How to Make Your Smart Baby Smarter

To make your smart baby smarter, you must make your baby happy. A happy baby learns faster, and makes more friends when growing up. The importance of human relationships cannot be overstated; it plays a pivotal role in the future happiness of your baby. Knowing how to make friends and to keep friends is a lifelong skill that involves knowing when to interact and when to withdraw—that is, the capability to decipher nonverbal communication with others. To illustrate, while playing with your baby, if he turns away from you and starts sucking his thumb and staring into space, stop the play and wait for your baby’s next response. If he turns to you again with an inviting smile, then resume the play.

As a parent, you have the wisdom to decode the nonverbal communication of your baby. Babies can’t talk, but by six months, most babies can experience anger, disgust, fear, happiness, surprise, and other emotions. Pay attention to the emotional landscape of your baby to understand his behavior, thereby instrumental in helping your baby develop his own nonverbal communication skills. Always verbalize your baby’s emotions: “You’re happy”; “You feel surprised, don’t you?”; “I know you’re angry.” Verbalizing his emotions helps conveying your empathy, and thus calming the nerves of your baby. In addition, instill in your baby the attitude of gratitude.

Reading the minds of others to understand how they feel, and thereby instrumental in controlling one’s own emotions, is critical to establishing good relationships with others, which is the source of happiness later in life.

But, in addition to making your baby happy, you must be prepared to have no expectation because your baby’s growth and development may be totally unpredictable. The milestones are just for your general reference; nothing is set in stone. Don’t expect the expected, but always expect the unexpected.

Any disappointment or frustration will be reflected in the nonverbal communication that may be perceived by your baby. The bottom line: do what you can with what you have, and leave the rest to the Creator. If your baby is smart, you can make him super smart. On the other hand, if your baby is not as smart as you wish he were, you can still make him smarter that what he is now.

No matter what, you cannot do everything. After all, your baby has a life of his own; you cannot live his life for him. What he is going to encounter and experience further down the road in his life journey is beyond your control. As his parent, you can provide him with a compass and a roadmap. Along the journey, he is bound to run into detours, shortcuts, or may even get lost. Hopefully, with the right mindset and the wisdom you have instilled into his brain, he will get back on track and find his way to the destination that he has set for himself. Every life journey is a learning experience for that unique individual to learn and grow

29 Smart Steps to Teach Your Smart Kid to Read

This 117-page is based on how I taught my daughter to read some 30 years ago. 

Like all proud parents, I was and still am proud of the fact that I could teach her how to read when she just turned three (most children learn at the age of five). The TV and all electronic devices may not be as effective as YOU, the parent, to teach your child through everyday intellectual interactions, games, and activities. 

This book provides 29 steps that could begin as early as your baby is one-month-old. My daughter became a proficient reader when she was five (reading books with little or no illustrations). By seven, she would not let me teach her anything -- she could find everything from books. It paid off and it's worth all the initial efforts in teaching her to become an early reader. Now she's an attorney in the United States.  I wrote this book because she has recently become a mother herself, and that's why I wrote this book to share my experience some three decades ago.

Also, read my book" Make Your Smart Baby Super Smart.

Stephen Lau

Be knowledgeable of Your Pregnancy Trimesters

Congratulations! You’ve become pregnant. For a healthy pregnancy, you must be knowledgeable about what is going to happen to you and your baby—especially if this is your first pregnancy.

The First Trimester

The Happenings

    

Conception takes place (week 1).

Breakthrough bleeding may happen (week 2-3) (why: fertilized egg becomes embedded in the lining of the uterus).

The breasts feel fuller and more tender (week 5-6) (why: stimulation of milk-producing glands). The nipples become darker with bluish veins (why: increase of blood supply to breasts).

Morning sickness (week 6-7) may occur. Morning sickness that begins in the first trimester may last until early second trimester. It is generally not harmful to the baby unless you have the following:

You vomit blood.

You have lost several pounds.

You vomit as soon as you drink even water.

You vomit well past the fourth month of pregnancy.

The dos and don’ts of morning sickness

Do suck a slice of fresh ginger in your mouth on rising every morning or any time you feel sick.

Do get sufficient sleep.

Do eat small meals.

Do eat more cold foods (why: they are less aromatic and therefore less likely to trigger vomiting).

Do eat more carbohydrates.

Do get a higher dose of vitamin B6 (50 milligrams).

Do get acupressure wristbands from the Internet (why: they are worn to overcome seasickness).

Don’t let yourself become hungry.

Don’t get out of bed too quickly; stretch yourself first before getting out of bed.

Don’t stress out; avoid any time stress.

The skin around the nipples begins to grow darker (week 6-7) (why: blood supply to the breasts increases significantly).

The waistband becomes tighter (week 8-9) (why: the uterus doubles in size).

Anxiety and irritability may develop for no apparent reason (why: change in hormones); hands and feet become warmer (why: increase in blood volume); dehydration becomes more frequent (why: extra fluids are needed by the uterus) (week 9-10).

The body weight may have increased by 2 to 3 pounds (week 10-11).

The risk of miscarriage is reduced by approximately 65 percent (week 12).

    

The Second Trimester

The Happenings

    

Most discomforts experienced in the first trimester should disappear by the second trimester.

Constipation may become more frequent (why: higher level of progesterone may affect muscles of the intestine; growing size of the uterus affects bowel movements). Do drink more water, and eat more fruits with fiber, such as apples (week 14).

Baby begins to move (week 16-20).

Perspiration may become more common (why: weight of the uterus increases, affecting body movements).

Dark patches of skin may develop on the face (week 17-18).

Breasts start leaking colostrums, the baby’s first food (why: the moisturizing substance protects the nipples during breastfeeding) (week 20-23).

