As a parent, you want to see your children do well in life. Some children naturally take to their studies. They may be all-rounders, or have specialist subjects that they learn to thrive in.
But for other kids, the school experience isn’t so simple, and a number of factors can impact your child’s academic performance
It’s natural to want to nurture their learning, but equally it can sometimes be hard to find the balance – how do you support your child without becoming the fabled “pushy parent” or instilling in them anxieties that tie their worth to their school grades?
If you’re looking for ways to support your child’s education, these are just three tips to give them the boost they need.
1. Reward effort
When it comes to rewarding your child for their performance in school, it is natural to want to incentivise good grades.
But in reality, this can set expectations which for some children are difficult to achieve, and if you have more than one child, these types of rewards can create competition between siblings and establish an unhealthy ‘hierarchy’ of success.
The emphasis of praise should be on hard work – acknowledging the time put in, and quality of study. For instance, encourage them to think outside the box on study methods – using tools like Canva to make digital flash cards or mind maps.
This incentives continued effort, where an emphasis on grades can sometimes tempt kids to give up at the first hurdle.
2. Be proactive
Play an active role in your child’s learning and take an interest in what they’re learning.
This could be as simple as having them explain to you what they’re studying – supposedly teaching something is one of the best ways to learn it yourself, and this will help your child advance their learning, and show them that you truly care.
For easy ways to help your child test themselves, tools like FlexiQuiz can create AI quizzes and assessments around topics, so you can set up a study aid for them without having to be a subject expert yourself.
This is a great way to supplement learning and treat study as an activity rather than an expectation putting them under pressure.
3. Encourage their strengths
Your child may be a naturally gifted polymath, but everyone has blind spots and there will certainly be things they struggle with.
One of the most encouraging things you can do for a child is help them to identify their strengths, and encourage them in what they’re passionate about.
For children that struggle in school, exploring extra curricular activities can give them an outlet from an environment where success doesn’t come naturally to them, and gives them a place to build their self-esteem.
This could include an after-school club centred around music, art or drama, joining a sports team, or even online sessions such as those offered by CodeCamp, which offers versatile coding sessions with one-to-one support for a range of ages and abilities.
Gaining confidence even in unrelated subjects can transform your child’s self-image, encouraging them to feel less self-conscious and more readily able to tackle trickier subjects.
We hope these tips inspire you to help boost your child’s academic career and let them know that they can do it!
How do you support your child’s education? Let us know in the comments below.