There are many things that are within a child’s control, like which games they want to play during recess, which book they choose from the library, and how much effort they put into their studies. However, there are many more things that are not within their control, like the way their teachers run their classes, the time school starts and ends, and how other students treat each other. These non-controllable factors actually play a very important role in their learning. For this article, we have reviewed classroom data from years of research and summarized it into three tips for you to improve your child’s surroundings!
1. Find Your Child a Stable Mentor Figure
One of the best ways to make sure your child’s environment is good for learning is to make sure they have a compassionate academic figure (like a teacher or a tutor) that your child can look up to. The point of doing this is for your child to have a constant academic figure as your child develops. In a child’s academic life, their teachers change from year to year. Their personal life also tends to change from year to year. These changes can add a lot of stress to a child’s life. Having a stable mentor figure can academically, mentally, and even emotionally help the child be less confused. It also provides more stability in their environment, which benefits their learning.
Mentor Figures
can academically, mentally, and even emotionally help the child be less confused.
A study conducted by an Economics and Education Professor at Northwestern University found that students who spend time with teachers who teach deep messages show up to class more often, do difficult tasks, and show resilience with daily obstacles!
2. Warmly Communicate a Sense of Belonging
Another way to create a great learning environment is by communicating a sense of belonging. Oftentimes, a child does not learn effectively because of outside stress. This can be social, personal, or even academic stress. When children are stressed, they have a harder time enjoying learning at school. This is why children should feel like they belong so that they can learn without stress. In fact, Dr. Camille Farrington, a leading researcher at the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research, listed four key mindsets that lead to academic success:
I belong in this academic community.
I can succeed at this.
My ability and competence grow with my effort.
This work has value for me.
In order to improve the mindsets #3 and 4, parents should focus on their child’s effort instead of their predisposed intelligence. In order to improve mindsets #1 and #2, parents can enroll their child in schools or afterschools that encourage these mindsets, or use these strategies at home! Our research suggests that by being calm, consistent, and responsive, your child can feel safe to be curious! This leads to more careful decisions, stronger focus, and tendencies to choose long-term rewards over short-term rewards. By communicating a sense of belonging and believing in their potential for success, parents create an environment that helps their children develop good qualities that help their learning!
3. Be a Role Model
Although school is a huge part of a child’s environment, home is an even bigger part of their environment! This means parents are a big part of their child’s daily environment. The decisions parents make and their attitudes play an important role in their child’s growth. In fact, researchers at Harvard’s Center of the Developing Child have discovered that a parent’s response to their child creates connections in the brain that control the child’s emotion, cognition, language, and memory. Researchers have found that the way parents interact with their child is the most important environmental factor in their child’s growth. Children look to their parents when they want to understand the world, which makes it important for parents to have the qualities that they want their children to have. Everyone has room to learn and grow!
About the Author:
Allan Han, MA is a writer and educator with over six years of teaching experience in teaching K-12 students fundamental English, fundamental Math, SAT writing, and high school literature. He received his Master's Degree in English Instruction at NYU and formerly taught in LaGuardia High School in the city of New York.
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