When to start working on your kid’s university education?
The answer is simply, A…S…A…P. As Soon As Possible
Why?
By the time most of you think about it, it is already too late and lamenting what would have happened if you had started planning earlier.
I have listed 4 items below that I feel parents need to pay close attention to.
Item 1.
Focus on learning, not the grades
If your kid is focus on the learning, it makes the whole teaching process in school easier. Create the environment. Education starts from the home. Kids will be motivated to learn naturally when they have fun. Have you been winding up your kids by sending them to one too many tuition classes and educational programs? Many kids are beginning to resemble walking zombies with deep eye bags. Tired kids can never be happy kids. Unhappy kids can never fulfill their fullest potential. Give your kids the joy to learn and their grades will be a joy to watch.
Item 2.
Expose your kids
Allow your kid to explore their interests. Expose them to choices and allow them to try out various activities. Please don’t chastise them if they decide to drop an interest; when once it seemed that they were keen and passionate about it. From a young age, children will constantly explore. As parents allow this, let your kids continuously explore their varied interests. Let them choose and exercise their thoughts and intellectual self. This learning process must keep going. Let them pose questions to themselves and solve problems. Only then can they stand up to the test in real life situations and think on their own two feet.
Item 3.
Close interaction and encouragement especially from love ones
As I mentioned earlier, unhappy kids can never fulfill their fullest potential. Kids need their parents to be their constant guide and soul mate. Encourage them to pose questions and express their views in front of you. No questions are stupid questions and nothing can be embarrassing when it posed by an innocent kid. Kids learn best when they ask questions. Be attentive to them and explain to them patiently so that they can fully appreciate the learning process at home. This will gradually allow them to gain confidence and learn better in school and find what they are best in doing.
Item 4.
Build your kid’s character and personality
Love them by not sheltering them too much. Too much sheltering might just create an irreversible effect on kid’s reliance on you. Everyone learn through mistakes. When we are met with pitfalls and conflicts, we must learn to get back up. It is the same with kids. Think about it. It is better for kids to make small mistakes and learn valuable lessons when young rather than making big mistakes into their adulthood where there might be no point of return.
Are you scratching your head now? Why am I giving you a parenting lesson? What has it got to do with the topic of this week’s column? Let me tell you the real truth of the matter. Many parents think that hard work, perseverance, toiling and burning the midnight oil to obtain excellent grades in school is all one needs to get into a top university. Parents may not know that the best universities look at more than just grades for admission. Your kid will have to compete with many other kids for that coveted spot, who have equally good grades. Therefore, to stand out from the crowd, your kid will have to exhibit other natural abilities or out-of-the-box ideas to impress the university selectors. I will urge those parents whose kids are still young to put some thought into this. You never know how your actions might just create the best opportunity for your kid to gain a fantastic head start in life.
Also, as a parting note, do remember to start saving early for your kid’s education. Don’t allow unwise finance decisions to become an impediment to your kid’s progression. For more of our articles, please visit us at https://www.gstudyabroad.com/blog/ and add us on Facebook. To read articles in Chinese, please visit https://www.gliuxue.com/our-blog.
By Mark Chua
Director
Global Study Abroad
Mark Chua is the Director and Founder of Global Study Abroad. He obtained his MBA from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Over the years, Mark Chua had been shuffling his time studying and working around the world in countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, United States , China and Singapore. Mark Chua is also the Director of University Partnership for the East Asia Institute of Management (EASB) in Singapore who has successfully partnered with universities from United Kingdom, United States and Australia.