Every parent wants their child to be successful, and everyone knows that success starts with education. With increasingly more competitive and more cut-throat schools, parents and educators are often searching for any advantage that will provide an edge. By doing this, many lose sight of the most important factor in a student’s education: passion.
Many parents come to our team at Brains and Brawn voicing concerns about their student’s future. Most understand the importance of succeeding in school, but they miss the underlying reasons for how success is achieved. When speaking with struggling students, they usually fail to see the importance of what they’re being taught, and subsequently, have no interest in the subjects. Without genuine interest in learning, they never put in the effort necessary to learn and master complex subjects. This is not the fault of the students, instead, it’s entirely the fault of the educational system. It’s nearly impossible for a middle-school student to understand the merit of mastering algebra. The human brain is still developing into the mid-20s, so expecting an 11 year old student to properly assess the benefits of focusing on their educational development is a ridiculous standard to hold.
Students that we at Brains and Brawn see excelling in their courses have one thing in common: they’re genuinely interested in the material and are enjoying the learning process. It’s imperative to find a teaching style that coincides with your child’s personality to ensure that they actually retain the material being taught. The younger the student, the more crucial this focus is for their development.
If your student isn’t passionate about the subjects that they’re learning, there are several options you can use to mitigate the issue and ensure they don’t have huge gaps in their education.
Firstly, we suggest doing a bit of work to determine what style of teaching meshes best with their learning style. Find an educational provider that specializes in teaching that style, and begin working together. There are a variety of simple personality tests that are designed to pinpoint optimal learning styles, but most often, this can be determined through a careful examination of which classes they enjoy and a thorough conversation about their teachers.I If your situation doesn’t allow extra spending, no worries. There are many cheap options that can work very well. Connect with our team for info on how to approach this on a budget.
Secondly, if possible, we strongly encourage working with an educational consultant. Consultants, like those on our team, can help find ways of making all learning fun. We have experience working with students of all different backgrounds, and we can dedicate far more time to each student than they’ll receive in their traditional classroom. Consultants are great at finding opportunities to learn that aren’t confined to a traditional classroom. Whether it be through an internship, summer job, or even just a volunteer opportunity, becoming exposed to different learning styles is a great chance to build a robust education without feeling the pressure of additional schoolwork.
Lastly, it’s imperative to expose students to a variety of subjects, learning styles, and classroom settings while they’re young. College is great for this but if a student doesn’t find their optimal learning style until they’re in college it’s guaranteed that they have some deficiencies as a result of this.
If you’re still having a tough time with making the learning process enjoyable for your student, connect with our team today. We’ll gladly walk you through the process and provide some free information on how best to approach a very complex issue!
-Mark Wilson, Director of Curriculum Development & Design