How to Help Your Children Excel in Studies

Children who do good in studies enjoy more advantages than others. Hence its very important to help your children maintain good academic record. Here are 10 ways to help your children excel in studies:

1. Give Them A Good Start

Young children are learning machines. They learn faster than adults. You can give your children, especially if they are below five years of age, a good start in education by using these simple techniques…

a) Read aloud stories from books. This helps to develop reading and imagination skill in children.

b) Talk a lot with your children. This helps to develop language skill.

c) Put on music for young children. Teach them to sing simple songs. Research is showing that music is not only good for overall health, but it is good for brainpower too!

d) Explore things with them, like—toys, various objects at home, plants, flowers, etc. See, touch, turn around the objects in your hands along with your children. Ask questions and discuss the objects playfully. This helps your children to learn more about their surrounding world.

e) Answer your children’s questions. If you don’t know the answer, then try to find it out together.

2. Have a good library in your home

a) Atmosphere of reading, learning and parents’ habits strongly influence children’s behaviour. When parents take interest in reading, their children also develop interest in reading.

b) So build a library of good books in your home. Display books prominently in the area where children see most.

3. Link School with Fun

a) Many children don’t like to go to school. Hence, you can use some simple tricks to arouse their interest in school.

b) Don’t just ask about what was taught in school, or what homework has been given. First ask your children, “What interesting thing happened in school today?” “What fun you had in school today?” “What you and your friend did in school today?” This would make your children aware of enjoyable things in school.

c) Such questioning creates an impression in children’s mind that school is not just about teachers and studies, but it is also about friends, play and fun.

d) Also, if your children do not like to go to school, then check whether they are having any problem at school (for e.g. bullying.) Then try your best to solve it. You can also ask the teachers to help you in such cases.

4. Let them dance to their own Rhythm

Every child may not like to get up early in the morning or do homework right after returning from school. Some like to play first. Some like to study at night, some at morning. Then there are children who want complete silence during studying, while others don’t care if there is silence or not.

Let your children study at a time when they feel comfortable. Let them study in a style they like—what matters is that they should complete their study work on time and learn the study material properly.

5. Replace Scolding with Selling Benefits!

Children get easily distracted by TV and games. Parents have to repeatedly remind them to sit and study. Once a parent told us that his son did not study regularly, even when he scolded him repeatedly “Study or you will fail.”We asked him to use another trick. We told him to remind his son to study by saying, “Study well, you will live a rich life.” Soon his son scored 85% in exam, which was a big improvement over his past performance!

Scolding is not known to give good results. But we have witnessed miracle-like transformation of disinterested students into top performers, when they were made to realize that good performance in studies leads to rich life style. And poor performance leads to poor living.

6. Don’t Do Negative Programming

“You are so lazy, you don’t do your homework.”

“You are dull, you don’t remember anything.”

“Study, or I will shut you up in your room.”

If you think this kind of remark will make your children reach eagerly for their books, then forget it. More probably, they will be hurt and angry. Even if they do reach for their books, they will not be reading it happily. What’s more damaging is that, if children are frequently scolded, threatened, or worse, beaten to do their studies, then they begin to associate studies with hurt,fear, anger, and pain. That’s why many children find excuses to avoid studying when they grow up.

7. Help Your Children to Use Better Study

Success in studies depends very much on mental attitude and use of smart study methods. Our experience shows that even a failure or average student can improve his or her performance by using better study techniques eg methods To Learn Fast and Score High

8. Encourage Your Children To Be Curious

Answer your children’s questions. If you don’t know the answer, tell them, “Let’s search for it together.” And search for it in books at home. Or bring books from library. Or look it up on internet. Such actions will make your children realize the value of knowledge, expose them
to methods of searching for information. And also make them happy that you care enough to answer their questions.

9. Connect Learning With Day-to-Day Life

I had once gone to picnic with a group. In our group there was one couple with two young boys. As we were traveling on the road, the father pointed out, “Look, that is the area where mining is done. You have a chapter on it in your science textbook, isn’t it?”His two boys looked out of the window excitedly and began rattling off, “Yes, we have studied it. The name of this mining area is…” By pointing out the mines, the father had brought the topic out from the textbook into real life, thus making it more interesting for his children. Indirectly he made his children realize that what they study in books have value in real life. Whenever possible, link what your children study with everyday life. Show it to them. Find ways to use the information in daily life. If they learn about plants, ask them to study the plants in the garden. If they learn about animals, take them to zoo. Pay visit to museums and science exhibitions. Now this may not be always possible. But do this whenever you can. Try to make learning interesting.

10. Give Them The Edge

Thousands of students pass out of college every year. How can your children stand out from this mass of degree holders? How can they survive and succeed in this age of cut-throat competition?
Give them additional, practically useful training. Like, Training for...
a) using their mind power more efficiently

b) using better study techniques

c) learning skills essential for career development

d) sharpening creativity

e) managing stress

f) developing good personality, etc.

Such training helps to build positive mental attitude, winning qualities, success skills, and inner confidence. This in turn translates to—success, peace, satisfaction and good life.