Think back to when you were a child. What were your feelings around school? Did you love it or hate it? Were there parts that made you nervous, and other parts that got you excited?

While it’s difficult to fully place ourselves in our children’s shoes, it’s certainly helpful to think about things from their perspective. And if we want our children to love school, we have to take proactive steps to make this happen. You can check cost of having an au pair for your child care.

5 Helpful Tips

It’s a strange time for kids to be students. Growing up in the midst of a pandemic has to be stressful, jarring, and confusing. Kids don’t have any sense of what’s normal anymore. Are we simply living in a prolonged state of emergency, or is this the new future?

It’s not your responsibility to define what normal is. Instead, it’s your job to help your children find school invigorating. Here are some tips for doing that:

1. Prioritize Learning in the Home

If you want kids to love school, they have to love learning. And you don’t just send your kid off to school and hope that they take to the whole learning thing. Learning is a mindset. From a very young age, you should encourage curiosity and exploration. And when a child asks something they don’t know, give them an opportunity to learn about it. The library, YouTube, and kid-friendly apps can all be great sources of knowledge.

2. Make School Supplies Fun

One of the best parts about school is getting to pick out school supplies. There’s something exciting about buying new folders and pencils. There’s a thrill that comes with smelling that brand new box of Crayons. Do your best to make this experience as fun as possible for your kids. Even buying your child’s backpack can be fun. Encourage them to check out some of the neat options from Kiddietotes. They have everything from ladybugs and rockets to unicorns and donuts.

3. Encourage Kids to Get Involved

Admittedly, sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher talk for 45 minutes isn’t always fun. But there are other parts of school that children can get excited about. This includes sports, extracurriculars, clubs, etc.

Getting your child involved in fun, after-school activities is an excellent way to help them develop positive associations with school. Let them try out different things until they find something that clicks.

4. Avoid Overscheduling

While after-school activities can be fun, don’t overdo it. Cramming too many things into your child’s schedule can leave them feeling drained and overwhelmed. Even if your child says pretty, pretty please to everything, it’s your responsibility to hold them back a little.

“Resist the urge — and your child’s begging — to sign him up for tons of after-school activities,” psychologist Ann Pleshette Murphy says. “All children need some downtime. And the fewer distractions your child has, the more likely you are to keep homework hassles to a minimum.”

There’s certainly a fine line to balance here, but do your best. The goal is to help them find a few things that they love doing, rather than lots of things they feel obligated to do. One way to accomplish this is by allowing them to choose one activity at a time. For example, basketball in the fall and soccer in the spring (or dance one month and piano the next month).

5. Show Interest in Their Day

Kids get excited about something when their parents are excited about something. So if you want your kids to feel invigorated about school, you have to be energetic about it. Show interest in their day by asking them to tell you something they learned. Though it might seem like something small, your act of showing interest in their day will encourage them to reflect on the positives of their day.

Cultivate a Love for Learning

As a parent, cultivating a love for learning is one of the best gifts you can give a child. The more supportive and proactive you are, the more likely it is that your child will enjoy school. It starts with a plan. And whether your child is about to start kindergarten or high school, there are ways to motivate and encourage. Good luck!