Geniuses and Better Parenting天才与良好的家庭教养

1、Geniuses and Better ParentingIt is a popular myth that great geniuses the Einsteins, Picassos and Mozarts of this world spring up out of nowhere as if touched by the finger of God. The model is Karl Friedrich Gauss, supposedly born into a family of manual workers, who grew up to become the father of

2、 modern mathematics.A professor who studies early learning has attacked this myth, saying that when he looked into Gausss childhood, he found that Gausss mother had been teaching him numbers at the age of two. His father had supervised manual workers, not been one, and played calculation games with

3、him. Furthermore, Gauss had an educated uncle who taught him sophisticated math at an early age.It is the same story with other geniuses. Einsteins father was an electrical engineer who fascinated his son with practical displays of physics. Picassos father was an art teacher who had young Pablo pain

4、ting bowls of fruit at the age of eight. Mozarts father was a musician employed at a nobles court who was teaching his son to sing and play almost before he could walk. In every case, when you look into the backgrounds of great people, there is this pattern of very early stimulation by a parent or t

5、eacher figure, the professor says.But what sort of parental stimulation should it be? There is plenty of evidence that, too often, pressure from parents results in children suffering fatigue rather than becoming geniuses. One study has identified two kinds of parent style the supportive and the stim

6、ulating.Supportive parents were those who would go out of their way to help their children follow their favorite interests and praised whatever level of achievement resulted. Generally, such parents created a pleasant home governed by clear rules. Stimulating parents were more actively involved in w

7、hat their children did, steering them towards certain fields and pushing them to work hard, often acting as a tutor.The study followed four groups of children: one with supportive parents, one with stimulating parents, one whose parents combined both qualities and a final group who offered neither.

8、The children were given electronic devices; when these made a sound, they had to make a note of what they were doing and assess how happy and alert they felt.The not too surprising result was that the children whose parents were simply supportive were happier than average but were not particularly i

9、ntense in their concentration when studying or working on something. The children who fared best were those whose parents were both supportive and stimulating. These children showed a reasonable level of happiness and were very alert during periods of study.Children whose parents were stimulating wi

10、thout being supportive were candidates for fatigue. These children did work long hours, but their alertness and happiness during study time was far below that of children in more balanced family environments.Another crucial factor is the need for parents to have proper conversations with their child

11、ren. Through having the chance to talk with adults, children pick up not only language skills but also adult habits and styles of thought. One reason why prodigies such as Picasso and Einstein had a head start in life was that they had parents who demonstrated how to think about subjects like art or

12、 physics at a very early age.A survey in Holland showed that a typical father spent just 11 seconds a day in conversation with his children. A more recent study in America produced a somewhat better result, but the fathers in question were still talking to their children for less than a minute a day

13、.It is not just the time spent that counts, but also the way in which a parent talks. A parent who only gives a brief reply to a childs questions or gives dull answers will be passing on a negative, narrow-minded style of thinking. On the other hand, parents happy to take a child step by step throug

14、h an argument, encouraging him or her to explore ideas, will cultivate an open and creative thinking style.One researcher is attempting to show this experimentally with a study in which groups of parents are taught how to have beneficial conversations with their small children. He says these childre

15、n have an advantage over their peer group in language ability, intellectual ability, and even social leadership skills. While the study is not yet complete, the children appear to have been given a long-term advantage.So what is the outlook for parents who do everything right, those who manage to be

16、 both supportive and stimulating, who are good at demonstrating thinking skills to their children and successful at cultivating a self-motivated approach to learning? Would such parents be guaranteed to have a genius as their child?There is general agreement that genuine biological differences exist

17、 between individuals; geniuses need to be lucky in both their genes and their parents. The most significant implication would seem to be that while most people are in a good position to fulfill their biological potential barring serious illnesses or a poor diet during childhood it is far from certai

18、n that they will grow up in an environment where that capacity will be developed.So although knowing more about the biology of genius is all very interesting, it is research into better parenting and educational techniques that will have lasting significance.天才与良好的家庭教养有一种流行的说法，世界上的伟大天才-爱因斯坦们、毕加索们、莫扎

19、特们，不知从 什么地方突然冒了出来，似乎都是造物主的神功使然。卡尔弗里德里克高斯就是一个典型， 据说他出身在一个体力劳动者家庭，后来却成了现代数学之父。一位研究早期学习的教授驳斥了这一说法，称他研究了高斯的童年，发现在他两岁时， 母亲就教给他数字。他的父亲是个体力工种的监工，本人不是工人，并常和高斯玩计算游 戏。而且高斯还有个受过教育的叔叔，他在高斯很小的时候就教他复杂的数学。其他天才们的情况也同样。爱因斯坦的父亲是个电气工程师，他表现出的物理知识使 儿子很着迷。毕加索的父亲是个美术教师，他要八岁的小帕布罗画一碗又一碗的水果。莫 扎特的父亲是个受雇于贵族宫廷的音乐家，他在儿子还不会走路时就教他

20、唱歌、弹奏乐器。 ”在每一个例子里，仔细研究一下天才的成长背景，都可以发现父母或教师给予早期激励这 样一种模式，”这位教授说。但是父母应该给予怎样一种激励呢？大量证据表明，家长的压力常会导致孩子疲劳厌 倦而不是成为天才。有一项研究分出了两种风格的家长-支持型的和激励型的。支持型的家长会尽全力帮助孩子发展兴趣爱好，赞扬其获得的成就，不管那有多么微小。 一般来说，这样的家长创造出一个有规矩的、令人愉快的家庭环境。激励型的家长会更主 动地参与到孩子们的活动中去，在某些领域里带领他们前行，推动他们努力，通常起着导师 的作用。这一研究跟踪研究了四组儿童：一组儿童的家长是支持型的，一组是激励型的，一组 是

21、支持激励相结合的，最后一组儿童的家长既不支持也不激励。孩子们拿到一些电子装置。 当发出声响时，他们就要记下当时孩子们正在干什么，并评估孩子们从中所感受到的快乐和 反应的敏捷程度。结果并不太意外。支持型父母的孩子所感到的快乐程度高于平均水平，但学习或做事时 却不是那么高度集中精力。表现最好的孩子是那些其父母为既支持又激励型的。这些孩子 显示了相当不错的快乐感，在学习过程中反应也很敏捷。激励型却缺乏支持的父母，他们的孩子很可能会疲劳厌倦。这些孩子确实能长时间努 力，但他们在学习过程中的敏捷程度和快乐感大大低于生活在能兼顾激励和支持的家庭环境 中的孩子。另一关键因素是父母应该与孩子进行适当的交谈。通过与成年人的交流，孩子学会的 不仅是