3 Tips To Boost Your Child’s Academic Performance

• According to a survey, fewer than 2 percent of students are never bored in school.
• That said, getting children to develop a growth mindset can be a struggle.
• However, there are ways to cultivate a desire for growth and academic development.
• Experts like Professor Carol Dweck and Author Benjamin Hardy share some advice.

John Steinbeck, the author of the novel The Pearl, once said that humans are never satisfied. Parents, in particular, are good examples. The fact that they are investing much more in providing an optimal environment proves their desire for better academic development and performance of their children.

To be truly great at any task, one must truly get to love it first. The same applies to the students who will become the future nation builders. As such, here are some tips that will cultivate the desire to study in your kids and subsequently improve their academic performance:

#1. Stop saying they are super smart.

In the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Professor Carol Dweck, she wrote that students with the ‘smart’ self-identity tend to maintain the status quo. That said, they fixate on a self-reinforcing loop of what they can and cannot do without struggling to improve.

According to Dweck, this is bad practice. If the goal is to cultivate and develop a student’s academic performance, then the desire to develop is important. Instead of telling your children that they are smart, focus on giving commendations related to their efforts. Consequently, too much criticism is counterproductive, so if they fail, simply ask them how much work they put into it.

#2. Get them to embrace the struggles associated with learning.

The human brain is indeed fascinating with its ability to constantly rewire and upgrade neurons to work together despite struggles. This is a powerful process, an exercise of the gray (and white) matter of the brain that helps people breakthrough.

If this struggle is a brain exercise, then the breakthrough is the students’ growth. In the words of Brendon Burchard, students should ‘honor the struggle’ before learning becomes a skill because struggling means they are growing.

#3. Help them become confident by creating a study habit and developing skills through grit.

Benjamin Hardy, author of Willpower Doesn’t Work explains in his book that people generally misunderstand confidence. According to him, confidence is a by-product and a direct reflection of previous successful actions resulting from habitual perseverance to attain a goal.

That said, nurturing good academic performance means having the mindset that one can be whatever he wants to be and the tenacity to consistently acquire new skills even after a failure is tantamount to developing the habit that brings confidence.

In essence, this summarizes the belief of a good learner:

“I may not understand this yet, but if I keep at it long enough I’ll eventually figure it out.”

Your child can improve their academic prowess anytime, but remember: school can be a real yawn so it is important to understand the learners and cultivate a growth mentality. After all, as one survey conducted by Indiana University’s High School says, “Fewer than 2 percent of students are never bored in school.”