newtons or Thomas Edisons among us. I purposefully searched for the reasons. But it wasn’t until I reached retirement age that I found out why. And what I discovered was so important, I just knew I couldn’t retire.

For all those years I didn’t know that all normal children, regardless of race, color, creed or national origin, have in them the seeds of brilliance.

Most of us unwittingly or recklessly do everything we can to suffocate genius in our kids by insisting on doing what everybody else is doing with their children: Putting them through the same extrusion process so that they come out about the same-sized and same-flavored sausages as the other youngsters. Does that sound crazy? Listen closely and think again.

The Smithsonian Institution asked Harold McCurdy and his team to study genius through the ages. Their recipe for creating genius in children included: 1) warm, responsive parents and other adults actively involved in the lives of children, 2) virtual isolation from children outside the family, and 3) much freedom to explore their own interests. Given such a formula, we shouldn’t be surprised at the Smithsonian measure of today’s typical schools.

The mass education of our public school system diminishes all three key factors that produce genius in children.

Don’t let them out before they’re ready!

We put our children out of the home and into institutions as soon as we can. We submit them earlier and earlier to the state as Plato recommended until we have little influence or control. None of this “early institutionalization” is consistent with sound research on child development and learning.

Children are not ready for academic and social pressures of school until close to or into their teens.

What do they get when they go to school? John Goodlad, then graduate dean at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied 1,016 public elementary and secondary schools. He found that the average teacher spends a grand total of seven minutes a day in personal responses to all his or her students.

In addition to that, not all responses were necessarily warm! And few teachers give their students enough time to develop thoughtful answers when they are asked questions. Neither are their questions the kind that stimulate thought. Rather than questions that ask “Why?” and “How?” they are more likely to ask “Who?” “What?” “Where? “When?” and “How much?” Yet these constitute the parent or teacher’s main educational tool and are among the major reasons for high academic success of many homeschools.

Keep them away from other kids!

Isolation from peers may sound extreme. But that changes when you look at the modern social cancer of peer dependency. It is almost certain to bring loss of family values and self-respect when children spend more time with their peers daily than with their parents. Children are negatively socialized. Kids mostly with their parents and constructively occupied with family business or other work and service are positively socialized. They are also more creative and less likely to be mentally or emotionally troubled.

Give them freedom to explore!

When children are allowed to develop naturally, when their interests are targeted and their motivation used as a principal tool in learning, studies come faster, more thoroughly and with less pressure. We have many children who seem hopelessly delayed or retarded. Often they have lost all interest in school. But when approached in their own interests, they respond quickly and often brilliantly. In most cases they are youngsters who have gone to school much too early. Most often they are boys.

Here may be our most pervasive form of child abuse: It is well established that boys lag behind girls in emotional maturity a year or so at the age most children begin school.

One of the most pervasive forms of child abuse is forcing boys to start school at the same age as girls.

A result of not responding appropriately to the emotional immaturity of boys beginning school is the disproportionate number of boys in remedial education – up to 13 boys for every 1 girl. Another pervasive form of abuse is our expecting children to read well by 6 or 7. Many children don’t adapt readily to reading until age 8 or 10. Some bright students don’t catch on until 12 or 14. Yet, late readers often become the best readers of all in both speed and comprehension.

If this is true—and there is not reputable research which denies it— shouldn’t we spend every possible minute with our young? Shouldn’t we respond to them often and warmly, with many more “Atta boys (or girls)” and fewer “No – No’s”? Shouldn’t we give them time to respond when we ask questions? Shouldn’t we deal much more in “whys” and “hows,” teaching them to be thinkers instead of reflectors of others’ thoughts? Shouldn’t we work with them as living examples in hands-on activities in the kitchen, garage and garden?

Shouldn’t we think more carefully of their interests, read to them often from their early years, keep them close to us as long as possible and institutionalized as late as possible? Shouldn’t we teach them how to manage our homes, how to make and sell things, provide services to their homes, and communities, and how to be self-sufficient and responsible like Thomas Edison, a genius who earned while he learned much like the Christ child in Nazareth? Many homeschoolers call this the “Moore Formula,” but it is borrowed from God, and most certain route to genius.

Put your children to work!

Genius requires a balance of work, service and study.

The best possible way to build self-respect in our children is to give them responsibility. When teachers work manually with students, making and selling things and encouraging home industries and otherwise help at home, they build creativity in the most responsible ways. They grant authority as youngsters prove responsible. And teachers, parent and student join in serving their community.

Even Harvard University gives high priority to such students. We should train our teachers in this God-given method, with at least as much daily work as study. Every such program has proven its worth, including the California State Regional Occupation Program (ROP). In this program, high school students divide their days between study and work without pay. ROP has the highest achievement and job record in the state Programs like ROP cost much less and are infinitely more valuable than rivalry sports.

Source link:

About the authors: http://www.thequiethour.org/resources/health/genius.php

Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore are world-renowned as researchers, writers and leturers in the area of education, homeschooling and child development. Direct correspondence to the MOORE FOUNDATION, Box 1, Camas, WA 98607, or call (360) 835-5500

Develop Your Child’s Genius: The King of Games - the Game of Kings
By Esther Andrews

Many people still think that the game of chess is appropriate for old people. In their mind’s eye, they see 2 elderly people sitting across from each other in the park, playing a game of chess.

