5 Parenting Tips To Help Your Child Succeed

We all want the best for our children, but with so much advice out there on what we should be doing and saying, how do we know where to start? I don’t claim to be a parenting expert, but I’ve put together a short list of things that I personally feel will be of benefit to my child and hopefully yours:

1)     Talk about education positively – You may have had a horrible experience at school, but telling your child about it is likely to make them view school in a negative way, and potentially discourage them from getting involved and doing well. Keep all talk of school and education positive, for example recall your favourite subjects, tell your child about an amazing science experiment that you did in school, or the time when your French teacher brought in French foods for you to try.

When discussing things that your child is learning at school try to give them positive examples of where they might use that skill in the future, for example learning how to spell and use grammar will help them make the most of their education and get the best possible job they can in the future. Help them to start thinking about their goals and aspirations early on.

2)     Communicate well with school – It’s really important to maintain good lines of communication with your child’s school from infant school right through to senior school. All teachers have email these days so if you have any concerns about how your child is doing then get in touch with their teacher, and likewise your child’s teacher should feel they are able to contact you as easily.

If your child has any behavioural habits such as interrupting the teacher a lot or not sharing toys with other children then try to reinforce expectations at home, for example making sure that your child knows that it’s polite to wait for their turn to speak and that sharing can be fun as you can play together etc.

3)     Identify any development areas – Keeping in contact with your child’s teacher will also help you to highlight and work on any areas for development that your child may have. Spending some time each day to help your child can really make a big difference, and it doesn’t have to be an obvious exercise. If your child needs a little help with maths, try to think outside the box and ask them simple problem solving questions relating to day to day things.

For example if you’re baking cakes at home with your child get them involved in working out how much of each ingredient you’ll need and how long the cake will take to bake etc. Slipping maths into their daily lives will get them used to applying it to things outside of the classroom and enhance their overall learning.

4)     Think longer-term – It might seem scary thinking about your child’s long-term education when they’re only aged 6 or 7, but if you want to get them into a grammar school, it’s best to get prepared early. There are plenty of tutors out there who specialise in providing everything you and your child need to help with 11 plus exam preparation. The 11 plus exam focuses on Maths, English, Verbal reasoning and Non-verbal reasoning, so look for a tutor that can offer guidance in these areas through theory and practical methods.

It’s important to give your child as much support as possible during the 11 plus preparation process, but remember to let them learn things themselves rather than giving them answers to things. Practice exams and good preparation should help your child feel confident and keep nerves at bay, but if your child in unsuccessful in obtaining entry into the grammar school remember to reiterate how proud you are of all their hard work and that they haven’t let anyone down, and that everything they have learnt will be useful throughout their life.

5)     Get your child involved in household chores – I’m not talking full-on child labour, but as your child gets a little older having an involvement in housework can have benefits for them and for you. If they have set tasks such as emptying the dishwasher or tidying their room etc they will learn to take responsibility for things and feel like a valued member of the household.

If you give them pocket money based on their chores then this should teach them a good work ethic. You could also set them deadlines such as the dishwasher needs to be emptied by 8pm or their pocket money will be docked etc, but make sure you do actually dock their pocket money as an empty threat won’t teach them time management and they’ll think you’re a pushover!

Obviously this list is not extensive and there is a whole internet of advice and tips for parents out there, and you know your child better than anyone so you’ll find what works best for your family, but hopefully this has given you something to think about and a few starting points for helping your child to succeed in life and make the most of their education in preparation for the future.