From the perspective of brain science, a child’s brain will be “finalized” after the age of 10. Therefore, the ages of 3, 7, and 10 are not only the turning points of brain development, but also the golden period to strengthen the potential. Once you miss the critical period of your child’s brain development, you will not be able to make up for it even if you attend more talent classes in the future! If you want your child to become better and help your child win at the starting point, you should grasp these three golden periods and exercise your child’s brain potential from childhood! 1.0~3 years old: Developing brain instincts The key to exercising brain potential during this period is to cultivate instincts, the foundation of brain function. In order to build the foundation of a brain that will be active even when it grows up, the focus is on training the brain’s nerve cells to have the most basic instincts. Survival, curiosity, and companion-seeking instincts emerge in the brains of children before the age of three. These instincts also cause the brain to develop characteristics such as wanting to compete, wanting to imitate, wanting to do things on their own, or wanting to be a companion to those around them, such as their mother or siblings. Let’s say a child is told, “Put the toys away.” If nothing happens after you tell him, say instead, “Let’s race to see who can clean up faster!” The child will start organizing. Tell your child, “Run!” If the child is still slow, suggest, “Let’s see who can run that way first.” The child will be motivated to run forward. These are further reactions that are triggered by the survival instinct, which is characterized by the desire to compete. In addition, although children don’t like to be stuffed with too much knowledge, they are happy to learn a little bit of something new, because their instinct for knowledge generates the characteristic of wanting to imitate and do something on their own. In order to exercise the instincts of the nerve cells in the brain, it is necessary to make good use of this kind of “wanting” characteristic, so that the mother can become a companion and at the same time accumulate the experience of “competing” or “learning a little bit more” together. From 0 to 3 years old, there is no need to ask for results. Don’t think about whether the child knows how to do many things or whether he/she is better than others. Don’t think about whether your child can do a lot of things or whether he/she is better than others. The important thing is to let your child have pleasant conversations and to praise him/her often. 2.3~7 years old: Quit the bad habits of the brain The phrase “I’ll do it later” represents the mood of “I don’t really want to do it”. In other words, children who always say “wait a minute” will not be able to cultivate the mood of actively wanting to do something, and will not activate the self-compensation system; if the self-compensation system does not work, the thinking power and memory naturally will not be able to be fully utilized, and coupled with the lack of the will to follow through to the end, they will end up becoming a brain that has accomplished nothing. When your child says, “Wait a minute,” think about why your child doesn’t want to do it right away. If there is something else you want to do, for example, if you are playing a video game and you hear that you have to clean up your room and then answer, “I’ll do it later,” then you can ask your child, “If you can clean up now and then play a video game after dinner, which do you think is better to do first? This kind of response is to promote the activation of the self-compensation system, so that the child can take the initiative to say, “I will tidy up first. In addition, if your child doesn’t like to tidy up his or her room, you may want to design a contest to have fun with him or her to get rid of the “dislike” as a prerequisite. In short, please observe your child carefully and guide him/her properly so that he/she doesn’t develop the habit of procrastinating by “waiting” for everything. From age 3 to 7, it is very important to “prune” your child moderately, so that the foundation of the brain’s neurotransmission circuit network can be thoroughly laid, but this is not the time to teach knowledge and skills. This is not the time to teach knowledge and skills. At this stage, the goal is to stabilize the foundation and build a brain that can take care of both reading and exercise, and to focus on eliminating “bad brain habits” that interfere with exercising the brain’s functions, instincts, and heart. 3.7~10 years old: Cultivate the active habits of the brain After 7~10 years old, it is the right time to really enter the stage of learning. However, from the point of view of exercising the potential of the brain, there is one thing that parents must pay attention to, and that is, they should never tell their children to “go to school” all the time. In this period, the child’s brain is such that the more instructions and commands the child receives from his or her parents, the worse the child’s performance will become. Therefore, adults with rich life experience must properly guide the child along a clear path, and the main key is to “throw out good questions. It is recommended to utilize the good questions in this situation by changing the command “Do this to get it right! to a multiple choice question, asking “What do you want to do? so that the child can make his or her own choices. For example, if the child is not good at natural science, and the parents just say, “You have to work harder in natural science! or “If you don’t understand something, ask the teacher.” This still won’t motivate your child. Why don’t you say something like this: “When I was a kid, my mom was also afraid of natural science. However, I asked the teacher whenever I didn’t understand something, and after a few times, it became my best subject. So what do you want to do next?” Once you’ve said that, it’s okay to give the answer to your child in a clear way. Alternatively, you can ask your child, “Which one do you want to choose?” in two ways. The important thing is to get the child to say “I want to do this!” “I would do this!” If you want your child to think about the solution as well, say, “There may be a better way, think about it first and then tomorrow! You’re a mommy’s boy, you’ll come up with a good solution.” Try to stimulate your child’s self-esteem with this kind of suggestion. After your child has come up with a solution, don’t forget to praise him/her strongly: “You are really worthy of being a mommy’s child! Only through this way can you cultivate the habit of self-learning in your child, and only then will you be able to nurture a truly good mind. The key to exercising the brain’s potential after the age of 7 to 10 is to utilize the function of the self-compensation system. The key to improving the function of the self-compensation system and guiding the child appropriately is to “ask good questions”.