Helping Your Child Become Successful

Helping Your Child Become Successful

                We all want our child to become responsible, successful adults; but it starts at home, and when they start to enter the school system.

                One of the best things a parent can do for their child is to teach them to set goals. When they are young, their goals should be attainable; which usually starts when we potty train them. Some give stars, others give treats; as their accomplishment and goals grow so should their desire to do more, their desire to do better should begin to take form

                A very important tool for adults and students alike is to keep a calendar, so they learn to manage their time, plan outings and other events. Here you are teaching you child to manage their time wisely and not to over book their days, while learning prioritizing their responsibilities. Your child learns from you, so if you don’t plan wisely, keep records, take notes, neither will they.  By keeping a calendar they learn to make commitments and to keep them, and don’t let them off the hook when they decide changes plans, especially on regular bases.

                Most importantly teach them to plan ahead, so that they are not rushed in the morning to eat, look for clothes, get dress and do whatever needs to get done before school. Encourage them to prepare their school bag with pencils, pens and other necessary “tools”; imagine a construction worker going out without his steel toe boots and construction hat. If things are left to the very end, then they are not putting their best foot forward, and this truly is not fair to you or to them; and creates only a household full of stress.

                So the beginning steps to success, for all of us, is to set goals, modify them if you fall short, such as not meeting a deadline. Make them simple at first, and don’t forget there are many categories financially, physically as well as mentally. Try hard to plan your time wisely, you cannot expect to work twenty fours a day, you need rest, sleep and down time.

                Success comes in many forms but without your tools and a fully rested mind body and soul; success will always be just one step away.

 Elizabeth P. Figueroa