Have you taught your kid how to make the bed? You don’t need to wait until kids grows up to start encouraging them to develop good habits. Early childhood is the moment when the educational process starts. You start by teaching your child to make their bed in the morning and collect the toys at night. That’s not to be done with a bossy attitude, though. If you make a smart approach, the child will learn that’s the right thing to do, and they are doing it for their own good. Everything can start out as a social activity – you both make the bed and have a good laugh. With time, the child will learn how to do things without your help.
“But, it’s only making the bed,” – I hear you say. “I can easily fix it for him/her!” Of course you could do that, but what does that attitude teach your child? It’s okay to leave a mess behind, because mom and dad will take care of it. That’s not the right way to teach responsibility. When you preserve your dignity throughout the educative processes, you’ll be on your way towards raising a genius child.
From then on, the education of your children will continue, and you’ll be the main medium.
The Parent as the First Teacher
You can’t expect for teachers to teach your kids everything they need to know. You’re the one who has responsibility to discover their talents, awaken their imagination, and help them take their interests further. Before you can get in the role of an educator, you have to work on your own skills and knowledge. Sounds like pure logic, doesn’t it?
These simple tips will help you accept the role of an educator as naturally as possible:
- Understand what it means to be a teacher
You shouldn’t understand education as instructing and directing. If that’s what your parents and teachers were doing back in your childhood, they were doing it wrong. Efficient education is more similar to leadership. When you’re trying to teach your children, you have to earn their trust. They should see you as an example of dignity, intellect, kindness, and fairness in a single character.
In a popular TED talk, conductor Charles Hazlewood explained how the trust between the conductor and the orchestra occurred. “There has to be, between me and my orchestra, an unshakeable bond of trust, born out of mutual respect, through which we can spin a musical narrative that we all believe in.”
Consider yourself as a conductor of your children’s educational processes. You will not punish them for the mistakes, but you will inspire them to get better and better by developing the bond of trust. Only when they see you as an example of the person they would want to become, they will trust you.
- Meaningful conversations instead of lectures
“How would you like to talk about the stars today?” That’s a nice conversation starter. Your child knows nothing about the stars, so they will love hearing some explanations. However, you mustn’t forget that they have their own ideas, so get interested to find out what they are. “What do you think they are? Why do they shine?” You’ll be surprised to hear the answers that can come out of that little head with a genius mind.
Don’t expect your kids to repeat everything they hear; they are too young and that approach would suffocate their imagination. Listen to their answers, and then give your own answers, which will be educative, but not instructional.
- Use online tools to boost your children’s potential
Technology has a mesmerizing power over children. That preference can go two ways:
- Kids can either get glued down to the tablet screen playing games, or
- They can use technology to get motivated to learn and find all answers they need.
Of course you want the second option for your kid. That’s why you need to use technology the right way, so you’ll be a great example for them to follow. Here are few tips that will help you unlock the educational potential that technology has:
- Find interesting educational games for kids
Funbrain is a great website that gives you access to games suitable for different ages. You need to set some rules, though. You can’t allow a kid to spend an entire day playing games, no matter how educative they are. However, if you limit the time to one hour per day, your children will have fun while expanding their learning potential.
- Use online writing tools to teach them how to write
If you’re not a great writer, you need to start from yourself. Essay writing services, such as Australian Writings, can help you on that mission. If you need assistance and instructions to understand the format of academic writing, you can set the guidelines for the paper and work together with an author to achieve great results. Then, you can transfer those skills to your children.
- Set some boundaries
A parent should always maintain a friendly attitude with their children. However, you have to set some boundaries. You’re the parent, and they are the kids. You can keep those boundaries by teaching proper behavior and thinking of some consequences when your children don’t respect the limits. For example, you can decrease the period of time they spend playing games on the tablet.
A genius child will keep testing your limits. You need to forgive them for such attitude because their personality is too strong. However, you should also stay consistent with the consequences, which shouldn’t be too harsh in a way that would suffocate your child’s creative spirit.
A Genius Needs Education, Too
Genius children are not always born that way. They can educated by their parents from the moment of their early childhood. A parent has the responsibility to reveal the great potential and provide proper education, which will take their kid’s natural talents in the right direction.
Jessica Freeman is passionate about teaching and journalism. She finds her calling in making others interested in topics of education, children upbringing, and academic developments. You can follow her on Facebook and Google+.
