It’s a natural thing to want your kids to succeed in life and as a parent, it can sometimes be hard to know what you need to do and say in order to move them toward their goals.
Well, as it turns out the parents of some of the most successful people around the world all do a number of things in common. From the likes of Richard Branson, Elon Musk to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates; their parents all did a number of things that helped their kids grow up to be the people they are today.
They Give Their Kids Chores
Taking out the trash, putting the bins out, stacking the dishwasher, hanging washing, making lunch – making your kids do chores helps them become more grateful, respectful and appreciative. By becoming actively involved with the work that goes on around the house, they understand the ‘why’ behind the work, making them more willing to contribute because they see the value of their work.
People who did chores throughout their adolescence are proven to be more engaged, more collaborative and more well-rounded employees because they understand what hard work looks like and are generally more competent when undertaking tasks independently.
Social Skills are Taught from Day One
Kindergarteners who show cooperation, helpfulness, emotional awareness and problem-solving skills amongst their friends are more likely to go on to obtain a university education and be employed full time sooner. Those kids who didn’t display those traits were found to have a higher likelihood of being arrested, binge drinking and applying for public housing.
At Piptree Early Learning Centres, part of our philosophy is creating an environment where the children in our care can exercise and strengthen their social skills through things like activities that involve sharing and team cooperation.
High Expectations are ConsistentÂ
The expectations that parents hold over their kids has a large effect on their success. If a parent has consistently high expectations in most areas of their child’s life, that child will be more likely to meet those expectations, irrespective of incomes and assets.
There is still a line that parents need to be conscious of when over=training their kids but the sentiment stays the same. The effect high expectations can have, also work in reverse – where parents who hold little or no expectations for their children, don’t end up as successful.
Education is ParamountÂ
The educational levels of the parents can largely predict the educational levels of their kids. A study found that mothers who had at least finished high school saw the same in their children.
The best investment a person can make is instilling the importance of education, and if this an aspiration that is harboured in a family, it’s a natural progression that the children will aspire for more. At Piptree Tanah Merah, our curriculum focuses on harbouring aspirations and encouraging learning through play.
Maths is Taught from Day One
There has been a strong correlation of evidence to suggest that the kids who begin their schooling life with a basic understanding of numbers, how they’re ordered and other basic math problems have a higher chance of not only advanced comprehension of maths, but reading too.
At Piptree, we engage our children each day with math-based activities such as counting, identifying numbers and basic problem-solving.
They Don’t StressÂ
Emotional contagion is a concept developed by psychologists to explain how and why the way someone feels can transfer to another. In its simplicity, if you are happy and positive, that feeling will transfer to whoever is around you, leaving them feeling both happy and positive.
So if a mother or father is continuously feeling stressed about day-to-day life, the child will grow up feeling stressed and anxious about life. Children are extremely absorbent of their parent’s with regards to learning how to interact with the world, so if a parent always overreacts, is anxious about trivial things and is continuously feeling stressed, the child will grow up thinking this is the way to deal with these situations.
They Enforce GritÂ
Understanding where success comes from is crucial to a child’s level of attainment. It’s documented that people think about success in either one of two ways – a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.
A fixed mindset believes people are the way they are and that all their strengths and weaknesses are inherent and unchangeable; whereas a growth mindset believes failure is not a product of intelligence but rather a learning opportunity, giving them the motivation to keep on the task at hand until they succeed. This is called Grit.
Grit is the single most important factor for success. Grit is the behaviour that enables the child to sustain interest and effort toward a long-term goal. Grit is never giving up on what you want to achieve, regardless of your circumstances.
Here is a short 5-min video from Angela Duckworth on the importance of teaching our kids Grit:
At Piptree Early Learning Centres, we understand the impact that the initial years can have on the later ones. To give your child the best start to a successful life, enrol them now at one of our five locations.