One of the greatest entertainment in the world is to have young kids around us. It gives an immense pleasure to observe their little naughty and innocent activities. Listening to their conversation in broken and twisted language is amusing. Their facial expressions, and reactions towards the environment are of unmatched charm and delight.
I have observed several kids in my surrounding, and I believe the kids are much more intelligent than we assume them to be. The intelligence of the kids who start talking earlier than usual is more prominent than those of whose speech begins on a normal age. The reason is that the use of language makes the expression of knowledge and understanding easier for such kids. Nonetheless, if we pay a little attention towards the actions and non verbal cues of the other kids we may witness their smartness too.
Let me talk about the youngest kid in my surroundings at present. He is Maaz, my husband’s nephew. It is the story of a day when he was only three months old. He was lying on his bed facing the ceiling. He was playing as the kids of this age play by moving their limbs. I observed him from the window for a few minutes. Then I entered the room and stood in front of him. As soon as he got a glance of me, his body movement changed tremendously. He moved his limbs faster. His facial expressions were clearly showed delight at receiving attention.
I am sure, those who have had a chance to observe kids of this age would have noticed how intelligent these young creatures are at understanding the presence, attention and emotional reactions of the people around them.
This particular child I am talking about started speech at an early age of 1 and a half years. He would say things that would baffle us. He recognized the pictures of animals and would tell the correct names.
He was a little over two years old when he amazed me with his compliments for me. That day I had worn a new shirt. No one else said a word about it but he. He said to me, “Your shirt is looking nice.” It was the first time he said anything like this to me. It means he had realized that it was a new shirt.
Similarly, he amazed me with his question “Aunty, have you got an injury". I was confused for a while why he asked this, but then I realized he had observed the little white spots of the cream I had applied on my face to treat pimples.
He is 2.5 years old at present and demonstrates an amazing level of emotional intelligence. The other day we had a get together at our home. I was not feeling well due to fever so I sat in the other room. Other family members were taking snapshots in the lounge. When he looked at me sitting alone, he told me lovingly, “Aunty, you too, come with us.”
About a year ago, an incident of gun shot happened in our area. There was loud noise. Because of the reaction of the people in his surrounding at that time, he got afraid. Now the thing is that he didn’t understand what a gunshot does. Nevertheless, when he heard of the details of the incident from the elders in the house, he started narrating it as if he understood completely what had happened.
Of course, the elders did not tell him the details directly, but they were discussing it among themselves. His understanding and narration demonstrates how vigilant and absorbing the kids are about their environment.
As parents and caretakers, there lies a great responsibility on us for maintaining a healthy environment to instil healthy believes, habits and behaviour among our kids. Especially, In this era of digital advancement where a plethora of information and exposure is available all the times.
It is the story of the day when he was not even 2 years old. He was sitting with me going through a book of pictures meant for toddlers. In the book there was a car. I asked him what it was. His reply was astonishing. He named a song the video of which he used to watch. In that video there was a car pretty much akin to the one in the picture.
It was not the first time though where I witnessed an immense impact of media exposure on the understanding of young kids. My elder son was hardly two years old when he was able to recognize the shape and sound of several alphabets. He learned that via the phonic videos.
Once my maternal uncle told us that a mouse entered their home and they failed to catch it any way. His young son advised him to apply butter on the bread before putting it in the mouse trap. The trick worked and they caught the mouse. My uncle asked him where he got this idea from. His reply was, “Tom and Jerry".
In conclusion, young kids are far more intelligent than our assumptions. Their experiences and observations highlight their remarkable intelligence and perceptiveness. Their learning experience does not only depend on the overt stimuli in the environment but also from several subtle elements. As parents and caretakers it is our responsibility to not only create a healthy ultimate environment but also be vigilant about the kids' screen activities. So that we can nurture their natural curiosity and cognitive abilities, ensuring that they develop into well-rounded individuals.
This post is my participation for Hl-featured contest.
Image is created by me using Bing Image Creator.