There’s a lot riding on the things you do for your children while they’re young. You provide their basic needs, such as food and shelter, but more importantly, you nurture their growing minds and curious behaviors. Without your help, they will not grow into productive members of society. For a child to reach their full potential, parents should be aware of the following:
Their Class Standing
Perhaps the easiest way to show you care about your child’s schooling is to be in touch with high schools in Salt Lake City or anywhere you live. You don’t have to be invasive if all you want is to know your child’s progress. A check-in from time to time and a steady attendance in school functions will give you enough information.
Don’t take the lack of troubling news to be a sign that your child is doing well, as some children may be hiding their school problems from home due to embarrassment or other reasons. It’s up to you as the parent to take that initiative. Show your own excitement about your child’s school activities and maybe, just maybe, this will spark their interest too.
Their Group of Friends
Children spend a lot of time in school. It shapes their personality more than home does, especially during high school when they are surrounded by different kinds of people who are experimenting with their identity.
There’s nothing wrong with your child wanting to experiment, but when they’re around peers who may push them to do bad things for the sake of fun, that’s when you need to step in. Do it in a way that your child will understand why you want them to stop seeing certain people. If you push your authority over your children without explanation, you might only cause them to rebel even more.
Their Extracurriculars
For students with big dreams, high school is not just high school. It’s their stepping stone for college. Getting into a prestigious university is beyond challenging, especially because these places look for more than just grades. They look for community involvement, as well. If your child has expressed interest in the course they want to pursue, go ahead and help them find relevant extracurriculars that will give them an edge.
Let them decide, but make them aware of the options they have that they might not be considering. Extracurriculars also help them forge friendships and connections that they may need in the workplace. These also help them branch out and discover aspects of themselves they might not have been previously aware of.
Their Meals
School lunches have had a makeover, what with the urge from the government to serve healthier foods. However, there is no denying that school lunches are highly commercialized, which means the changes may not be as significant and as healthy as you may think.
You know what your child is eating if you prepare their lunch, but if you don’t have the time, it would be nice to survey the places that sell food near the school. Your job is not done by checking what the cafeteria offers. Students will eat out if they can get away with it, but you don’t have to be clueless about it.
Parenting is a tight balance between being strict and being supportive. Let your children make mistakes, but be attentive and caring enough that they know they can tell you about it.
