There are a lot of things that parents do right and things that can be improved to help their students have better educational experiences. And it all starts in the home. Though teachers spend a lot of students’ day with them, a lot of their most important learning happens at home. Below I have listed a few things that can help improve a child’s educational experience.
Model Behavior
Children are like sponges, they absorb information from everywhere, especially what they see their adults doing. Adults at home are the most influential source of information for children. If they see you reading, they will want to read. If they see you scrolling on your phone for hours, they will probably want to do that too. If a parent yells at them, the child will likely want to yell their frustration as well.
A great way to help your child is by showing them that you care. Not just about their education but them, what they want, what they like and most importantly, listening to them when they are talking. Your attentiveness will impress upon your child on how to engage with other human beings. Being engaged with your child will help them to become more engaged students, which will go a long way throughout their education.
Encourage Extracurricular Participation
We are social creatures, meaning we need other human beings in order to survive. Sometimes it can be difficult to find the people we can spend time with. But encouraging children to engage in extracurricular activities may help them to discover their community. Go through the list of options with your student and see if they show interest in any groups, clubs or sports.
If they do, show interest too and encourage them to pursue their interests, even if it isn’t something you are particularly interested in. Clubs and sports also have the additional benefit of helping students hone their skills. If they are in a journalism club, they will become stronger writers, which they can carry with them throughout their lives. If they join a sport, they will gain athleticism and an understanding of physical health, which they can also carry with them throughout their lives.
Helping your child find their school community will help them develop better social skills and make them more confident and comfortable going to school. Students learn best when they have a comfortable learning environment. It allows their brains to relax and when they are relaxed, they are able to learn even more.
Pressure
Though carbon is an important element in the creation of humans, we cannot survive the pressure required to turn us into diamonds. The same is true for students and their abilities. If too much pressure is applied to kids, they will eventually crack under the pressure. Some find ways to cope enough to make it through their education but some crack under that pressure at much earlier ages, and healing those cracks takes more time than students have to be with themselves.
Education systems today place a high amount of importance on the success of students and society equals that pressure. A quick scroll through social media will reveal a large number of people who are seemingly geniuses, and our students do not always recognize that some of those people have whole teams helping these influencers look smarter or funnier than they may be alone.
It is also worth mentioning, success takes on different meanings for different people, but I think Emerson was on to something when he said, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -This is to have succeeded.”
Be Involved
The previous points boil down to one main concept, involvement. Students thrive when their adults at home are involved in their education. Show an interest in what they are learning. Help them where you can and learn with/from your students. Make it a point to attend their extracurricular activities, and be there for them. Just seeing their adults in a crowd of strangers is enough to encourage a child to keep going, or even to try harder. As previously stated, children tend to show interest in the things their adults are interested in. They are trying to find their way in their world, and adults at home are the most influential source. Help them to find interest in their education.
Seek Help!
As a parent or guardian, you have enough on your plate. Being able to help your child with the above tips is great but not all of them are entirely realistic without help. If you need help, ask for it! This is one other thing to model for your children. It can be very hard for kids to ask for help and if they don’t see their adults at home asking for help, they are even less likely to. If you need help or support, seek it out. If that’s asking the teacher for advice or finding your child a tutor or after-school program. There are plenty of services and people out there ready and waiting to support you and your child.
Conclusion
There is no one size fits all model when it comes to education or teaching because we are all individuals, and we all need something different. The best way to help our students is to show them how to find what works for them, and that starts at the home. Model for them how to be adults, show interest in what they are doing, avoid applying too much pressure and get involved where you can. Above all, show your child how much you love them as often as you can because that is the thing that will last the longest in the school experience.
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