Guest post: How to Help Your Children Achieve Success in the Classroom with Balance

If you want your child to become successful in life, it’s up to you to set the foundation. As a parent, it’s your job to do all you can to set them up for success. When you’re able to do this, you won’t have to worry about guilt concerning whether or not you did all you could. In fact, as long as you regularly educate yourself on how you can become a better parent, it’ll shine through. In order to help your child achieve excellence in the classroom and in life, embrace your role as their first teacher. As a parent, be the loudest voice in their ear. They need to know that they’re smart, attractive and strong. Be the positive reinforcement their life needs. Also, it’s helpful to cultivate successful habits in a few areas.

Morning Routines 
While you want to finish strong, it’s really important to start strong. One of the best ways to start strong involves developing a morning routine. Adapting a morning routine might seem challenging at first. When your child is used to sleeping in until a certain time, early rising might feel difficult. Benjamin Franklin famously stated that “early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Make sure that your child gets to bed early. When they rise early in the morning, they can study and prepare for the day with a clear mind. If you can help your child cultivate this habit, it’ll serve them in adulthood in so many ways. So many successful people credit their early rising to a lot of the success they experience.

Technology vs. Creativity 
Living in the digital age, there are countless technological advances to learn about. Many schools use tablets, smartboards and other types of tech products to teach lessons. As a parent, you should do all you can to support your child’s ability to learn technology and keep up with the advancements. Use tech-savvy tools to teach different skills at home. You can download children’s apps that teach everything from HTML and coding to building robots. As they learn and become well-versed in the tech world, make sure they know what it’s like to unplug. Monitor the hours of consumption. Whether you allow your child to have an hour of screen time in the evening or two, make sure there’s an alternative activity scheduled. They shouldn’t spend hours in front of the computer. Implement a creative hour. During this hour, they can turn on music and paint. They can work on their new knitting hobby. They can even use the time to try a new recipe or read a book. Just make sure the activity allows them to put the electronics down and engage their brain in a different yet creative manner.

Gaining Support 
There’s an African proverb that insists “it takes a village to raise a child.” Essentially, you’ll want to open up your circle and invite others to be a part of your child’s developmental process. This doesn’t mean your mean uncle gets to take part of the child-rearing process. Instead, be discerning regarding who takes part. Open up and gain support by signing your child up for piano lessons. The right piano teacher will help your child master an instrument and learn life skills. Hire a babysitter for the times when you’re in need of a break. If you’re constantly burned out, it’s hard to be a supportive parent to your child. Call on family members and friends to impart wisdom and celebrate special times like birthdays and graduations. As you work toward making sure you’re surrounded by support, don’t be ashamed to ask for help. Alternatively, don’t be afraid to show up for others. If you have a friend who has a child that’s close to your child’s age, connect for play dates. Put your child in positive environments with positive people. When they’re exposed to positive relationships, they’re more likely to cultivate those types of experiences in adulthood.

School/Life Balance 
Always work on achieving a semblance of balance. For some people, balance might seem like a myth. However, it’s not. If you don’t take the time for a break, you’ll easily get burned out. Plus, you won’t be able to show up fully for others. Instead, develop a “work hard/play hard” mentality in your home. Try to live by this mantra on a daily basis. After a long day where everyone has worked hard, enjoy a great movie at the theater. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weeknight. When you are creating the family schedule, make sure there is room to have fun as well as diligently work. If your child has a science fair project coming up, set aside time for that effort. As you two work on the project, it’s okay to take a break and run to Starbucks. You can get coffee while your child can get juice and cookies. It’s all about finding ways to infuse fun into a busy schedule to achieve balance.