As an educational institution, Boost Education urges every parent to invest in their children’s future by playing an active role in their educational development. While schools and institutions such as ours are tasked with providing children with the education they need, parents will always be best positioned to ensure their kids reach their full potential.
Support from a parent is often all that is needed to help a struggling student get a better grasp on a subject. While schedules do tend to get in the way, parents who make time to regularly revise and test their children’s understanding of their schoolwork are going a long way to improve their chances of academic success.
One of the reasons for this is that independent learning at home gives learners a chance to think about things differently. Parents can encourage this kind of thinking and provide guidance as their children explore their enquiring minds.
Here are a few ways you can ensure your child has all the academic support he or she needs at home.
1. Meet With Your Child’s Teachers Regularly
Connecting with your child’s teacher can benefit everyone involved in the dynamic. By meeting with and discussing your child’s progress with his/her teacher, both get different perspectives on what influences the child’s performance. Issues at home or school may come to light that parents and teachers can work towards resolving. Also, the parent/teacher relationship closes the loop in the sense that your child receives total support in his/her academic journey.
2. Make Sure You Understand the School’s Structure and Available Resources
Knowing who to speak to in a given circumstance can help to address any difficulties children may have at school. Beyond academic pressure, young children deal with various pressures, including peers, social calibration, career guidance, special requirements and more. If your child is new to a school, make sure you understand its structures and various educators and support staff available to help you and your child. Make sure you and your partner are regulars at parent-teacher conferences and have a familiarity with faculty.
3. Make Homework a Non-Negotiable
Homework needs to be a task your child’s adopts into his/her schedule as early as reasonably possible. It may be best to approach the often contentious issue of homework in the same way as teaching your child to ride a bike. Start by doing it with them and making the process as engaging as possible. Set a specific time and place aside for doing homework with your child and as they grow older, start letting them complete their tasks and be available to answer questions or explore subjects further. As time goes, homework will be as easy as and fun as riding a bike.
4. Spot and Address Problem Areas Early
Attentive parents tend to pick up problems with the children’s learning fairly quickly. If your child is struggling with a certain subject or area thereof, make sure you do all you can to convey the information as effectively as possible. Subjects get more complex and in-depth as learners progress, so if you feel support from a teacher or tutor is more suitable, speak to someone who can help.
5. Allow Your Child to Find Their Passion
Our world is becoming more diverse each day. Today, 30% of the career choices that exist didn’t five years ago. This means our children may have totally different aspirations than what we may think or wish for. Yet, it’s important to let your child experiment and explore the many opportunities and avenues they are presented. What may appear a fad to a parent could become a lifelong passion for your child, so be supportive and encourage your child’s inquisitivity. The process can be a bonding experience, even if it means having a blaring trombone in the house for a few months.
6. Nurture Your Child’s Awareness and Concentration Faculties
Research has demonstrably proven the merits of practices such as meditation and awareness as tools to help children and adults cope with the pressures of daily living. No task is ever as well done as it could be if the person applies him or herself to it totally. Adults and kids live in hyper connected times and distractions are in great supply. Also, many children thrive off the adrenaline of physical sport, playing and competitiveness. While this is good in moderate measure, an overactive child can often struggle with settling down for some quietude. Learning requires a different application of the mental faculties that may be difficult to master for the active child. Read up on meditation techniques and how it can benefit both you and your child.
7. Don’t Overpraise and Don’t Punish Too Hard Either
Pressure on children to perform and pursue the goals we set for them can cause significant stress for sensitive children. Yet, taking a blase approach to your child’s education is never good. Parents should be support structures ready to guide their children, while allowing them to explore their education without becoming distracted. It’s a fine line to thread, yet parents’ involvement in their children’s academic and later success resulting from it is vital. Making schoolwork a form of punishment or placing any negative connotation to it can impact how your child thinks about education. So be supportive and attentive but never invasive.
8. Use Technology to Your Their Advantage
As a part of modern day life, children have access to an array of gadgets that can connect them to a world of content that parents don’t get to sensor. Technology in the home should be managed responsibly and should definitely be included as a tool for education. Parents should take the middle path with how smart devices and the internet can be used in the home. As for learning, the internet offers abundant games, apps and websites parents can find and subscribe to. Gamifying the learning experience is an effective way to reduce the passivity of watching television for hours and getting children involved in thinking exercises. Make sure you have a good handle on the educational games your child plays to offer support, reward accomplishments and make the experience engaging.
Learning is a Part of Life. Make Them Embrace It
Helping our children succeed in life is any parent’s life’s work. Yet, a parent’s relationship to a child means we can be either very helpful, or harmful, to their academic success. Being supportive and patient are two important approaches to your child’s learning. Think about your child’s personality and his/her unique ways of exploring life. Learning is very much a part of life’s greater exploration so tap into how they discover the world and support them as they grow.
At Boost Education, we’re committed to making education a rewarding experience for our learners of all ages. Our centres are designed to provide the best in tuition services and offer parents and learners the support they need to make education effective, fun and impactful.