Children have potential within them. As parents, it’s only natural to want to promote said potential. But learning doesn’t occur overnight. It’s a long process that takes patience and much love.
But who knows? Maybe you have a little Einstein at home and discover so at a summer camp in Singapore. Once you follow these tips, it’s only a matter of time before you see results.
1) Sign Them Up for Sports
Exercise is well-known for its ability to release endorphins and reduce stress. Children are human beings, too, meaning they can benefit from working out. It’s not only for grown-ups! Indeed, kids have a lot of energy they won’t spend otherwise.
Most parents sign their kids up for sports at young ages. They do it to keep the toddlers active and have some time off to attend to other responsibilities. Without knowing it, they’re doing the kids a great favor. Sports promote sleep, memory retention, and reading, among other abilities.
You don’t need to worry about your child wasting time or getting distracted from their academic journey. It’s the opposite – the kids will perform better in some cognitive areas thanks to physical activity.
2) Make Sure They Rest Well
This tip goes hand in hand with the previous one. After exercising, your kids will probably be exhausted and can only think of going to bed early. Even if your children don’t engage in physical activities, they still need a good night’s rest. It’s part of our parenting job to create a sleep schedule that allows the younger ones to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily.
Research suggests that sleep deprivation may reduce children’s ability to concentrate and focus for long periods of time. This will unavoidably reduce their academic performance. According to some studies, kids who lack sleep are more likely to struggle to solve math and socialize with their peers.
If you want to help your child learn better and faster, ensure they sleep well every night!
3) Create a Fun Learning Environment
What kids love most is games and playing. It’s only natural, as it’s the way they explore and discover the world. We all experimented in fun ways when we were younger, and now it’s time our children do the same.
There are numerous ways to engage in fun learning environments. Summer camps are one great example. Your kids socialize with other children and learn new things, like in the Newtonshow camp. Is your little one a potential scientist? Let’s find out!
Another fun activity is role-playing. Say you want to boost your child’s maths. You can pretend to be a buyer while your kid is the cashier. They will have to give the correct change and calculate, and they’ll probably have a fun time. Also, learning through doing is the best way to retain knowledge in the long term.
4) Music Lessons
Research suggests that music lessons develop both cognitive and socio-emotional abilities. The good news is that you don’t have to sign them up for a specific, prestigious school. Your kids will notice the benefits just by learning to play musical instruments at home or reading music partiture.
Neuroscientists have proven that music instruction accelerates brain areas that process sound, speech, perception, and even language development. If you happen to have a guitar or piano at home, you know what comes next.
5) Memory Strategies
Memory is a life-long ability we must train and develop. It’s where our knowledge lies and what helps us get through the day. How do you get to work or school daily? If it weren’t because you have the path memorized, you would need a map every single day.
Some kids struggle with memorizing and learning new concepts. You can boost their academic life by teaching them mnemonics hacks and other tricks.
For example, maths is usually tricky for children. Did you struggle to learn how to multiply by 9? Don’t worry, as you’re not the only one. Luckily, there’s a popular trick that helps multiply by 9. This hack is a great example of boosting your kid’s performance.
6) Integrate Frameworks
Are you familiar with Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development? Long story short, ZPD is the range of skills a person can perform with assistance but cannot yet perform independently. What does this imply?
It means the kid has the potential to, say, write a perfect sentence, but they still need your help and guidance. Some schools encourage more advanced students to tutor those fellows behind, but you can also help as a parent!
Sit next to your toddler and help them perform the desired ability. Slowly back away and let the kids work independently. Eventually, they’ll paint that flower or play with the abacus without effort – thanks to you.
7) Help Kids Explore New Options
Let’s be honest. Learning the same thing can get boring in the long term. Kids appreciate new options and tasks occasionally. You can help by encouraging them to learn new things like morse code or sign language. Of course, it depends on their age.
Remember that learning by doing is the best way to retain information while having fun. If you teach them the language sign, show them videos of people talking it or take the kid to practice it with somebody else.
We know it can be challenging to boost your children’s abilities and learning experience by yourself. Summer camps or extracurricular activities are your go-to option if you are busy.
8) Allow Them to Make Mistakes
No one is born a genius. The sooner you realize that making mistakes is a way of learning, the healthier the relationship your kids will build with the learning process. We, humans, learn via trial error. As parents, it’s only natural to want to prevent accidents. But they happen sometimes, and that’s okay.
Everything will be okay if the activity doesn’t involve much risk. When your kid makes a mistake, explain what they could’ve done differently to achieve better results. The experience will most likely imprint on them, and they’ll do better next time.
9) Use Reinforcement and Rewards
There are two main ways of shaping your children’s behavior: you can reward them (to increase the behavior frequency) or punish them (to reduce the frequency). Psychologists advise you to use reinforcement and rewards instead of punishment. Research suggests that punishment can negatively impact the kid’s self-esteem and attachment style.
Everyone loves being rewarded for hard work, and children are no exception. If your kid aces a math test, they probably want to be rewarded. It doesn’t have to be a big prize but something as simple as letting them watch their favorite TV show or eat candy. Psychology research advises you to reward the child right after the desired behavior. This way, kids will associate said behavior with a positive consequence. “If I get an A in math, I can eat ice cream when I get home!“
Positive reinforcement will motivate and encourage your kids to perform better academically. It can also be extrapolated to other behaviors, such as social interactions. Give it a try!
10) The Right Friends
At a certain point in your kid’s life, you won’t have a say in whom he hangs out with. Fortunately, you still do. That means you can try to get your children to interact with fellows who positively influence them. We’ve all heard that story of a brilliant kid that got caught up in questionable friendships and strayed.
To avoid this happening to our kids, we can make sure they hang out with intelligent, curious teammates. Encourage your child to chat with high-performing students but also kind people. Remember that learning and intelligence are key in our lives, as are kindness and moral values. You’ll notice how your kid performs better and their social life grows.
11) Use Tech
Many children find learning math, especially multiplication tables, boring. Practicing the tables by playing funny games is the answer, and MultiplicationGames.com offers this service. The games on this site are entirely free, and you do not need to register or download anything to play them.
Conclusion
We know you want to help your child perform their best. Here is the summary of what we discussed throughout the article:
- Create a fun learning environment. Allow your child to explore and try new things like learning morse or sign language.
- Encourage the younger ones to take up an instrument or a sport they enjoy (basketball, swimming, football..).
- Allow them to make mistakes. We learn best by doing and trial and error. Our mistakes imprint on us and help us do better next time.
- Make sure your kids hang out with kind, hard-working teammates.
- Reinforce your kid when they do something good. Did they get an A+ in History? Reward them with something they like!
Sometimes life gets in the way, and you don’t have time to engage in their education. That’s when you want to resort to summer camps like Newtonshow camp in Singapore. But the best option is to complement these summer programs with the advice given in the article. You will notice a huge improvement in your children’s academic performance and overall development: cognitive and social. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find out you have a little genius at home!
