This is difficult to answer as all children are different. In my previous post, I suggested rewards, identifying learning styles and offering assistance.
Today I’m going to use my son as an example to illustrate my point.
My son, while a good kid, was a lousy student! (Please don’t tell him o 😆)
I would get calls from his teachers once a week when he was in secondary school. I knew then he was in some kind of trouble.
He wanted to play football but the team had grade requirements. He didn’t meet them.
I tried offering tutors, suggested he ask for help from teachers, threatened and begged.
When he was in year 10 I stopped talking to him about studying.
But I never took football out of the equation because I felt the work ethic and commitment it required was important for him. He needed (or maybe I needed for him) to be passionate about something. He needed something to feel good about, especially since his older siblings had good grades when they were in school.
I, as a mom, made sure he knew I was there to support his achievements. I tried my best to go to his football games.
What I didn’t do is ask him if he had homework, or tests, or exams. I stopped because he needed to learn to do things without his mom nagging him. When he talked about uni, I simply said “You’re not going to uni Tolu”. He would say to me “Wow Mom, way to be supportive”. 😆
I had to sit back and watch my son flushed his future away because of laziness.
Fast forward a year and a half from graduating sixth form school and he has finally got it.
I don’t know what really brought the change in him.
He started by setting himself a one year goal and he achieved almost everything he wrote down.
He passed his driving test at 17 and he started going to property events learning about Real Estates and property development.
He also learn public speaking and communication skills
He bought lots of books on Property Development management, he did some online courses on property management and he reads books on property management almost every day, self educating himself on property.
He once told me that he reads books on property and real estate because that’s what he is interested in learning.
He did a year apprenticeship in an estate agent company. He worked his ass off in this company.
He now works as a sales representative in one of the biggest Property Companies in London.
He is more focused and disciplined now than ever.
He goes to gym every day, writes blogs and does YouTube videos on how to be a sales representative.
He organized a charity event for his friend and more than 500 people attended the event.
I think sometimes leaving them to fail works sometimes. They seem to get it after a while. Pestering, bribing and punishment doesn’t. At least not for my son.
I would love to hear your thoughts on today’s post. 👇
Thanks Olu
Happy parenting ❤️❤️❤️
Positive Parenting With Olu 