Tips to help children become independent and responsible this academic year
Posted by Strategic Communications, JGI Group on 21 May 2018

“Back to School!” may be a fun line for your kids, but not for you, right? Yes, facing the tantrums while rising your child every morning, fixing them their favorite breakfast, grabbing their books that are strewn around, bribing them extra TV time to get their homework done, hunting down the exactly described Barbie bag… the list is never-ending.

As a parent or a guardian, this is a huge part of your life. Getting your children to school and teaching them to be responsible as they grow up is a tedious process, leaving you parents, too tired to enjoy your growing children. Specialized in educating young ones, JHS understands the many dimensions and challenges of bringing up healthy, happy and confident individuals.

A new academic year means new opportunities to build our children better. So, to make it easier for parents, here are five tips for you to encourage and urge children to turn into responsible and independent people this academic year:

Encourage them to take care of their books and possessions

How many times has your young one returned home claiming she lost that blue crayon in the bus or forgot her pencil case in the playground? And then she looks blank when you ask her why she took her pencil case to the playground! This happens with all children.

Children often take a while before they assume ownership of their things and remember to bring them back from school. To teach your child to be responsible with her books and stationery, encourage and appreciate them every single day, for bringing back simple objects, like her water bottle or eraser. This motivates her to be careful and observant of her things. At the end of the year, she could even teach you to be careful with the house keys!

Motivate them to complete homework and other school-related work

Once they are back home, the last thing your child wants to do is homework. And that’s exactly what you tell him to do before touching the TV remote or step out of home. Well, children need a break from the eight hours of schoolwork they do and often make faces when you ask them what they learnt that day.

As much as you want to get them to do that, please understand that your child is capable of doing homework; he just needs to relax. So, make homework fun. Talk to them casually about their day, and inform them that you are curious to know what happened there – as a friend, not in an authoritative manner. This will help your child to be naturally interested in and independent in doing homework. They will see it as a part of their routine, as you are avoiding the one thing they hate doing – which they are doing now!

Inculcate a spirit of learning rather than mug up

As your child grows, they need to learn a lot more things academically. Their brain development is more and the ability to comprehend and self-learn increases. Try to inculcate in them to focus on learning rather than mug up.

Encourage them to be curious, ask questions and explore. Teach them to answer their own questions. Example – Why do I color the river blue? You respond by saying - What do you think is the reason? This will definitively inculcate a spirit of learning within them which leads them to know things and not just as an act of imitation.

Monitor an active and appropriate social life

Not everything is learnt from books and not everything can be taught by you. Your child not only needs to mingle with his peers but from others in the society too. Encourage him to talk to his teachers, non-teaching staff, his neighbors and even your house help. Ensure it happens at appropriate places and times.

Teach them to see life from others’ point-of-view and understand the beauty of life. Help them realize that school is just not a place to study and play, but also a place to build relationships. Encourage them to help his fellow classmate in a math sum; share their food when a friend forgets theirs. Allow appropriate opportunities for them to interact with a variety of people to grow a healthy relational environment.

Teach them to look ahead positively

Teach your child to have a balanced view towards life and studies, with regard to exams and performance. This is one of the most dangerous issues teenagers are facing today. If they fail to understand or do something as expected, address the problem not your child. Be sure to be helpful when she is unable to write an answer and try more productive ways to deal with it.

Every year at school is a journey of learning and experience where there’s only so much that you, as a parent can do. Every child has the power to make decisions. Harness it and urge her to use it wisely. The greatest gift you can give your child is the ability to discern and make right choices.

Follow these tips to equip your child to be confident in this process of growing responsible and independent, and to be a parent that is sensitive to their growth. We at JHS also hope to achieve that goal in every young genius we enroll. We strive to encourage them to be pro-active and not slump down by teaching those values of life – at their own level of understanding.

“As a school, we firmly believe that education should be for life, not just for a living.”