If you instil a love of learning in your children, you’re setting them up to succeed in life. This is because they’ll become self-driven perpetual learners, and that prepares them for an ever-changing world. Furthermore, you won’t have to work as hard to get them through school. Instead, you only have to nudge them in the right direction or help them focus on the task at hand. Here are five ways to instil a love of learning in your child.

Read Stories as Soon as You Can

Start reading to your children when they’re babies. Read anything they want to have read to them, regardless of subject, as long as it is age appropriate. Let them see you reading the newspaper, magazine or books, and read what you’re reading to them. They’ll learn that you love to read, and they’ll learn a little about a lot of different subjects.

Give Your Kids Choices

Giving your children choices helps prepare them for the real world while it gets them engaged. For example, give your kids a choice about reading. This will make them more excited to read, and it will probably lead to them picking up a large number of books.

Let your children select where they will have a birthday party and the type of decorations to set up. You can discuss budgets and acceptable boundaries, but do what you can to support their choices. Let them choose their own hobbies and extracurricular activities. And be willing to let them switch sports, arts and other activities as they discover what they are good at.

Engage Them in the Real World

Don’t just read to kids or give them educational apps – engage them in learning in the real world! Either take or send your kids on field trips. If you want to know how to teach your child in a fun way, start by exploring interests together before you let them discover things on their own with a few ground rules.

Make learning fun. It can be as simple as educational songs or playing academic games, or it could be scavenger hunts and music lessons.

Get Involved with Your Kids’ Lives

Get involved in your kid’s school. This will help you to keep up with their assignments and build a relationship with their teachers. On the flipside, you can talk to your children about the classes you take and your own hobbies. Your children will learn about these subjects and feel more connected with you. Provide support for their art lessons or hobbies. You can talk about your own related experiences and assist your child while they follow their own passions. Have discussions, not lectures.

Give Your Kids Moral Support

Get excited when your child builds a project or discovers something. This will give them a sense of accomplishment, whether they just rolled over or read a book by themselves for the first time. Cheer them from the side-lines when they’re playing sports, and be present when they’re performing. Let them show you the toys they’ve assembled. This not only shows your children that you love and accept them, but it means they’ll continue to come to you for advice, guidance and support as they grow older. And note that this doesn’t cost you anything but time.

Be realistic about your expectations, too. If your child is a B student, don’t punish or shame them for not getting As. Celebrate their accomplishments while providing academic support as necessary. There are a number of tried and true techniques to instil a love of learning in your children. These techniques can also improve your relationship with your child while helping their personal development.

You have selected the top boarding schools for your child to attend. Once you schedule a tour, you need to think of some questions to ask while walking around the campus. While some may come during the tour, these questions can help you prepare ahead of time. The answers can help you narrow your choices down to pick the right one for your teen.

How Is This School Different?

While you may have read the website details, spoken with an admissions officer and read the brochure, the tour can allow you to find out more details on why the school is different. The best boarding schools for athletes balance academics with training. Many schools look and feel similar, so you want to know why your kid should go there.

How Many Grads Go to Top Colleges?

Thinking about your child’s future is one reason you chose to send them to a boarding school. Having an idea of how many of the school’s students attend a top university after graduating can help you choose the one that meets your expectations for their post-high school education. For those with athletic interests, how many of the students went to top-rated athletic colleges for their particular sport.

How Does the Admissions Process Work?

Every school operates slightly differently. You need to know what to expect when you apply for your child to attend. Do they conduct interviews for the student, the family or both? Some schools may want the child to take a placement exam in addition to seeing their academic performance from their prior schools. Some schools may include a section for alumnus children. An athlete may need to try out for the team before offered admission.

What Homework Provisions Are There?

Since you won’t be there, you need to know how homework will be handled. If your child often needs assistance, does the school provide that and how? Some kids may need a quiet space to complete work that may be more difficult to find in a boarding school environment. Make sure there are accommodations for the type of learning your child has outside the classroom.

What Are the Class Sizes?

One of the reasons many parents send their children to boarding schools are for smaller classes. Some children need more attention than others making small class sizes a huge help to their learning. A rich learning environment provides your child with the ability to speak up for themselves, participate in class discussions and receive any assistance they need to achieve their optimal learning objectives.

Tooth decay is a serious issue, with nearly half of all children in the United States experiencing cavities by age five, however, in most cases, it’s completely preventable as long as the child is taking proper care of their teeth and going for regular dental examinations. As parents, we want what’s best for our children, so if you have any concerns, here are a few ways to improve your child’s dental habits.

Royalty Free Photo

Be a Good Role Model

As a parent, your child will look up to you and follow your lead, so for your kids to maintain good oral hygiene, you need to practice what you preach and show them how important it is to clean your teeth twice a day. If you aren’t setting a good example from the get-go, you will find it more difficult to convince your children to brush their teeth.

Encourage Healthy Eating

We’re all aware of how important healthy eating is. Following a balanced diet packed with fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and nutrients can help support your teeth and gums. We also know how much children love sweets and soda, so it’s important that you get a grasp on how many treats they’re consuming and then reduce or eliminate their intake. There are lots of things that you can do to aid healthy eating, such as prioritizing tooth-healthy foods such as raw vegetables and fruits, which you can pack in their school lunches.

Establish a Regular Schedule

The old advice still rings true: everyone (including children) should be brushing their teeth twice a day. For children, in particular, you need to make brushing a set part of their day to day schedule so make sure that they are brushing their teeth right after breakfast as well as before getting into bed at night. If you’re concerned that your children aren’t brushing correctly, you will need to step in as a parent and teach them how to reach every corner of their mouths.

Make It Fun

Maintaining good oral hygiene is a serious business, but that’s not to say you can’t have some fun along the way. Children like challenges and games, so why not use games, stories, or songs to help make brushing time more fun for your children. A tooth-brushing session should last around two minutes, so you can use a timer or a clock that plays a song to provide entertainment for the 120 seconds. Also, offering praise to your child once they’ve completed brushing, as well as giving simple rewards like a sticker can keep them on the right track.

Find a Good Dentist

There’s only so much you can do at home when it comes to helping your child with their oral hygiene, therefore, finding a good dentist who you trust can mean your kids are getting the best dental care possible. Elite Dentistry is a dentist in Simi Valleythat uses state-of-the-art technology and offers a wide range of services to keep you and your family’s teeth and gums healthy and clean. From an early age, it’s important that you drill your kids in the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene. To avoid cavities and gum disease, make sure that your child is brushing twice a day, and visiting the dentist regularly.