Helping Kids to Learn to Love School

It’s a curious kid who consistently loves to go to school. Kids may initially overcome their dislike for the first day of school, as they soon make new friends. But, onwards, they will loathe having to wake up early and spending long hours in class.

It’s a daily challenge for most parents to get the kids up for school. And that’s only half of the day’s struggle. Kids also need to be pepped up to do their homework after school.

Parents can actually help to get their kids want to go to school. Every parent’s attitude is contagious to her child. Thus, getting the child to love school starts with Mom and Dad.

As kids look up to their parents for role models, parents are the most influential teachers in their children’s life. And, if ever, parents have to be discriminate in hiring “yayas,” since these helps are the ones that assume the parental role with kids in the parents’ absence. A “yaya” is also a very important mentor.

Things that parents want their kids to be interested in – like reading, for example – shall be practiced by the parents themselves. When parents read a book, they are showing to their kids that reading is fun and a good way to learn. Then the kids may pick up the habit.

Some kids may complain about this or that teacher. They make it an excuse for not wanting to go to school. It may just be an alibi with the little ones – but it is also good opportunity for parents to teach the complaining kids to respect elders, to reassure them that teachers only have good intentions for them. The kids need to understand that it’s the same thing at home when Mom and Dad insist for them to do something they don’t like but is actually good for them.

It’s true that schoolchildren nowadays are laden with too much homework. But homework is very much a part of a kid’s school experience, while it sure adds to the stress of an already complaining child. Parents shall come to the child’s rescue by designating a homework area and establishing house rules conducive for the kid to do class assignments comfortably and effectively.

Too many activities scheduled into the child’s day can drain and bore the child. Music lessons, baseball practices, art classes, karate tournaments may be fun for kids, but too much of such activities can also be suffocating for them. When the child shows early signs of a dislike for school, parents shall investigate and act at once.

By talking to their kids about the different activities they participate in at school, parents get an idea as to which activities fire them up and which ones turn them off.

There’s also learning in fun after-school activities. Allowing time for kids to pursue interests outside of class will give them something else to look forward to when the school day is over. It can even be made a motivation for them to do well in school.

It also helps to welcome the kids’ classmates at home. Kids who bring their new friends home often become popular at school. Having many friends at school gives the kids more reason to love going to school.

It has to be emphasized to the young minds, though, that with friends, quality is more important than quantity. It is not important to attain ‘celebrity’ status among their peers, but to have meaningful relationships with others.

Indeed, parents have to be active participants in their kids’ education. It is not enough to send the kids away to school. Parents need to see to it that the kids themselves love to go to school.

When kids see the value that their parents put on their schoolwork and progress, they are proud. The little ones will try to do better at school. And it’s likely that there will be no more need to force them out of bed in the morning – they’ll just be raring to go to school on their own.