As a parent, it can feel like a rollercoaster ride watching your child progress through the education system. You travel with them through Shakespearean sonnet recitals, tears over mathematic equations and the many paint splashes from art projects. But, as your child’s academic journey progresses, helping them can become more challenging. You’re not an expert in the art of referencing or checking for plagiarism (although this website can help) and you also don’t want to overstep the mark. So, what can you do?
Talk things through
As a parent, one of the best things you can do is communicate with your child. Whether they’re still young and developing their vocabulary, or have reached adolescence and are writing essays, talking things through always helps them to reach their academic potential. This is because they can become clearer in their ideas and work out what interests them. Plus, you can offer some ideas and feedback. So, make sure you take the time to sit down with your child and talk about how things are going at school or college. Doing so whilst engaging in an activity can make it feel less like school, such as going for a walk or playing a ball game.
Offer to proofread
Another helpful role you can take on as a parent is a proof-reader. Whilst you should never make key changes to your child’s essay or re-write their work, it’s always useful to have another pair of eyes on an essay to spot any typos or spelling errors. You could also offer to listen to your child as they read their essay out loud. By doing this, they will probably spot the errors themselves, and will get a sense of how their sentences are flowing within the essay.
Test them
Students always need people to help test them when they get to intense exam periods. Whether they need help remembering quotes, equations or statistics, you can be useful by reading their textbooks and quizzing them. If they get stuck, think about ways to give insightful clues that don’t give too much away, like acting something out. If you can make it fun, they’ll enjoy being tested and won’t worry as much about the upcoming tests. Just make sure that your child wants to be tested and is in the right mind-frame. Too much pressure or quizzing them when they’re not ready could add extra stress and make them lose confidence.
Tuition
Depending on your child’s performance at school, a time might come when they could benefit from some extra tuition. This might be suggested by a teacher or your child might admit that they’re struggling. Whatever the situation, as a parent, you can establish whether your child might benefit from some extra support, and look into tutors in your area. The best way to find a good tutor is to ask around for recommendations and try out a few. If your child gets on with their tutor and enjoys the sessions, they will enjoy learning.
