Helping Your Kids Succeed in School

Whether you’re a first-time parent or not, helping your kids succeed in school is difficult, as every child is different and has their own barriers to overcome. If you want your kids to succeed in school, here are a few ground rules to help them achieve to the best of their abilities.

Don’t Focus on Failure

The most important thing we can do for our kids is to teach them that failure is a part of life. If you shield your child from this, or push them to never fail, they are always going to feel enormous pressure, which will affect them throughout their life. In order to grow as a person, both mentally and academically, we first need to see our failures, so we can learn from them. Nobody is expected to know how to do everything when they first start learning, and for some children it may take longer than others.

When we teach our kids that failure is a part of the learning process, they are less likely to give up or stress when they fail and instead will pick themselves back up and try again. Resilience is key to pushing past failure and improving learning. Being realistic with your kids will help them understand the real world. Shielding kids from failure and overpraising can cause unrealistic expectations of the world.

Find Great Resources

There are hundreds of great resources online like Studocu that can help your children learn and develop their skills in any areas they may be struggling. From educational YouTube videos, to learning apps and practice test websites, there is something out there for every child. If your kids are studying for a test, one of the best ways to see which areas they need to focus on is through practice tests. For CAT4 and a variety of online practice tests, check out Pretest Plus.

Consider Tutoring

If your child is really struggling in a certain area, it may be worth investing some time and money into tutoring. You may want to ask the school if they have any after-school sessions with the teachers, or you can find great tutors in your local area. As much as we try to educate ourselves as parents, sometimes it isn’t enough to help our child succeed. Finding an experienced tutor can help focus your child and teach them in a 1:1 environment, meaning they can get as much support as they need to succeed.

Involve Learning in Everyday Life

Can you remember studying in school and wondering “when am I ever going to use this in real life?”. For many kids, this is a question they ask every day and the more they wonder, the less motivated they will feel in school. We don’t want our kids to think this and while they can cover a whole range of topics we don’t use in everyday life, there are still plenty of ways we can convince them that their learning is important.

For example, while cutting a birthday cake work on fractions or use a map when travelling to incorporate geography into everyday life. The more you do this, the more excited your child will get as they learn new things and can help mum and dad in the real world, showing off their skills. This will help push your kids to succeed in school, as they can begin to understand how learning can help.

Motivate, Don’t Punish

Motivating children to learn can be like trying to get blood from a stone. As parents we have all used threats to get our kids to sit down at the table and get some work done (“No PlayStation for the rest of the night unless you do your homework”). While this may be effective at the time, it can instil poor behaviours and negative feelings around learning.

Children who are constantly punished and threatened to study may find ways in which they can deceive their parents, may begin to learn that threats can solve their own problems, and it can reduce their self-esteem. Instead, show them what poor learning can lead to and how their actions can have consequences. Whether this be them failing their spelling tests or being behind their friends at school, showing them how their actions have consequences is a much better motivator, and a much better life lesson.  

Establish Routine

Having a good routine can help children to dedicate time to their learning. Setting a time each evening where the kids focus on homework will prevent them from missing valuable learning time at home and can establish a routine they will stick to. Doing this from an early age means as they get older, they will continue to take time out of their activities to learn.

It can be difficult to get kids off their games or away from the screen, so setting a time each day dedicated to homework and studying means they’re always aware when it’s time to switch off. Sit with your kids if this helps them get on with their work and be sure to keep this a screen-free environment (except for learning purposes of course). Routine isn’t just about study time; a great sleep routine is essential for a child’s learning and development. Sleeping and waking up at the same time each day will help your child to feel more focused at school.

Turn Learning into Fun

Sometimes your child will not be in the mood to learn, so sitting there and forcing them to complete question after question is going to prove difficult for everyone involved. Turning learning into a game where appropriate can help your child learn, usually without them realizing. If your child is struggling with spelling, why not have a game of Scrabble or Hangman. Searching online will provide a myriad of different maths games to make adding and subtracting fun. Get creative and show that learning can be fun!

It can be hard to motivate children and at a young age, it is impossible to see what life will be like in the future depending on the grades you have. Following these tips can help your child succeed in school. Remember, no matter what grades they come out with, if they are putting the work in, they are doing what they are capable of. Always be proud of the child you have, not the child you wanted them to be.