25 tips for parents on how to guide their children for better future

25 Tips for Parents On How to Guide Their Children for Better Future

What Is the Role of a Parent in Their Child’s Education?

By 09th Aug, 2018 | 04:55 pm

The parent-child relationship is unique in many ways. Like all other areas in life, in a child’s education too, parents assume a crucial role. As parents, you must encourage your child to unleash their creative potential right from a young age. A happy and encouraging family environment is conducive to a child’s overall growth and well-rounded development.

Now, especially if you are a parent of a high-school goer you may be wondering how to educate your child? How to gear them up for success? It is the common worry of all parents. Most parents take the wrong route to go about it. The duty of parents do not begin or end with choosing the best school, college, tuition center or stream of study for your children; in fact, it goes way beyond.

Also, parents often don the role of an authoritative figure, telling (read this as dictating) the child what they should or should not do with their future. Such an attitude does more harm than good. So, what exactly should you be doing? How can we guide your child towards a better future, one that will have a fairytale ending in a prestigious career?

Let’s do this, Tip by Tip! Moving forward, we have divided this write-up into 3 sections that address 25 points that parents must keep in mind while educating their child to succeed.

What Is the Role of a Parent in Their Child’s Education?

Let’s go back to the basics. More like charity education too begins at home. It may surprise you to know but the kind of bond you share with your kid has a direct impact on their learning curve. More than 60% of a child’s learning happens through observation. So, to assume the correct role in your child’s education, you must:

Tip 1: Build a friendship with your child – The good thing about friendship is, it is based on trust. The more your child trusts you, the more they will let you help them. So, be your child’s best friend (someone they can trust and open up to).

Tip 2: Reflect on your attitude towards education – Ever heard the old axiom, ‘seeing is believing’?. As far as you and your child are concerned, ‘seeing is learning’. So, polish your own attitude towards education. Cultivate a reading habit, if you don’t have one (the ‘no-time’ excuse is no good). Even a newspaper should be good enough.

Tip 3: Work on your own seeking spirit – Build up your curiosity. Develop interest in the shape of the Earth, the Mughal rule in India, the number of rivers crisscrossing the country, and on experiments to produce static current.

Tip 4: Make learning fun – Don’t make it a chore that your child has to do before they can do anything else. Keep things interesting. Give your child real-life examples while discussing lessons with them. Keep it simple, logical and easy to grasp.

Tip 5: Raise by praise – Most importantly, complement your child for every small or big achievement. Be it getting a star in class or scoring 10 out of 10 in maths class test, praise them. Similarly, if your child fails to do well, work with them in understanding what went wrong and encourage them to do better. Keep the motivation pouring in!

How to help your child succeed in high school?

High school years are crucial to a child’s future. So, help them make the right choices today that will bloom into a successful career later. Here are 10 things you should do to help your kid excel in the high school years:

Tip 6: Understand your child. Help them focus on their strengths and identify a stream that complements their abilities. However, don’t force this choice on them. Rather, counsel them adequately to arrive at this choice.

Tip 7: Encourage your kids to study hard and master their chosen subjects. High school is the best time to build a solid foundation. While grades are important to get admission to a good college/university, strengthening basics are even more important.

Tip 8: Do your homework. You need to stay updated about what is trending in your child’s universe in order to educate them to succeed. Refer to ‘how to’ guides, read reviews about different courses, and talk to other parents before choosing tuition classes for your kid.

Tip 9: Make time for parent-teacher meets. Attending events like parent-teacher conferences is a great way to stay on top of what is happening. If something is amiss, or you find your child’s grades slipping, these meetings will give you the answers you are seeking.

Tip 10: Teach your child the right kind of competition. A healthy competition is where your child is competing with himself to do his best. The idea is not to be better than the peers: it is to be better than who he was yesterday. Train your child to gradually push his limits, and you will be surprised with the results.

Tip 11: Enforce regular attendance at school. Success has a simple rule: to get up, dress up and show up. To ensure that your child does not stay home for being sick, be mindful of your child’s dietary needs. Make sure your child eats healthy and lives a productive lifestyle.

Tip 12: Keep a tab of your child’s daily performance. Cultivate a sense of responsibility in your child so that they keep up with classwork, homework, unit tests, class assessments etc.

Tip 13: Take your child to museums on weekends, historical sites on vacation, science fairs and literary fests whenever possible. Encourage them to read magazines and journals that complement their choice of subject.

Tip 14: Encourage your child to take up a sport of their choice. Few hours a week can be set aside for the same. High school years are not just about excelling in academics; it is about an overall development. Also, being physically fit will boost your child’s confidence, and confidence is indispensable for success.

Tip 15: Do activities together. Extend a helping hand to your child. Be it in a school project or research work, just be the person they can come to when they need ideas or run out of creativity.

Common Parenting Mistakes & How They Impact Your Kid’s Academic Performance

As parents, you will always have your child’s best interest in mind, no doubt! But parenting isn’t easy, and especially when it comes to education, it gets all the more challenging. Here are a few common mistakes that you may be making unknowingly (which will adversely affect your child’s learning curve).

Tip 16: Don’t nag your kid to study – They will develop apathy towards studies. Instead, encourage them to dream of success, of a beautiful career and tell them the road to success travels through books.

Tip 17: Don’t physically hit your child – Unfortunately, many parents think beating up your child will make them study harder. But, ‘a ruler in one hand and a book in another’ attitude is absolutely unhealthy and a complete no-no. It will take your child far away from both you and education itself.

Tip 18: Don’t ignore your child’s mental health – Sound health is not only about physical fitness. Mental health is equally important, if not more. Approach your child with empathy, and lend them an ear whenever needed.

Tip 19: Don’t become a dictator – Don’t go about issuing a complete ban on TV, Video Games, and Social Media. Regulate their use if you must, and show your child to use them for good reasons.

Tip 20: Don’t blame your child for poor grades – Believe it or not, no one wants to do badly in school on purpose. Work with your child to understand the problems they are facing. If they are not studying, it is important to understand what’s stopping them and how to deal with the hurdle effectively.

Tip 21: Don’t compare your kids to other kids – That way you will be dishing out a blow on their confidence which may take forever to revive!

Tip 22: Don’t discourage or demotivate your child – By not believing in your child’s potential, you are only nipping off the bud that could bloom beautifully someday.

Tip 23: Don’t take out your pent-up frustration on your kid. Life may get really hectic for the adults but your kids should not have to take the blow for that.

Tip 24: Don’t force your unfulfilled dreams on your kids. Parents should not raise kids to become their own image. Instead, they should work towards identifying the uniqueness the kids inherently possess and nurture them endlessly.

Tip 25: Don’t underestimate your child – Do not shame them in front of others or tell them that they are ‘good-for-nothing’.

To sum it up, with a little help and understanding from your side, your child can leave you mesmerized by their performance at school.

Hopefully, you found this article useful! Let us know what you think. Feels like we have missed something? Let us know that too in the comment section.