There are many common challenges parents face with their children when it comes to supporting them in their education. Some parents find the dynamics between them and their children mean that children get frustrated or do not respond well to them. This can often lead to tantrums and inability to cooperate. Here are some common challenges which some parents may be able to resonate with:
Common Challenges
- My child has learning difficulties and has trouble focusing
- My child hates reading
- I can’t get my child to enjoy learning
- How long until I see real results?
- What is the best way to prepare for an exam?
- My child can’t seem to work well with me when I am teaching him / her
- Am I expecting too much from my child and will they burn out?
- My child’s motivation doesn’t last very long, now he / she has reverted back to procrastination
- My child hates school and is being bullied
- My child lacks confidence and competency in Maths
- My child struggles with Reading Comprehension and Creative Writing
- The 11+ exam preparation is very stressful. Do you have any advice?
What parents should bear in mind, is that their role is a parent. Parents are not necessarily educators or mentors. It’s perfectly ok if you cannot help your child as much as you’d like. This is where a role of a tutor can be hugely beneficial.
Contrary to popular belief, teaching isn’t merely about imparting information. Rather, it is about understanding the needs of your student and really getting them to develop self-belief and a “success mindset”. Personal development is crucial to building a strong foundation that will enhance one’s educational experience and in turn, results.
Below is a list of advice summarised by a super-tutor who has devoted thousands of hours to helping young people achieve phenomenal results in education:
The Importance of Mindset
- Success starts with belief. Develop belief with conviction that success IS possible through AUTHENTIC EDIFICATION.
- Develop a mastery mentality. To master education, you must go deep and immerse yourself in learning. Avoid dabbling and learning half-heartedly.
- Pain & Pleasure points: as humans, we take action to become closer to pleasure and avoid pain. If your child doesn’t do their work properly, as a way to incentivise them to do it thoroughly, mention they will have to re-do it. Find out what motivates your child. To become closer to pleasure, create references that will associate good behaviour to reward.
- Develop the sense of urgency: When we have a strong “why”, the “how” follows naturally. Gain clarity on the purpose through incentives: e.g. prizes.
- Write down limiting beliefs and their references e.g. Lack of confidence (belief) due to a previous bad score (reference), not good at writing stories (belief) due to (reference) parent saying child is a poor writer
- Destroy limiting beliefs by creating empowering references e.g. confidence due to (consistent encouragement & appraisal).
- Develop strong values: self-discipline, patience, humility etc.
Goal Setting
- Plan your work and work your plan
- Have accountability
- Constantly review mistakes until you have mastered how to answer the question
- Aim higher: avoid doing the minimum; overdeliver
- Take massive action; avoid procrastination and being a perfectionist at the beginning
- Avoid distractions to allow optimum concentration
- Work with a tutor: a tutor can accelerate your education and be a mentor every step of the way
Practical Tips
- Work in a physical environment that will enhance their learning experience
- Reward good behaviour
- Discipline negative behaviour
- Schedule a timetable
- Work against time
- Be creative and adventurous. Learning doesn’t have to be boring!
Case Study
Sarah, a 10 year old girl, has learning difficulties is lacking motivation and confidence in her studies. She is preparing for her 11+ exams and really struggling to progress.
- Possible limiting beliefs:
- learning difficulties mean she is unable to aim high and achieve excellence
- Label “learning difficulties” has created a reference that she may have a problem that puts her at a disadvantage
- Lack of confidence may have been supported by references e.g. bad score
- To make progress, she must create new supportive references to empower her belief system.
- Working intimately with a personal tutor who can mentor her as well as educate and prepare her for the 11+ exams will not only encourage her and help create new references (appraisal, progress), it will accelerate her learning. An experienced tutor can anticipate the road ahead as they will have encountered and helped students like Sarah in the past. Working with a tutor helps with accountability.
A solution to support you every step of the way
Telios Tutors have collectively devoted thousands of hours to private tutoring and have helped students achieve excellent academic results. With decades of combined teaching experience and a genuine desire to positively impact as many young people as possible, we are committed to paying it forward every step of the way to ensure your educational needs for your children are met.
We differentiate ourselves by placing emphasis on developing a mastery mindset and building a solid foundation. We work with experienced tutors with excellent academic credentials who have good values and adhere to our philosophy and ethos.Tuition is typically carried out at the comfort of your own home, but an alternative suitable location can be arranged. We have an online tutoring platform where tuition can often be carried out at short notice and wherever you are in the world. We strive to provide tailor-made solutions to cater for all your educational needs.
Interested in arranging private tuition? Whatever your educational needs are, whether it’s exam support or your desires for your child to develop a new skill, Contact Us today to arrange 1 to 1 tuition for your child either in the comfort of your own home or online using our online tutoring platform, offering live help on a 1 to 1 basis.