What does your child’s report card look like? Are they getting good grades? Straight As? As and Bs? If so… you may be thinking you’ve made it! Your child is FINALLY setting up the foundation for a life of success!
But are they?
Today, let’s talk about what comes AFTER your child is achieving good grades in school… because this is only the beginning!
Now, this may be a weird idea. After all, my background is in tutoring and teaching. You would think… that I would think… that good grades are the goal… right? Teachers teach them material they will need to know and will be tested on. You hire a tutor for your child to help them improve their grades when they falter.
But that’s not the end goal at all! In fact, it’s the first step. Everything you’ve been doing to get their grades up has only been to prepare for what comes now.
Once your child is earning good grades, you may be tempted to end sessions with their tutor, enroll them in harder classes, and let them keep chugging along until graduation. But please don’t!
That would be a massive missed opportunity!
Because once your child is earning good grades, they can use that knowledge, that academic currency, to build towards their goals.
I talk about this in my parenting membership and with my consulting clients all the time.
Now is when being a parent can feel more like a gift and less like a war. Because you’ll get the chance to watch them become independent. You’ll get to watch them become productive and helpful members of their communities.
And for them? Well, now is when their school and learning can actually be fun!
Some ways your child will now benefit in the LONG term are:
- choosing classes that better reflect their goals and interests
- taking ownership of their learning to learn about unique topics outside of school
- networking with professionals in their future field of work
- more free time to explore volunteering experiences and extracurricular activities
- more options open to them in terms of jobs and careers they can pursue
- they can learn leadership by joining or creating clubs in school around their best skills
- more mental and emotional bandwidth to explore hobbies and creativity
- confidence and agency that comes with creating a life they actually want to live
The last student I tutored started developing an interest in learning new hobbies and a foreign language once he saw that he was getting solid grades and nearing graduation. Just imagine this: one day I arrived for our lesson and he was knitting up a scarf and talking about how he wanted to keep learning Spanish even after the class was over.
Now, keep in mind that up until this time, this student had never expressed any interest in any hobbies beyond video games and watching YouTube videos. So this level of interest in hobbies and developing his creativity was completely out of character for him, but it truly showed me the value of feeling more confident and comfortable with schooling and academics.
And sure, not all of these benefits will apply to every child. Depending on their age and schooling structure, they may not have access to clubs or networking. But that just means that there will always be new benefits to enjoy as they grow older.
So when it comes to your next steps to help your child achieve these amazing benefits in their life, you may want to switch gears a little bit. If your child was spending all their time on homework, perhaps enroll them in extracurricular activities instead. And if they’re in high school? Consider having them spend their evenings in sports or with a college admissions consultant instead of with a tutor.
TL;DR
There is so much more to childhood and life than getting good grades! Now that they’re scoring high marks in school, let them reap all the long-term life-changing benefits that come with academic achievement.
I’m currently offering free 1:1 consulting calls for parents that would like some individualized support on time management and beyond. If you would like to book a call, just book an appointment here.
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