Many children are put under immense pressure of studies as they advance through higher classes. An international research by Jacob’s foundation confirmed that as children get older and experience stress and fatigue of education, they develop a distaste of going to school and generally get bored of ‘mundane’ life.
For the proper well-being and grooming of a child it is important for them to take part in after-school activities that can excite a child, provide them with a creative impulse, enhance their social skills and provide them exposure to life.
With recommendations from teachers and our private tutors, listed below are our top 5 tips to create a well balanced life for your kid in Singapore.
1. Engaging in Sports
A child’s physical needs are just as important as their psychological needs. An active, healthy child is a happy child and giving them a chance to freely play their favourite sport is one of the best things any parent can do for their children.
One of the best ways for a child to really fun and learn a sport is to join a CCA or local after-school sports club. This can be within the school, in a local club, community centre or a sports facility. It can provide them with a chance to learn teamwork, develop friendships outside of the school, learn sportsmanship, competition and help them get their daily physical activity.
2. Socialising with Friends
It is important for your child to develop their own social circle of friends. These can be from the school, from the neighbourhood or even from family friends and relatives. Whatever the case, every child has the right to develop personal relationships, to share their experiences with fellow peers, to develop connections and to build bonds which can last a lifetime.
Parents should let their kids spend some time socializing; visit their friend’s place, go to a mall, play videogames, watch movies etc. Just normal things every kid or teenager likes to do with their friends.
Granted, every friendship comes with its own emotions and times of distress but the most a parent should do is be there for their kids and make sure that they avoid bad company.
3. Spending quality time with parents
Every parent should give quality time to their kids on a daily basis. This can be in the form of a family dinner, a walk in the park, or a visit to the mall together etc. Children feel safe with their parents and this trust only develops further through proper interaction on a regular basis.
Many times, parents and children get too involved in their own lives, which ultimately create rifts within a family. The only way to avoid such a situation is for parents to take time out for their kids, talk to them, share their life stories and listen intently to whatever their children need to say. It makes a child feel wanted and helps cement the parent-child relationship further.
4. Taking up a hobby
Children are very creative, they have wild imaginations and they should be given the space to live them out. Parents should notice what their kids like and discuss these with them, it can be singing, painting, writing poems, or simply reading books, whatever it is, parents should encourage their kids to take up a hobby, and help them join a club or a training class to improve their skills.
Healthy and creative hobbies develop a child in so many ways, it gives them a purpose, a sense of power and completeness and lets them find a place for themselves in this world. Perhaps, it might even develop into potential careers that can make them successful in later life.
5. Homework and Tuition
Having said all that, education and extra-curricular activities should go hand in hand. Singaporean children already study in the best schooling system in the world and proper homework and tuition plays an important part in making Singaporean kids outperform their counterparts world-wide.
In all of the above cases, it is of utmost importance for parents to be involved in every aspect of their child’s life. Supervision and management of these activities will provide a better chance at a child learning new hobbies, playing sports, making friends, taking private tuition and at the same time building strong family bonds.
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