Young children often find that learning is exciting when they’re in the right preschool and early childhood education center. Connecting with their teacher and fellow students can help them look forward to getting to school each day, too. As a parent, you can also empower your children to embrace learning by enhancing their education when they’re hanging out with you at home.
Set Aside One-on-One Time and Family Time With Your Kids
Interacting with each child one on one is important for you and your kids. However, it’s also helpful for you all to spend time together as a family. Children learn so much from their siblings. So learning together can help younger children get a leg up on their education. It can also encourage older children to help their younger siblings with learning.
Set aside specific one-on-one time with each child each week. That can be challenging, but try to prioritize it when possible. Consider trading off with a co-parent, so you can take turns watching all the children together and spending individual time with each child. If that’s not doable, you may hire a babysitter for a couple of hours on the weekends to make it work.
When planning what to do during your one-on-one time, consider where each child is with their education. One of your kids may need to work on their social skills if they have a problem making friends in preschool. That can be part of supporting their education, too. Another child may need to work on reading, while another child may need to work on expressing emotions.
Lead the Way With Exercise
Physical activity and exercise are essential parts of your children’s education and wellness, too. Different schools have different levels of physical activity, but a love of movement and exercise will start at home. Lead your kids in family exercise a few times per week.
Something as simple as a nightly walk after dinner on weekdays is great. While you’re talking together, you may ask them questions about how their week is going and what they’re learning in school. You may also lead your family in sporting activities. For example, taking your children roller skating or ice skating can help them develop stability, endurance, and strength.
Encourage Intrinsic Motivation
Children often respond well to reward systems; they might be more interested in doing chores if they get to choose from a set of educational prizes when they’re finished. This sort of strategy often has good results, but it might not be effective in the long run because your children might be unmotivated if they aren’t tempted by any prizes.
Instead of offering rewards, instill intrinsic motivation in your children. With the ability to motivate themselves to learn, they won’t have to rely on incentives to accomplish tasks and succeed in their education. Some tactics you can use to encourage intrinsic motivation in your kids:
Praise their efforts. If your child comes to expect praise only when they succeed, they might be easily discouraged by failures. Point out when they are trying really hard so they come to view effort and even failure positively.
Set realistic expectations. Make sure your kids understand what’s expected of them, and make those expectations realistic for their abilities.
Notice progress. Set milestones for your kids to hit as they work, and point it out when they reach and surpass these milestones.
Encourage feeling proud. When your child accomplishes a difficult task, let them feel proud about their efforts and their success.
With these tactics, your children can learn to motivate themselves and seek success in school, sports, and other activities on their own.
Finally, talk to your children’s teachers for more ideas on how to best support lessons that are being taught in the classroom. If you are looking for the right place for your children to learn, contact Advantage Learning Center for all your young child’s educational needs in Lakewood. We serve families in Denver and the surrounding communities.
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