Children are the most precious gift from God to mankind. It is through this gift that human beings spread to the whole world. Therefore, the responsibility of parents to raise their children properly and build them on integrity cannot be overemphasised.
Parent’s, especially mothers, are the first school a child must enroll into before having any formal education. As such, that child will have formal knowledge of whatever his/her parents guide them through.
In order for parents to be effective in their children’s upbringing, they must ensure that their children imbibe the virtues of honesty and the fear of God.
Beyond this moral duty, it is important to recognise that a child’s education starts at home. Parents are their first teachers and they have a key role in shaping their character.
A child’s learning scale is highly related to how they are treated at home. A balance of education at home and school moulds a student’s actual learning.
Parents and guardians need to keep an eye on a child’s activities in school and at home. They should offer a helping hand in their educational journey and relate with them with true inspiration. Parents’ encouragement of their children plays an important role in building successful students.
For example, children doing things together with their parents gives them a sense of support and confidence. Reading together with your kids, visiting the library together, reading newspapers and sharing quality books to help them get additional knowledge outside of classroom lessons, or just having conversations with them is crucial to their development.
Spend enough time every day to talk to your child to know about their concerns or doubts about happenings in and out of school. Give them a space to share anything that comes to their mind and express their true feelings.
Also, very important is rewarding children for their good results to encourage them to perform better every next time. This will boost their confidence level and help them to excel and perform better in learning and other school activities. A parent’s active role during their study life can help them to grow up with better social skills and improved behaviour.
Closeness of parents to their children is their eye opener on the issues that they need to involve in or stay away from. And the kind of knowledge they acquire would be guided by their parents.
Fathimah Salihu Evoti,Abuja