Indigestion and heartburn may develop (why: larger and heavier abdomen may affect the digestive system) (week 22-23). Do take smaller meals with snacks; take a walk after meals.

Backache, pressure in the pelvis, cramps in the leg may occur (week 24-25). Do be mindful of posture, and do get plenty of sleep.

Stretch marks begin to develop around the breasts and abdomen (week 26-27). Do rub coconut oil on breasts and abdomen.

The Third Trimester

The Happenings

Discomfort in the ribcage may occur (why: the uterus is pushing up against the bottom of the ribcage, forcing the ribcage to spread out) (week 28-30).

Varicose veins may be formed (why: pressure is exerted on veins from legs to the heart) (week 28-30).

Episodes of forgetfulness or lack of concentration may occur (why: preoccupation with childbirth) (week 30).

Backache may intensify (why: change in the center of gravity) (week 31)

Better digestion and breathing may result as the baby gets into the head-down position (week 32).

Hands and feet become swollen (why: due to fluid retention in the body). Do wear loose-fitting clothing (week 33).

Aches and pains may occur in the pelvis area (why: due to hormone relaxation and increase in baby’s size) (week 34-35).

Hardening (about 30 seconds) and relaxing of the uterus becomes increasingly frequent (week 36-37)

Anxiety and depression may occur (why: due to physical discomfort and worry about the forthcoming childbirth) (week 38).

The uterus is taking up all the space in the pelvis and a great deal of room in the abdomen (week 39).

During the final phase of the third trimester, the body weight normally plateaus; some weight loss may even occur.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Importance of Time

Time will fly as your baby grows. Time is of essence because it shapes the future of your baby. There is a Chinese saying: “Age three defines what is up to eighty years old.” The first three years of your baby are most important; they design his destiny and shape his future. Remember, you can never turn back the clock.

Of the first three years, the first year is the most important in the life of a baby: it defines his temperament and personality; it develops his brain cells; it forms the bonding with his parents. The first year is the only time to develop his multi-language skills and verbal talents. If you want your baby to speak more than one language or even multiple languages, give him the exposure within the first year, and don’t procrastinate.

Time is of essence in that the more time you are willing to spend with your baby, the smarter he will become. It all depends on you, the parent.

Be conscious of time. Make the most of it to teach and train your baby. Everything that you do or say will impact your baby as he or she grows.

Make Your Smart Baby Super Smart

This book provides simple guidelines and a blueprint for all parents who wish to make their smart babies super smart.

After months of pregnancy, your baby has finally arrived. This has also opened a new challenging chapter in your life: how to help your baby grow and develop both physically and intellectually to the best potentials. You may easily become overwhelmed by the exhaustive information on the Internet with respect to raising a smart baby. Simplicity holds the key. Be simple in your approach to your everyday activities and interactions with your baby. Make the best and the most out of the first three years of your baby’s life to enhance and optimize brain growth with super intelligence.

This book focuses on simple games and daily activities and interactions to stimulate your baby's brain to develop language skills and spatial intelligence, even as early as one-month- old.  

Stephen Lau 

Parents Should Teach Their Children to Read

It is the parents' responsibility to teach their kid to read. Don't wait for the teachers to do the work. Reading is one of the most important skills that a child should acquire at any early stage -- the earlier the better. Illiteracy is becoming a growing problem in the United States. Many school children are unable to read, or their reading proficiency is very low. 

The United States is the most affluent and technologically advanced of all the industrial nations on earth. With its “free” compulsory education for all, a network of state-owned and state-operated teachers’ training colleges, strict teacher certification requirements, and more money and resources dedicated to education than any other nation on earth, the appalling illiteracy rate of the country is a disgrace to educators. Teaching children to read should be the foremost responsibility of all parents. Well, sometimes you cannot blame the parents, because they themselves may be poor readers to begin with—it is something like the blind leading the blind.

29 Steps to Teach Your Smart Kid to Read

This is a 117-page book on teaching children to read. It is the responsibility of parents, not the teachers, to teach children to read. There are 29 steps that begin as early as babies are only one-month old. These steps span over the infant stage, the pre-reading stage, the reading-readiness stage, the reading stage, the reading reinforcement stage, and the writing stage.

STEP 1:   Developing Motor Abilities & Sensory Perception

STEP 2:   Initiating Imitation

STEP 3:   Developing Thinking

STEP 4:   Pointing at Things

STEP 5:   Developing Active Speech

STEP 6:   Familiarizing with the Orientation of Print

STEP 7:   Teaching Perception and Discrimination

STEP 8:   Teaching Visual/Perceptual Consistency

STEP 9:   Auditory, Visual Sequencing, and Memory Skills

STEP 10: Introducing Finger Painting

STEP 11: Beginning Writing Skill

STEP 12: Introducing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies

STEP 13: Introducing Picture Story Books

STEP 14: Teaching Prediction

STEP 15: Teaching Word Recognition

STEP 16: Teaching the Alphabet

STEP 17: Teaching Pronunciation

STEP 18: Developing Independent Reading

STEP 19: Learning Sounds and Their Letters

STEP 20: Encouraging Printing

STEP 21: Lap Reading

STEP 22: Shared Reading

STEP 23: Paired Reading

STEP 24: Teaching Language Irregularities

STEP 25: Extending Sight Vocabulary

STEP 26: Encouraging the Use of Symbols

STEP 27: Exploring Different Modes of Discourse

STEP 28: Creating a Proper Writing Environment

STEP 29: Teaching the Sentence

These steps with games and activities, as well as interactions with parents, will develop and enhance the basic reading skills necessary for ultimate reading proficiency.

The steps are based on how the author taught his daughter to read more than three decades ago; she learned how to read as soon as she turned three, and now she is an attorney in the United States.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau