5 Ways To Groom Your Average Child Into An A-list Student

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them on the TV, in the news and God knows how many times we saw them at our child’s school prize giving day. It doesn’t need to always be so far-fetched however, you can groom your average kid into an A-list student.

Every mum wants to have an exceptional kid and if you can make the decision to be deliberate about helping your average child transition to an A-list student, here are five easy tips to help you.

1. Reduce Television Time

Early exposure to TV and other screen gadgets impairs cognitive skills and also wastes crucial brain-development. Consequently, to improve the cognitive skills of your growing child (5-10 years) and teenagers, TV time must be reduced to the barest minimum, even during school holidays.

2. Eliminate Video And Computer Games

In a report published in the French newspaper  Le Monde on January 17, professionals at the French Screen Overexposure Collective (Collectif Surexposition Ecrans, or CoSE) expressed fears about the acute rise in intellectual and cognitive disorders in children and caution parents on the need to protect their kids from early overexposure to electronic screens including television, phones, computer and tablet.

To this end, eliminate major sources of distraction. Another study in the Australian Journal of Educational Technology reported that,

“students who spend more than two hours a day playing computer and video games score 9.4% lower in school exams than students who do not play such games.”

3. Engage Your kid

It is important that when you take away a potentially unhealthy habit from your child that you help them cultivate a healthy one as a replacement. Replace TV time with more conversations with your child. Have real-life conversations about your job, the economy, politics, books you are currently reading, etc.

4. Encourage Critical Thinking

By posing open-ended questions to your average kid, you expose him to critical thinking that allows for more self-expression, reflection, and problem-solving abilities.

5. Reading

The culture of reading has suffered a major setback in this age largely because of technology. Parents are not reading, let alone the children. If you are going to help your average child transition into an A-list student, you need to get involved and start reading to them from an early stage. As they grow, introduce to them a wide variety of books and set aside private and family reading time.

Original Idea by: Bamidele Wale-Oshinowo

Rewritten by: Kaffy Wale