As an entrepreneurial Mom, you often have to balance your own career and making sure your kids are getting all the support they need to progress in life.
When you have younger children, this can be hard enough. But as your kids grow and become older, the kind of support they need – especially educationally – might be beyond what you can offer them.
There is no shame in this.
It simply means your kids are following a different path, and your spheres of knowledge are no longer completely overlapping.
In this global time of change and uncertainty, you may not want to send your child out of the house for anything other than essential school and tasks.
Here are some ways you can help your kids educate themselves within the safety of your own home.
Simply Listen
The power of listening cannot be overrated. Encouraging your child to speak to you about their interests – even to teach you about them – is the best way to support their self-learning.
This is most important if your child is fascinated by something you have no interest in; perhaps they love software and games coding, but you work in healthcare and would love nothing more than to see them become a doctor.
Stop right there! Your job is to facilitate your child’s joy, and showing disappointment or scorn in their interests is the fastest way to create a rift in your relationship.
Even if the topic doesn’t interest you, try to find common ground, or simply listen to your kid’s enthusiasm and let them persuade you.
Online Resources
It can be hard when you’re no longer able to help with your kid’s homework; you might feel helpless and unsure of how to help your child learn.
Online websites such as UWorld are great resources to turn to, offering courses and exercises to help young people learn topics and even prepare for major tests and exams.
You can relax knowing your child has all the educational support they need, even if it isn’t coming directly from you.
Encourage Active Learning
Sometimes, for some people, reading and memorizing a topic isn’t enough to really cement the knowledge and ideas in their head, even if it is the easiest task to accomplish at home.
Encourage your child to engage in active learning – putting their learning into practice by conducting small experiments, or case studies, or writing creatively. Anything that fits the area they are studying.
These tasks can fire enthusiasm, offer a different way of learning, and add variety to their educational life.
Create Competition
If you tread carefully, this can be a great way to encourage learning in a larger family. If you have several children, perhaps you could challenge them to learn three new facts a day, and hold a competition over dinner to see whose fact is most interesting!
Or, who can keep at their studies for the longest, or learn the most new things in one day?
Healthy, friendly competition is a fantastic way to encourage learning, helping your kids to focus and iachieve their best.
How are you helping your children educate themselves?
