If you are a parent, you know daily struggles of your kids. They have to attend class and go to after school sports or activities and complete their homework. Kids must do all these things to get into college one day. They are expected to remain fully occupied throughout the day and be excellent at what they do. However, it is important for kids to rest because mental and physical stress will undoubtedly affect their performance in class as well as their social life. To help the kids get a more balanced life that will be more fruitful, you must implement the following.
Help kids manage their time by managing a calendar of activities
Every child deserves some free time. Set aside a day or two a week where he or she is not expected to attend any games, club activities and do chores at home. Sit down with your child and help them make a timetable of all the things that he or she needs to do. If the activities are becoming too overwhelming and there is barely enough time left for mental recuperation, let your child choose the activities that he or she enjoys most and quit the rest.
Helping your child organize their schedule shows confidence and care. Your child will be happy to see that you support and believe in him or her. During downtime, encourage your child to do something fun, relaxing and completely away from team roles and class work. This way your child will be fresh to start the week and will perform better.
Limit the number of after school activities
Let your child participate in one to two extracurricular activities. This way, your child will have enough time to rest and can tackle their class assignments without losing focus. Let your child know that balancing their schedule is the key to success. If they do well in class, they can also be good in one or two sports. By limiting the number of sports and club activities, the child will have time to relax and sleep. Lack of sleep can cause poor concentration and thus poor performance.
Do not compare your child to others. Let your child know that specialization is also important. Your children must know for them to be exceptionally good, they must be in good mental and physical shape, no room for stress. This way, he or she will appreciate the two more hours that they sacrificed for the sake of rest.
Teach your children to focus by setting ultimatums and removing all distractions
Teach your child to always focus on the problem at hand. If this is hard for the child to do, take away electronics until the work is done. You will be surprised how fast the homework will be solved. Let your children know that class assignments should always be done before dinner unless under special circumstances.
Spare some time to be together with your family
As you teach your children to have a balanced life, lead by example and try to balance your life too. Do not focus too much on work and forget that the children need your attention too. Remember that kids are very observant; they will even comment and ask why you want them to have some free time yet if you are never free. During dinner, make sure that no gadgets are in use and let the kids talk about their day.
Emphasize on the need for school
Although your child may be a very talented athlete or actress; let him or her know how important school is. As an athlete or dancer, anything can happen, an accident or injury could renders them unfit for competition, so it is always important to have a good education. Education will always be a lifetime possession and it does not lose value with age.
Let them know the financial side of sports and club activities
Many kids don’t appreciate or realize how expensive sports and activities can be. Teaching gratitude is vital for kids to understand how hard their parents work to pay for their extracurricular activities and sports. This way kids will start to appreciate how hard you work and they will try their best as well. This is a lifelong lesson that your child will always appreciate. As adults, they will look back and thank you for teaching them how to balance life in all dimensions.
Teachers teach the children how to be better academically, coaches and other instructors teach them to master their skills and be the best. But as a parent, you have the most important role. You are the center piece; you have to be there and teach your child how to balance it all and still enjoy his or her childhood.