Well, it might sound surprising to you, but you can teach a baby to play chess. It has shown to be extremely beneficial for children of all ages to learn to play chess, and in addition, it is very entertaining. It is impossible to describe how much value a child gets from playing chess.

When my son Eric was about 2 or 3, he showed interest in board games, so I asked my husband if he knew how to play chess. I didn’t know how to play Chess at the time, but luckily my husband knew the basics, and volunteered to teach little Eric. Eric took to it immediately. One day, my husband and I walked into a computer store, to buy a piece of hardware, and in the back room, we saw a person sitting in front of the computer, playing Chess. We started a conversation with him, and found out that he was a Chess teacher. When we came home, we asked Eric if he would like us to find a teacher for him, and he was very excited about it.

After some looking around and making some phone calls (now I know exactly who to call and where to look) we found a new immigrant from Russia who was a gifted Chess teacher. Some of his students became very famous grandmasters. So we made an appointment with the teacher, and he played a game of Chess with our baby. He looked at us after the game and said, a little bit amazed: “he is making all the right moves, it is amazing”. Eric was 4 at the time, and the teacher took him on as a student.

Since then, Chess has been a part of our life. Chess has enriched our lives a great deal. Thanks to Chess, we have traveled and seen some parts of the world and the country we would have never traveled to otherwise. Whenever we visited a new place, we always looked for a street corner or a coffee house where people play chess, and always met interesting people and made new friends. There is always something new to learn, and avid players spend a significant amount of time learning and practicing. Many people find enjoyment in participating in tournaments.

All over the country there are many chess clubs that encourage the participation of children, and many scholastic tournaments are taking place all over the country. Players of all skill levels are encouraged to play in tournaments, and players of similar skill levels are paired to play with each other.

What will your child learn from playing Chess?

- He will learn how to put together a plan, and follow up on it.

- He will learn to calculate a few moves ahead of time, based on memory and imagination.

- He will learn how to concentrate.

- He will learn the difference between strategy and tactics.

- He will learn to think before he acts. That every move has consequences.

- He will learn to play fair and to be courteous.

- He will improve his visual memory and visual discrimination.

- He will learn how to follow the rules.

- He will learn to take responsibility.

- He will learn to have patience.

- He will develop his creativity.

There are so many more benefits to studying and playing chess, that you will have to discover for yourself.

When we started taking little Eric to a kids’ Chess club, we met some kids that were highly gifted. I will never forget a little boy, 8 years old, who played a game of “blindfold” chess with the teacher, who was a master. “Blindfold” means that the player is not looking at the board, and has to play the game out of memory. The little boy played a whole game out of memory, and beat the master.

The most successful children were the ones who started very early. Children who had an older sibling who played Chess, or a parent who played Chess, and had the opportunity to watch the game when they were babies.

If you have a baby, if possible let the baby watch people playing Chess. Do you play Chess? Wonderful! Let the baby watch. If you do not play Chess, find a Chess club in your neighborhood, a park or a coffeehouse and let the baby watch the games as long as the baby is interested.

Some babies will be fascinated and watch the game for a long time, some will watch just for a few minutes. No problem! Let the baby watch as long as it wants. Even a few minutes will do. Do it as often as possible.

At home, have a Chess board around, and occasionally just show the baby the different pieces, and mention their names. Do it a few times a day. This is a good start for a baby, to get acquainted with the Chess pieces.

When your child is ready (and the parents know best!), you can show him how to move the pieces. A little bit a day will do. Make sure that the child spends some time around Chess players and gets the opportunity to watch some games.

For school age children, the best thing to do is to sit with them, explain the game and play with them. If you don’t enjoy Chess or don’t know how to play, you can find a teacher, or a Chess club that accommodates children.

Here is a special word about girls and Chess: some of the best chess players are girls! Just look at the sisters Polgar, and many other female chess players. If you have a girl, encourage her to play chess, it is a most beneficial activity for girls, as well as boys.

There are many Chess computer games on the market, starting from very affordable programs, like Chessmaster, and up to very expensive software and dedicated Chess computers. They are all fine, but remember - when your child plays with human beings, he learns much more and enjoys himself a lot more. It is a completely different experience. So take my advice, let your child play with other children, or even adults. Computer games can be a good addition.

A good place to start is the Chess Federation of your country. Here, in the US, we are lucky to have a very active Chess federation, and many Chess activities for young children. Here are some helpful links and resources:

www.uschess.org/beginners - Ten Tips for Winning Chess

www.uschess.org - The US Chess Federation

www.fide.com - The World Chess Federation

For the last 26 years, Esther Andrews has studied, researched and practiced the ways to develop a child’s intelligence. She also served as the principal of the School for Gifted Education. As a result of this experience, she developed her own method and philosophy, that proved to be extremely successful with her own 2 highly gifted children. In her web site, http://www.all-gifted-children.com , she helps parents develop their child’s genius, and provide for their kids the opportunity to achieve their maximum potential.

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