How parents can encourage their child toward excellence

Research has shown that parental encouragement is needed for any child’s success. The positive results include everything from excellent grades to can-do attitudes in the workplace. It can even boost primary school students’ reading motivation and level! If you want to see your child thrive in school, their career, and life overall, you should encourage them as much as possible. However, parental encouragement isn’t as simple as it sounds. There’s a more effective way to lift up your child than telling them they’re smart or leaving them with a solid “You got this!” Here is how you can show up for your child in a way that encourages them to keep striving for more and better. Be Present The simplest way to be there for your child is to be there for them physically and emotionally. When they have a special event, attend it so they see your support. If they are stuck on their homework, try your best to help them. If they are feeling down or confused, hear them out so they can release those negative feelings. Being present, in turn, helps you figure out what they are good at, find joy in, and would like to pursue, so you can continue to encourage them in all those areas. Show that you are someone they can turn to in challenging times and rely on when they inevitably fall during their many trials and errors in life. Be Open Keeping an open mind is an important way to encourage your child. They are exploring and learning, and these are activities you want them to pursue for life. When they are contemplating a different activity they want to try out or career they want to explore, encourage them to give it a go instead of dissuading them. They are also learning to express themselves, so give them the freedom to do so, from how they dress to how they decorate their room. Being open-minded allows your child to experiment in life and discover who they are. In turn, they will be more confident, wise, and independent. Be Realistic While you should be open-minded about all that your child wants to pursue or accomplish, you should be realistic about your child’s capabilities. Having low expectations will make your child feel defeated, like there is no point in trying. Having high standards can make your child shrink from challenges because they fear failure. Instead, help them set achievable goals. Simply believing that they will do the best of their abilities will teach them that there is always room for improvement and that’s okay. This will encourage and motivate them to accept good enough for now while striving for better. The important thing is that they keep trying and harness the growth mindset. Be Positive Even with realistic expectations, there is always room for positive reinforcement! Pick them up when they fall, show that you see how hard they’re working, cheer on all their endeavors, and remind them constantly of their worth. You can do the last one by bringing up past examples of when they worked hard, whether they failed or succeeded. Erase their doubts by telling them that they can accomplish whatever they set their mind on with some help, practice, and time. Being positive includes being patient. A child will pick up on impatience and become disheartened. Show them that there is no rush for them to get to where they want to go. Be Rewarding Rewards are also great motivators. You can encourage your child by rewarding them not only for good results but also for good effort. The important thing, again, is that they try, so show that you see them trying and want to reward them for it. You can do this in a way that is productive and lasting. For example, do not reward them with toys or other material objects for the most part. Reward them with something meaningful and heartfelt. This can range from the mundane, like giving them a hearty hug or high five, to something special, like cooking them their favorite dinner or writing a letter about how proud you are of them. — There is nothing more powerful than a parent’s belief in their child and support for their aspirations. With your encouragement, your child can break past any obstacles to their infinite potential. We sincerely believe that every child, including yours, has untapped potential, and our programs and specialised instruction can further help them explore it. Our instructors and directors know how to encourage each and every child to learn in their own unique way through our JEI Self-Learning MethodⓇ. Encourage your child’s continued learning by enrolling them in one of our programmes! They range from JEI English to Brain Safari, a special critical thinking programme for young children. Contact us at 09-444-6284 to speak to a representative today.

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Must-have skill for children #14: critical thinking

"Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used." - Carl Sagan Critical thinking is beyond learning facts and finding the right answer. It is the ability to analyse and understand various concepts and issues, and it is a must-have skill for children. They will use it to complete everyday tasks as adults, move up in their careers, solve problems, and make decisions big or small. Unfortunately, there may not be a direct focus on critical thinking in a traditional school setting, so it is up to you to make sure your child hones this skill and makes the best of their thinking capability. There are many ways that kids can practice their critical thinking skill, which is really made up of multiple smaller skills. These include analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, and problem solving. When your child faces a problem, they should approach it with an open mind. This means exploring all possibilities, accepting that there may be more than one answer, asking questions, practicing trial and error, and making sure they tackle any assumptions that are blocking them from an understanding. However, all children could use assistance. Parents or guardians can help them exercise their critical thinking skills in a variety of ways. Ask the Right Questions There are a lot of different questions you could ask your child to foster critical thinking. One type is the open-ended question, which teaches them that there isn’t always one answer or solution. This also prods them to think outside the box and provide an answer that is not a simple yes or no. You can ask for thoughts, opinions, and clarification, too. When a child tries to explain something, like what they think or how they feel about a topic, they have to exercise their rational thinking to convey ideas in a way the other person can understand. Talking it out also allows them to clear up any confusions they may have. Take a Step Back Sometimes, less is more when it comes to parenting. Whether you’re asking them questions or helping your child with schoolwork, avoid pushing one specific method or answer. Instead, allow room for experimentation and healthy debate. Experimentation allows your child to reach their own conclusions in their unique ways, which is an exercise in critical thinking. As for healthy debates, be open to your child disagreeing with you. It can also help to not intervene right away when siblings are arguing but to guide them toward a resolution using sound reasoning. Make sure to give your child the space and opportunity to resolve their issues and solve problems on their own. Promote a Healthy Curiosity Another important point is to encourage their inquisitiveness, so they seek answers and ponder concepts on their own. This is a great opportunity to put previous tips into effect. For example, when they ask “Why?” you can respond with an open-ended question that encourages them to look for the answer themselves as well as seek more questions. Another example is when they seem interested in a particular topic. You can step back, giving them the full reigns to explore it all on their own instead of telling them what you know. Their curiosity will drive them toward independent, lifelong learning, which goes hand in hand with critical thinking. Provide Mental Exercises Introduce logic practices into their daily life through puzzles, games, and brain teasers. Chess is the archetypal logic game, but there are many others like checkers, Chinese checkers, and Go, all of which challenge the player to predict movements and strategize. This is why learning from gameplay is another must-have skill for children! Then, there are activities like Sudoku, rebus puzzles, mystery nights, and Escape Rooms. Another fun way to work on critical thinking is to build something together, like a robot or treehouse. There is no limit to how your child can apply their critical thinking skills. — For added help, look to none other than JEI Learning Centre, which recognises the importance of improving the overall cognitive abilities of our students. That’s why we have created unique programmes like JEI Problem Solving Math and Brain Safari that challenge students to think outside of the box to solve the problems they face. Additionally, we share weekly brain teasers and host events and critical thinking workshops. We focus on how your child arrives at an answer and encourage creative thinking, fostering an eagerness to learn like no other learning centre! Find a centre near you and ask them about how these programmes will boost your child’s critical thinking skills and motivation to learn.

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Must-have skill for children #13: Perspective taking

“Perspective taking” is the ability to see or feel something from another person’s point of view. Without the ability to understand different perspectives, your child won’t be able to connect with people. Without the ability to connect with people, your child may face more obstacles than they pass. That is why this month’s Must-Have Skill for Children is perspective taking. The skill of perspective taking is an important component of empathy, which every child needs to build good relationships and be active in any community. Empathy enables your child to manage other people’s emotional reactions and resolve arguments or differences, otherwise known as conflict resolution. This improves not only their social life but also their future career success as various studies show empathy can boost business creativity as well as negotiation and leadership skills. There are many different ways your child can work on their perspective taking to become empathetic and successful. Properly Engage in a Social Setting Your child can improve their perspective-taking skill by practicing in a social setting. They should try to react less instantly andlink text listen more carefully. They can practice asking for more details as well as repeating the other person’s thoughts and feelings back to them for confirmation. If they hone these active listening skills, they can better understand where the other person is coming from. The more they do this the more they will be able to understand different viewpoints and react appropriately. This will stop them from jumping to conclusions, making assumptions, or causing misunderstandings while introducing them to different life experiences, thoughts, and ideas. Imagine and Read Books They should also engage in quiet times when they can let their imagination go wild. They can imagine themselves in different situations or as different people. Reading more books can improve their imagination because they plop them into other people’s shoes—however, your child can use some encouragement.  Here’s how you can help: expose them to as many different perspectives as possible. You can do this by encouraging them to read books about diverse people and situations. It is natural for your child to want to read about characters to whom they relate, but it’s important that they expand their horizons and read about characters to whom they don’t immediately feel a connection, whether it’s because they are of a different race, gender, culture, family, or socioeconomic background. While other mediums, like movies, can also help, books are best for inserting your child directly into the minds of the characters. Have New Experiences You can also introduce them to novel experiences, like volunteering at a shelter, becoming pen pals with a peer in another country, or visiting a school in a different residential area (i.e., if you live in the suburb, visit a school in the city). You can also explain other people’s perspectives. This can be through a personal experience, like when your child gets into a fight. In this case, you could stir up compassion by talking about how the person they are fighting with must feel. Guide them with questions like, “How does that make you feel?” “How do you think that makes them feel?” and, “What can you do differently next time?” This can also be through observation, like when you are out with your child and you see somebody’s car break down. You can make comments like, “Oh no, that poor person must be having a hard time…” Eventually, your child will make such observations on their own. — You don’t have to go about this alone—we at JEI can help! A research study shows that improving children’s language development and skills can improve their perspective-taking skills. We offer programmes like JEI English and JEI Reading & Writing to help with this, and we are always developing more programmes and resources to address every child’s specific needs. On top of that, our programmes are aligned with State Standards, but they place greater emphasis on our students’ Emotional Quotient than most schools can with their large classrooms. Our focus on Emotional Quotient means we help students understand others, communicate efficiently, handle challenges, and, yes, take on new perspectives. We can answer all of your questions and start your child with a Diagnostic Test to gauge their current skill levels. Simply pick up your phone and call us today at 09-444-6284.

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