• 1.  Share an interest in reading with your child.  Read and discuss with your child the books he/she  is reading.  Be sure your child has a library card and many opportunities to use it. 
• 2.  Encourage originality. Help your child make his/her own toys, projects, or models from wood, clay, or other materials which may be available.
• 3.  Encourage questions.  Help your child to find books or other resources which  provide answers rather than attempting to answer all of the questions for them.
• 4.  Stimulate creative thinking and problem solving.  Encourage your child to try out solutions without fear of making mistakes.  Help him/her to value his/her own thinking, to learn 
• 5.  Foster good work habits.  Help your child plan his/her work and then be sure he/she completes the plan.  This applies to daily tasks at home, school. and in the community. 
• 6.  Find time for the family to talk together about may different things. Help you child work towards expressing him/herself better.
• 7.  Take trips together to places of interest ----to museums, exhibits, fairs, 
• 8.  Encourage a variety of experiences.  Help you child to become interested in may activities and develop hobbies.
• 9. Allow for some free time.  Encourage your child to wonder, to engage in reflective thought, and to appreciate the world around him.
• 10.  Be a real companion your the child.  Explore and share each other's thinking.  Enjoy your child and help him/her to remember his childhood with you.

Perceptions and Problems, a product of Project GUIDE,  Department of Education for Exceptional Students, Pinellas County, Florida

4/8/03