Success: we all want it, we all strive for it … and we certainly want it for our kids.
But how can we help our children to be more successful … at school and in life?
The following resources offer some valuable insights.
Raising Successful Children
This article from the New York Times explains how parents can raise successful children by NOT doing everything for them, but instead encouraging them to achieve their own successes by supporting their autonomy. It also warns about the dangers of ‘over-parenting’.
How to Help Them Succeed
Time Magazine examined the common attributes of successful children in this article which is a few years old now, but still offers some useful ideas. It suggests that educators and parents should encourage kids to be ambitious and to show them the value of education. If you can help a child grasp why a subject is relevant they are more likely to strive harder and be more ambitious. School and learning needs to be presented as relevant and practical.
Top Tips for Academic Success
In this recent article, Maria Thomas outlined the importance of fostering a love of learning, and also developing emotional skills and achieving a healthy balance. Parents who want to help their kids succeed need to know when to step in … and when to butt out!
From my own clinical work and experience, an academically successful child is not always a happy child. BUT children who constructively learn from their mistakes, work on developing their resilience and increasing their autonomy and independence do tend to be happier overall.
Parents know they have been successful when they see their kids learning from their mistakes and not making the same errors over and over.
Kids will also feel more successful when they are loved unconditionally and given the support they need to become more independent.
As a parent, you need to take your kids to the ‘edge of the cliff’ when you are confident they are ready to ‘fly’! The trick is you need to know the right moment to push them and when to hold back.
Come to the edge. We can’t. We’re afraid. Come to the edge. We can’t. We’ll fall! Come to the edge. And they came. And she pushed them. And they flew.
– Guillaume Apollinaire
(Check out this charming comic illustration of the same quote.)
