Schools have their share of responsibility for the education and upbringing of children, but much depends on the family as well. Parents make the mistake of imposing excessive control over their children, doing their homework for them, or being too strict with their grades. However, removing yourself from the learning process would also be unwise. This leaves many parents asking how to help your child succeed at school.
How to Help Your Child Succeed at School: 5 Tips For Parents
Want to help your child succeed at school? The authors of valuable articles on Cheapwriting.services have prepared several recommendations.
Prepare your first-grader for school.
The first year is crucial. The more comfortable the child is from the beginning, the more likely it will not be averse to learning later on.
Preparing him psychologically in advance for the first-grader to adapt faster is necessary. It will be easier for him to get used to the new conditions if you play in school even before beginning the school year. Show him how to collect his bag; explain what lessons and homework are; enroll the child in courses for preschoolers, where he can get acquainted with his future teachers.
Many parents ask what they need to be able to do for school. There are no official requirements, but you will make life easier for your child if you teach him to read. Put a dull primer on the shelf and try to find books that the first grader will enjoy. They should have bright pictures, an exciting story, and a simple short text.
For a child to acquire essential study skills, offer him developmental games, such as puzzles, mazes, coloring by numbers, and connecting dots by numbers. These activities teach concentration and logical thinking, encourage attention, patience, and fine motor skills, and help the child memorize numbers, colors, and shapes.
Build lessons so that you awaken a newcomer’s taste for learning (rather than an aversion to it) and help him master the most basic skills.
Warm up his interest in science
Learning how to cram textbooks is not the main thing in school. More important is motivation, interest, and a desire to explore the world. Think about how to engage your child in science and awaken a thirst for knowledge in him. Here are just a few ways.
- Give your child a colorful encyclopedia that explains the theory in a fun and straightforward way.
- Go to the planetarium.
- Watch a popular-science movie.
- Enroll your child in a language camp.
- Visit history museums and art galleries.
- Do fun experiments at home – show them how chemistry and physics are more than just formulas.
It’s a great idea to give your child the chance to put what he’s learning into practice. For example, let him pay at a store (to reinforce his addition and subtraction skills). He will link learning to real life and show more interest in school subjects.
Teach the basics of time management
Knowing how to manage their time and making a habit of doing everything on time will make the learning process much more manageable. Show your student how to develop a realistic schedule and explain why the organization is essential. Below are a few planning rules.
- When time is short and things are busy, it is helpful to list what needs to be completed in the next day or week. Then you should mark the most urgent items on the list so that you don’t waste time on less essential items.
- You need to learn to say “no” to things that might interfere with your priorities to manage time.
- When adding large tasks to your to-do list, it’s good to divide them into three or four parts and move forward step by step. Then a considerable task will seem doable and not so scary.
- It is desirable to keep to a particular order of actions every day to become a habit (for example, to start classes right after school).
- When a teenager has too many tasks, it causes stress. You need to plan essential tasks and regular breaks to stay motivated.
If you want your child to grow up, don’t be tempted to do everything for him. He should be able to plan his activities to have enough time to do his homework, study for exams, and relax. You need to teach him this and step aside.
Help him cope with stress.
The school creates a lot of stressful situations: tests, quizzes, exams, reports – it all causes a lot of nervousness. Excessive stress leads to a whole range of unpleasant consequences: it prevents concentration, impairs cognitive abilities, reduces the chances of getting good results, and, of course, is harmful to health.
Here are some simple ways to help your child cope with anxiety and stress.
- If a student does not get enough sleep, his body will have difficulty fighting the stress. Night rest is essential, so make sure that your child always goes to bed on time and gets at least nine hours of sleep. The brain will rest better if you turn off electronic devices (TV, laptop, tablet, cell phone) about an hour before bedtime. If your student needs to write an essay today but doesn’t have time, use online help. This way, you will save your child’s time and nerves.
- Fear of failure, excitement about results, and uncertainty about your abilities are typical worries of many students. Explain to the child that there is no point in getting worked up. Instead, you need to assess the circumstances soberly. How justified are the fears? What can be done to ensure that the fears do not come true? Breaking the chain of worrying thoughts is not tricky; it’s enough to change your approach to the situation.
- Tell the schoolchild about methods of relaxation. For example, to quickly calm down, you can listen to your favorite music, meditate, imagine your future triumph, make a mental journey to a safe place, get creative, take a bath, and walk in the nearest park.
- Proper planning is also one of the ways to save yourself from stress. It is essential to keep a balance between studies and entertainment. It is helpful to include sports and favorite activities and communication with friends in the schedule.
- Do not judge too harshly, and do not dwell on bad grades. Everyone makes mistakes – it is an essential element of learning. Explain to your child that a failure is not a disaster – it is a reason to think about how to improve next time.
Explain a difficult subject
Of course, homework is the student’s responsibility, and explaining the material is the teacher’s responsibility. But if your child can’t figure out a topic and asks you for help, try to help him out.
Just in case you have forgotten the school curriculum, it is helpful to have reference books and encyclopedias on basic subjects on hand to refresh your knowledge quickly.
How to Help Your Child Succeed at School
In order to help your child succeed at school, it’s essential to stay calm, positive, and speak neutral. Remember: your task is to create a positive attitude towards learning.
It is essential to use feedback. It is correct to combine praise with constructive criticism. Start with the good things, then point out what can be improved. Concentrate on the essentials: no one is interested in listening to a long list of shortcomings. Then it’s worth talking about the good again to end the conversation on an optimistic note.