There’s ample evidence to show that success at school (or the lack thereof) starts at home. If parents prioritize school and give their children the resources they need to be successful, they typically thrive. As a parent, it’s your job to give your child all of the encouragement and habits they need to be fun and productive in the classroom.
4 tips for making school fun and exciting
School isn’t designed to be fun, per se. The ultimate purpose is to educate and prepare children to become functional adults in the real world. But who’s to say it can’t also be something kids find enjoyable? Here are a few tips to make it more fun and exciting for your little ones:
1. Let kids pick out school supplies
One of the most exciting parts about school is school supply shopping! This is something young students can get really excited about. The key is to take them with you and to let them pick out some of their own items. This gives them choice in a situation where everything else is largely outside of their control.
Start with the backpack. While there’s nothing wrong with a traditional backpack, scooter luggage is all the rave right now. Not only do they double as backpacks and scooters, but they come in really fun shapes and designs. They’re perfect for kindergarten and early elementary school.
Next come supplies like notebooks, binders, and pencils. While you obviously can’t spend hundreds of dollars on supplies, give your child some freedom to pick and choose the items that catch their eye. This is one of those tiny areas where letting your child take charge will allow you to win other battles down the road.
2. Send your child off with a strong start
Set your child up for a successful day at school by giving them a strong foundation. This includes plenty of water (the brain is 85 percent water) and a healthy breakfast (lots of protein).
Wake kids up with plenty of time to spare before leaving. Nothing is more stressful than trying to rush out the door and fight through traffic before the bell rings. It’s better to have an extra 15 minutes to kill than to stress your child out. The tone you set at the beginning of the day will carry over into the rest of the day.
3. Give each kid a daily mission
Kids must be taught that this is their job. But jobs can be fun too, right? One way to make it more engaging is to give your child a new daily mission at the start of each school day. Examples include:
- Meet a new friend on the playground. Learn their name and their favorite color.
- Remember one interesting fact from history class.
- Complete one homework assignment during your study hall session.
At the end of the day, you can circle up at the dinner table and ask each child to debrief you on their daily mission. You can even create some sort of scorecard at home to track how your students are doing in this regard.
4. Never talk bad about teachers
By and large, teachers do an incredible job teaching our children and raising them to be functional people who are prepared to tackle the real world upon graduation. But not all teachers are perfect. Every now and then, your child will have a teacher that they don’t mesh with. You might even feel like this teacher treats your child unfairly. But whatever you do, don’t talk bad about them in front of your child.
The moment you start talking bad about a teacher, you give them a free pass to say and think whatever they want. It sets a bad precedent and encourages disrespect. Instead, be the parent who helps your child lean into these situations and acquire the skills needed to handle hard things.
Give your kid a head start
We can talk all we want about how the school system is letting our children down – or about how there aren’t enough teachers or resources – but the reality is that so much of a child’s success in school comes back to us as parents.
Are you providing the proper encouragement and support at home? If you’re uncertain of where to begin, use this article as a guide for getting started. By making school fun and exciting, kids view education as an opportunity rather than a requirement. Teaching them how to embrace that little shift from an early age can help.
Story by Darren Wilson
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