The One Catastrophic Mistake Parents Make When Helping Children Learn And How To Avoid It.

I hate when this happens.  And it happens often.  What am I talking about? Parents doing their best to help their child succeed in school yet making the one catastrophic mistake that makes all their effort useless.

It goes something like this.  Child comes home with homework that he struggles to complete.  Parent rushes to help by telling child how to do the work.  Child looks confused and says ‘That is not the way my teacher told me!’  Parent frustrated because her help is rejected.  Everyone is upset.  No one knows why.

The big catastrophic mistake parents make is to assume that the best way they can help their child is by giving them ‘more school’, is by taking over the role of the child’s classroom teacher by trying to teach their child what he or she should have learned in the class.

Let’s be clear – parents have a vital role to play in helping children learn but their role is very different from that of the teacher.  Parents don’t need to give their child ‘more school’ they need to support their child in the way that only a parent can.  And if they don’t do this their child misses out and will never reach his to her potential.

How do parents avoid doing this?  Until now it has been almost impossible to avoid taking on the role of the teacher because no one as telling you what else you should be doing.

But that has changed.  Research states that what you do with your child AT HOME DURING REGULAR FAMILY ACTIVITIES is much more important to a child’s success than when you give your child ‘more school’.

Your role is to set the scene for learning, to make sure that your child is ready to learn, to ensure that your child can benefit from what the teacher is teaching.

When you get your child ready to learn and teachers teach your child what he has to learn your child is getting the support you are guaranteeing the your child is on the way to the future you both have dreamed of.