Grow a brain

How can we best help our children grow and develop, without losing sight of who they actually are? Katy Gosset talks to parents and a clinical psychologist about the R&D of child rearing.

How can we best help our children grow and develop, without losing sight of who they actually are? In Episode 12 of Are We There Yet?, Katy Gosset talks to parents and a clinical psychologist about the R&D of child rearing.

Subscribe free to Are We There Yet. On iPhones: iTunes, RadioPublic or Spotify. On Android phones: RadioPublic or Stitcher.

It was the schoolyard slur at some point in my youth: "Go grow a brain, why don't you ?!"

And, obviously, no one wanted to appear deficient in that area.

And for parents, brain and cognitive development, social skills and awareness are all on the radar as things we must teach our children.

But how exactly?

Cue a flurry of activities, designed to create a well-rounded child...

"I played a tonne of classical music when the kids were little. I believe it helps make neurons connect. I don't know the exact science of it but I think music is good." Mother of two.

"Oh definitely reading. If you can do lots of reading, it's fantastic." Mother of six.

He loves running round the house, running round the car and I'll chase him around. We'll play dinosaurs so it's physical coordination things." Father of two.

Naturally, as parents, we tend to introduce our own interests first

"One of the kids is very interested in gardening and I like gardening. So I think, do things that you like and get the kids involved with it." Mother of six.

"I guess I'm very pro getting children outdoors and into nature and just climbing and jumping." Mother of two.

"We got a welder for Christmas the 12-year-old made a bike. He got an electric wheel from the Internet, welded a frame together and he drives around on it." Mother of six.

But children, funnily enough, have minds of their own and preferences and personalities too.

"Our nine year old loves to sew so he made Christmas stockings last year. We got an old sewing machine from the op shop that he can use and he had a go." Mother of six.

"We pushed them into surfing because we love surfing. The oldest is incredibly competitive and she's really good now. The middle one just likes to look pretty and walk down the beach with a surfboard and the little one is crazy. She'll just go on the biggest wave possible." Father of three.

How much is too much?

So children need stimulation to grow, but clinical psychologist Catherine Gallagher believes it's the balance that counts…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details