The goal is not to come out with lines such as “learning is fun”. As a child, learning isn’t always fun. We all remember that. We all might’ve had a few subjects that piqued our interest enough for us to retain attention during lessons, but we all definitely remember those lessons during which it was difficult to stay awake. Learning isn’t always fun but it is necessary for growth and development. The goal is to support your child and find ways to make learning as easy and enjoyable as possible. Show them that it’s “fun” (or important), rather than telling them.
If you want to help your child to think school is cool, then you need to get to the root of why they’re struggling in the first place. It’s hard to come up with a specific answer because every kid is different. Only your child knows why they’re struggling, so it’s up to you to work with them in order to overcome those struggles. It might be due to a subject, a teacher, a classmate, or a personal struggle. Whatever the case, the advice in this article might help you to change your child’s attitude towards school.
Help them academically.
Most of us struggled with some subject in school. Perhaps it’s only a certain part of a certain subject (for instance, long division in math), but your child may be the same way. You need to help them even with the subjects they hate. You might want to look into companies such as towerofenglish which offer private tutoring services in English. If your kid is struggling with spelling or grammar, then you need to think about the knock-on effect this will have on all their subjects. Obviously, many subjects relate to other areas of school, so you shouldn’t dismiss your child’s academic struggle even if it’s only taking place in one lesson. A knowledge of maths can help with science, and a knowledge of geography can help in history.
The point is that there’s a lot of overlap in education, so poor efforts in one subject can lead to problems in other topics. You need to work hard to make sure your child is as much of an “all-rounder” as possible whilst not discouraging their efforts to really give it their all in their favorite subjects. They’ll want to specialize in a certain area when thinking about careers one day. Of course, you shouldn’t let them get into the mentality that “this is the only subject that matters because it’s the only one I like”. It’s about finding a healthy balance.
Get them engaged in things outside of school.
Your child has a lot of interests. We might all be individuals but each of us has something about which we’re deeply passionate. And we all remember being passionate about things as children too, even if our interests were different to what they might now be. That’s why extracurricular activities could be the key to helping your child love school. If they love sport, then you could find an afterschool club in some sport they love. The same applies if they love music or dance. Even if none of the extracurricular activities directly relate to your child’s interests, you could find something in which they could make friends and have a fun time. This is all about helping your child make the mental connection in their head that “school can be fun.” After school, they’ll have a little more freedom to get into an interest without the worry of homework.
Focus on their friendships.
The friends we make at school are people we’ll never forget. If there’s something that makes education worth it, whether we’re talking about toddlers at preschool or young adults at college, it’s the people we meet along the way. And if your child isn’t enjoying school then you might want to focus on their relationships with other people. If their studies aren’t suffering too badly, then it’s very likely that your child’s hatred of school could be stemming from a lack of friends.
Perhaps more importantly, your child might be lacking close friends. As is often the case when children want to fit in, they might do things to be cool and get in with the popular crowd, but this won’t make your child happy if they don’t truly like those people. Encourage your child to form meaningful relationships with people they like, people who share their interests and make them laugh are the people with whom they should be pursuing friendships over anyone else.
Maintain a healthy home life.
One of the best ways to help your child to enjoy school more is to give them a supportive and healthy environment. It’s hard to be positive on a permanent basis as an adult with a hectic lifestyle, but you certainly need to be a positive influence on your child. Work on a more energetic and upbeat attitude if you want to see the same traits in your little one. You’re the number one role model for your kid and that means you have to be the person you want them to be. Influence them to be more positive towards their homework by being positive towards the subject too. Give them a break by playing a fun game with them. You need to be with them step by step on this journey through school; be the support they need throughout their childhood.
Get to know their teacher.
As a final piece of advice, a great way to ensure you’re up to date with your child’s progress at school is to get to know their teacher. The one question children hate more than any other is: “how was school today?” You can bypass that question completely by talking with your child’s teacher when you come to school to pick up your kid. Obviously, you don’t need a daily report; you don’t want to be a pest. But the point is that you can check whether your child is doing well at school without having to ask them directly.
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