Everybody needs a few words of encouragement once in a while. With the many ups and downs each school year brings, positive encouragement can go a long way in keeping your child in the right mind frame to remain optimistic, improve, and achieve success. Students encouraged by parents, teachers, and tutors have shown the ability to be more resilient and confident, with the willingness to work to overcome adversity.
There are many ways we can encourage our students and help get them excited to learn and motivated to work hard. Here are a few methods that you can use to enable them to reach their potential.
- Recognize and Praise Effort
Simple words of encouragement when your child has tried their best or performed well in class can motivate a student. Not only can it help to keep them focused and motivated, but it also encourages positive self-worth and self-esteem. Aside from praising results and effort, encouraging curiosity and supporting them as they develop and follow their passions can lead to a child eventually becoming self-motivated. A simple “great work” or “I see how much you’re improving” can make your child more eager to learn. - Get Involved
Showing an active interest in your child’s academic life can be very beneficial and help them to stay committed to working hard. Doing their homework with them and discussing what they’ve learned each day helps to show them that school can be exciting and fun. You can also share stories about your school days and what some of your favourite subjects were to remind them that you have been on the same journey that they are on. Excitement can be contagious! Keeping the energy high in the house can translate to more energetic work in the classroom. - Learn From Mistakes
Only some tests or assignments are going to get an A-plus grade. Encouraging your child to keep calm and work through failure can be an invaluable life lesson that will carry them far beyond their school years. Showing perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity will help to strengthen their character and make them better students overall. If they learn to recognize and acknowledge their weaknesses, they can learn that improving by working harder or asking for help can be highly beneficial and satisfying. The ability to tolerate imperfection is critical to any child’s educational journey. It is a lesson that you can help teach them by being empathetic and turning a child’s failure into a teachable moment. - Set Goals
Encourage and help your child to set realistic short-term and long-term goals. The short-term goals will help to keep them consistently focused and motivated throughout the school year, and the long-term goals will give them something more significant to strive for. It will also allow you to encourage them as they approach deadlines or exams and adjust their study routines and habits as you discover their strengths and weaknesses. Whether a student is just learning to read or studying for high school exams, the benefits of combining short-term goals that point in the direction of an ultimate goal can prove very beneficial. - Engage in Additional Supports
Another way to boost your child’s confidence and encourage them to improve is to get outside help. Setting them up with a tutor or inquiring about after-school help programs at their school can be an excellent way to lessen their stress with classroom struggles or homework. Showing you care and taking an active interest in their success is a beautiful way to provide encouragement and contribute to their growth and success as students.