Education isn't Confined Just to the Classroom

Motivating your child can be as easy as asking them to show you something new they learned in school that day. Taking the time to be directly involved in your child's education is the best way to ensure their success. Don't do your children's homework for them - ask them questions that will point them in the right direction!

Balance your praise for their excellence in subjects they find enjoyable with encouragement to give their best in those they dislike. Find ways to make those confusing or boring topics have real meaning, and tie them into the subject they love.

If science is difficult, but English comes easily, set up a project with your child to perform an experiment and report the result! Follow up by letting them figure out and write down how the scientific fact could affect someone; retell the story of Newton and the apple, for instance, or who invented the wheel.

Make every road trip a learning experience. Look for free tours of factories or farms near your home, and send off for brochures of far-away places. You can take a virtual trip around the world, and plan meals and weekly entertainment to make history come alive! Music is another way to grow appreciation for and share in different cultures.

Keep up their education through the summer. Children can lose an enormous amount of ground if learning is not continued at home, and each day holds opportunities to keep knowledge fresh in their minds. Even just an hour a day of studying in a basic biography or history book can keep them from forgetting the things they have learned. Encourage your children to read every night and make friends with books and the library.

Above all, talk to your child like you would to an intelligent adult. Explain big words as you go along, and remind them later if an opportunity to use the word arises. A four year old can have an enormous vocabulary by the time they start preschool if you only use your words wisely and be patient enough to explain.

Instilling learning into every part of your child's day will help them be smarter and more confident as their knowledge grows. Expanding their life experiences by exposing them to people, places and things they might not otherwise come in contact with is the way to raise a truly well educated child!