Discuss Intelligence and Raising Intellectual Ability

The first article titled “Talking To Your Child Increases Intelligence and Vocabulary”, described how constantly talking to a child can improve many aspects of his/her intelligence, with language development and reading skills being a few examples. It is thought that keeping the child active in thoughts will make him/her smarter. The method to keep the child mentally active is quite simple… try to always be in an active, and engaging conversation. The article defines an engaging conversation when the caregiver names objects AND puts them in context. Of course, speaking proper grammar with the use of long, decently difficult sentences will give the child a challenge, which will stimulate their brain. Making sure to add questions in the mix will ensure the child is always thinking. This article is okay, since it mentions that this method was found effective from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which is a well-known establishment. The article would be much more reliable if it were to quote the findings into the article itself. Because there is no hard-core data mentioned, the reader has to go under the assumption that this is correct (or incorrect). Though, since it described how the AAAS researched this, it is possible to look this up and confirm whether or not the article was lying. With that being said, the article is convincing. Everything mentioned made practical sense, and it was so practical that I couldn’t think of an easier solution as to why talking a lot can improve a child’s mental abilities.

The second article titled “Why To Avoid TV Before Age 2” mentions that children can actually be harmed by TV before the age of two. TV could be detrimental towards language development and reading skills. So, keeping children away from the big screen before the age of two can help prevent slower mental growth. Like in the previous article, there is no hardcore evidence supporting the fact that TV is bad for them. With that being said, the theory explained in this article makes sense. The theory is that kids are growing at a very fast rate during their first few years of life, so they are really sensitive to material that they see in life. TV is bad because the images it produces are only 2D. Children before the age of two learn better in real life simply because they do not know how to look at a 2D image and benefit from it. This article is convincing since it does mention the source of where it got its information from, and explains everything in a professional manner. However, there could be a simpler explanation to this phenomenon. Maybe the reason why children and TV don’t mix well is because the parents aren’t sitting down with their children, watching along with them the right way.

Works Cited:

1.       Talking To Your Child Increases Intelligence And Vocabulary. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2016, from https://www.uvpediatrics.com/2014/06/talk-to-child/

2.       Hill, D. L. (2015, November/December). Why To Avoid TV Before Age 2. Retrieved July 29, 2016, from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Why-to-Avoid-TV-Before-Age-2.aspx