You want your child to succeed in life and excel at school. You might have spent countless hours researching the right learning approach for your child or the best schools in your city.
Picking the right school is great but there are things you might be doing at home that are accidentally sabotaging your child’s education.
1) Bulldozer Parenting
If you do things for your child that they should be doing by themselves such as dressing them, feeding them, or doing their school projects, chances are, you’re a bulldozer parent.
Bulldozer parenting is exactly what it sounds like. When parents are so scared of their little one failing or being disappointed they’ll essentially “clear a path” for their children, rather than allow them to learn.
Bulldozer parents make kids less likely to try and push themselves. This can affect a child’s confidence, mental health, and social skills.
Encouraging kids to be independent and help themselves is essential for a child’s development. If something is difficult for them, show your child how to do it instead of doing it for them.
2) Crazy Expectations
I teach a student online who goes to bed at 1 am every school day because she has after-school classes every day and isn’t able to do her homework until 11 pm! She’s always exhausted in class.
Now, that’s an extreme case, but most of the older students I teach have packed schedules. They’re constantly taking classes, studying, or doing homework and have very little free time or chill time, even on weekends and holidays!
Academically-minded parents might overdo it by packing their kid’s schedules and not allowing kids time to relax. This can burn them out and cause them to hate school.
As a Reggio Emilia teacher, I’m against homework and tests and find it completely useless and often detrimental to a child’s development. Children learn a lot more by exploring their own hobbies and researching things they actually care about rather than mindlessly memorizing something they were told to memorize in school.
Don’t be the parent who takes all the enjoyment out of your child’s hobbies by expecting them to be perfect at them and constantly pushing them to practice or reach goals. Let kids learn and develop their interests at their own pace. Kids and even teens should have lots of free time and be allowed to just exist and enjoy being young.
Relaxed, happy kids do better in school than stressed out, tired kids. Trust me.
3) Kids Need Sleep and Routines
Even adults need a consistent sleep schedule. Ideally, we should all be going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day so that we get a good night’s rest.
Children not only need a consistent sleep schedule but they should have daily routines so that they know what to expect each day and feel prepared for each activity. If kids are not sleeping regularly and doing things at random times or always in rush, it will affect their behavior and focus at school.
Kids who don’t sleep well are more irritable during the day and have trouble focusing. It can also affect their mental health and how they socialize with others.
When kids learn at their own pace and are given ample time to enjoy their lives and explore their own interests, they’re much happier and well-rounded. They’ll also have a much better chance at being successful than a child who studies 24/7.
Don’t believe me? Watch this podcast with Billie Eilish’s mom where she talks about her parenting style.
Billie and Finneas are doing pretty well…
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