The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
Dr. Seuss
You are the greatest teacher your child will ever have. You can support your kids to focus on the short-term and develop habits for long-term success from an early age. Success begins with making positive changes now.
As a parent, you understand the value of good study habits. But how to make your youngsters embrace them? These four tips can help you do that.
1. Immerse Kids in Their Interests
Think about it, learning is a large part of a child’s development. Young children learn with joy, through everything they do. There comes a time when they ask a bunch of questions. They trust their parents to have answers, so instead of getting frustrated with this phase, support your child’s curiosity.
Pay attention to what they focus on and nudge them to dig deeper. When they are pretending, check what they’re pretending to do. Then, ask them if they want to learn more.
You can easily find opportunities for immersion in their interests. If the animals fascinate them, take a trip to the zoo and delve into the animal world together. Give them the opportunity to form opinions and analyze them through conversation.
By doing this, you’re helping your child form a new learning habit – research. When you encourage kids to explore from an early age, they later might find areas of interest even in the subjects they dislike. You are establishing a pattern for success.
2. Instill the Mini-Habits
The intrinsic motivation for learning drops with age. That’s where mini-habits help. These modest efforts made daily will build up. It’s the power of small wins.
Take reading for example. Your child may look at a book he or she needs to read and think they’ll never be able to finish. Break big tasks into smaller bites to avoid procrastination. This way they will start any task with ease. Let your child read only two pages a day. Dividing the task keeps kids from being overwhelmed and builds confidence through a sense of accomplishment.
Be up front and explain this technique to them so they can use it themselves. When they embrace resilience and patience, it will favor them in adulthood through potential future entrepreneurial ventures where patience is key, and overnight success a myth.
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3. Teach Children the Value of Systems
Introduce your child to the importance of processes as a habit. One way you can help your children focus on the procedure itself is by splitting tasks into smaller, actionable steps.
Maybe you must adjust your own thinking as well. Since you see the big picture, you may want to rush your child. Take a breath and remember that you’re building successful life-long habits – and that takes time.
Studying needs to be an outcome independent habit, as the process alone will almost always deliver a positive outcome.
Practicing to study frequently will help children as they move up in school. When kids understand that paying attention in school, taking notes, and studying itself matter the most, they will be confident they did everything needed. Focusing on the learning process should omit procrastination.
It’s easier to start studying for an exam when you are not afraid of failing. Being outcome independent takes the pressure of finals and other stressful situations as they will be able to break the situation down into manageable tasks.
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4. Help Kids Improve Their Focus
Children’s minds wander, and can be hard for them to be focused. Obviously, small tasks will help. Another way is to encourage their studying preferences.
Analyze your child’s learning style through their studying. Are they repeating what they read aloud? Do they need to see something to remember? Visual learners like taking notes, so provide enough paper and colored markers.
Kids can stay focused with time blocking tools like the Pomodoro timer, as you can make it fun for them. They can monitor their own progress on screen and take frequent breaks.
Agree on the fun options your kid could do during those breaks. This will encourage them to see a task through to the end. Being task-oriented will benefit kids in higher education or when they step into the workforce and have to handle tasks that require focus and continuous work.
Small Tasks Add Up
As you can see, small tasks add up. Teaching your children small wins now builds success as they grow older. In the end, you will see that result you have pictured all along.
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Michelle Laurey is a writer and a remote assistant for a few small businesses. Always interested in ways which can help individuals reach full potential in life, she enjoys producing stories on productivity, lifestyle, and entrepreneurship. Thunderstorms and heavy showers spark her creativity and imagination. After work, she counterfeits the sedentary life with spin classes. Talk to her on Twitter.
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