As a parent, you’ll want to make sure that your child achieves everything they’re capable of achieving in life. But the way in which parents sometimes express that can be unhelpful and only serve to pile more pressure on their child. That’s not how you help them succeed though. It’s far better if you take the time to help them succeed without the added pressure.
We’re going to take a look today at some of the things you can start to do differently if you want to make sure that your kids have the best shot possible at academic success. At the same time, the things we’ll talk about will ensure you’re not putting excessive pressure on your child to succeed.
Talk About the Importance of Effort
First of all, you should try to emphasize to them that what’s most important here is making an effort and doing their best at school. If you’re clear about that, it’ll help them feel more relaxed and less under pressure regarding their grades at school. Making them feel like they’ve got to achieve a series of specific outcomes and results can be less useful and more stressful for your kids. Every child is different and some excel at different things, and they should understand that.
Slow Things Down
Sometimes, when you slow things down and help them understand concepts at a slower pace, it helps to cement them in their minds. So if you’ve been noticing that your child has been struggling with particular ideas and that their lessons at school might be moving a little too fast for them, you should do something to change that. Taking things more slowly can calm them down and make them less stressed out about the difficulties they’re having at school too.
Be an Involved Parent
Being involved as a parent can be helpful for your child, as long as it’s done in the right way. It should be about being more supportive and doing what you can to make your child feel that you’re there for them. But it should never be used as another tool to make your child feel more under pressure regarding their schoolwork or their general performance at school. So view it as a way to help rather than a way to be more overbearing.
There are different ways you can be supportive without being overbearing. For example, consider attending school events, volunteering to chaperone field trips, investing in aba therapy services if your child has special needs, or talking to your child’s teacher or principal if there are any issues.
If you are involved in your child’s day-to-day life, then you will be able to spot signs of stress and pressure. Letting them talk about it in a safe space without judgment can help them feel more relaxed and supported regarding schoolwork.
Help Them Understand Their Successes
One thing that’s often overlooked when it comes to helping children succeed at school is helping them understand and review their successes. If you want your child to do well and avoid mistakes and failures, you’ll want to make sure that they have their own formula for success. You can ensure they understand which approaches work by reviewing their success. When they see that the steps they took worked out well for them, they can be encouraged to take those steps again in the future.
Create a Home Environment That’s Conducive to Learning
As a parent, it’s your responsibility to do everything necessary to create an environment in your home that’s going to be as conducive as possible to learning. There are many different things that might involve. You should create a healthy home for good routines for your kids because that’ll impact how well they’ll be able to perform at school. You should also do plenty of reading and encourage creativity because all of these things can help them out a lot in the long run.
Be More Flexible About the Meaning of Success
It’s important to be less rigid when it comes to how you define success. If you’re expecting very specific things from them, they can end up feeling even more down about things when they don’t quite succeed. But being successful can mean lots of different things. Some people might struggle in certain academic subjects but excel in other areas that are no less valid. So don’t make them feel as if their success only matters if it comes in certain areas.
Give Them Extra Practice at Their Weakest Subject Areas
If your child is struggling with a particular subject at school, you’ll obviously want them to get back on the right track sooner rather than later. At the same time, you need to be careful not to bombard them with ideas and to make them feel pressured into improving. It’ll be much more effective if you take on the challenge at your own pace. You can find out more here about preparing some extra practice work outside of the classroom. That way, you can encourage them to keep practicing and keep it casual rather than making them feel under pressure to perform.
Teach Them Independence and Self-Discipline
You can make them feel less under pressure if you help them to feel independent. That doesn’t mean abandoning them or anything like that; it’s more about making them feel that they’re in control of their own self-worth and that they don’t necessarily need validation from others. That way, they’ll feel more responsible for their educational outcomes and work hard for their own sake rather than your approval. Self-discipline is another valuable skill for kids to learn as they study and try to remain focused on their schoolwork.
Encourage Them to Pursue the Things They’re Most Interested In
Finally, you should do what you can to help them pursue the things that they find most interesting at school. That can mean different things to different people, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you allow and even encourage them to follow what they’re interested in, this could pay dividends when it comes to them finding a career path in life as they get a little older.
As you can see, helping your child find success at school without making them feel pressured can be a tough balancing act to perform. But it can be done if you focus first and foremost on them and their particular educational needs. Be sure to make the most of the advice above as you seek to do that.
What do you think?