5 Things Parents Can Do to Set Their Kids Up for Success
Before you have a child, a million questions race through your mind. Are you ready for this situation? Do you have everything you need? Do you have plans in place for their health, finances, education, and other needs as Parents?
One of the most important factors to consider is what you can do early in their lives to set them up for future success. You are building the foundation for your child’s life; how can you strengthen it?
Wanting the Best
Every parent wants their child to succeed. With all the work that goes into raising a child, seeing them happy, healthy, and thriving (whatever that means to them) is the ultimate reward. Of course, parents play a major role in how their child matures and develops. So is there anything they can do to set them up for success from a young age?
The science says yes. There are actually a number of things a parent can do, model, and implement to help their children develop better skills that will only get stronger as they grow older.
1- Parents Teach Perseverance
Children are always paying attention, they expect their parents to tell them how to live, how to navigate the world around them, by modeling it for them. That’s why it’s so important for parents to set a good example by doing tasks the way they want their children to do them when they grow up.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studied the perseverance of more than 500 4-5 years old and how much effort they put into completing a task after watching an adult do it. The results showed that children who observed an adult persevering, working hard, and emphasizing the importance of hard work all persevered longer at the task, even when things got tough.
2- Parents are Involved in Their Child’s Learning
A team in England conducted a study in which they interviewed academic experts and reviewed other recent studies on the relationship between a parent’s involvement in their child’s learning and their child’s academic success.
All of these sources, when collected and analyzed together, showed that parents’ active involvement in their child’s learning greatly helps their child succeed in school later in life. When a child is young, this could include reading to them, listening to them read, and helping them learn basic lessons like the alphabet.
When the child is older, this can mean being involved in school outings, checking in on their child’s progress with their homework (in a friendly way, offering to help if needed), and showing genuine interest in their school activities.
3- They Help Build Their Attention Span
Many people are easily distracted. We all have different attention spans that can be affected by a number of factors, but building that attention span is something parents can help their children do from a young age.
According to Stanford psychology expert, becoming “unfocused” is one of the most important skills young people will need in the years to come. He believes that limiting screen time is a simple and effective way for parents to prevent their child’s attention span from declining, but you need to let them know why you’re doing it.
Another important factor is letting your child set their own limits. You want him to feel in control of the decision. By respecting his opinion, he will feel less like it’s a punishment and will, therefore, be less upset by his choice.
4- Prioritize the Mother’s Happiness
This seems quite different from the other advice given so far that has focused on the parent-child relationship, but it’s true that happier mothers help children achieve academically at a higher rate.
Researchers from the Marriage Foundation and the University of Lincoln looked at data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a long-term study of 13,000 couples who had a child born in 2000 or 2001. They assessed the couples’ satisfaction with their relationship when their child was nine months old, and then re-examined them 14 years later.
The study found that mothers’ happiness had a greater influence on a range of outcomes.
The study found that mothers’ happiness had a greater influence on a variety of outcomes than fathers’. For example, a mother’s happiness was twice as powerful as a father’s in predicting whether a couple would stay together and in determining mental health problems in boys. Similarly, only mothers’ happiness was correlated with mental health problems in teenage girls.
5- Parents Enroll Their Child in Music Lessons
Finally, the simplest and most straightforward step is to enroll your child in music lessons. A study conducted by the University of Georgia and the University of Alabama looked at more than 2,300 parents of children ages 7 to 17 who were currently enrolled in music lessons. Parents reported that these lessons contributed to their children’s development in several ways.
About 85% felt the lessons improved their child’s patience, 68% felt the lessons improved their child’s time management and organizational skills, 83% felt the lessons helped their child become more self-aware, and 71% felt the lessons helped their child prioritize tasks and reduce screen time.
Growing Older, Growing Stronger
There’s no way to 100% guarantee your child’s success and growth, but fostering healthy habits and helping them develop important skills should be a priority. Beyond the potential future payoff, traits like the ones listed here are valuable for navigating everyday life, meaning your kids will feel more secure and confident simply because they have them.
Parenting is a constant balancing act between what can help and what can hinder your child. By knowing where to start to promote positive habits, new parents can build a foundation where their child feels confident, and then let love guide them the rest of the way.
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