6 Ways to Set Your Child up for Future Success

Childhood is a time of fun and discovery, at least when we are freed from the sometimes stressful realities around us. Few things make childhood better than learning to make decisions and their consequences, from eating a tasty handful of dirt as a toddler to being a "class clown" in high school.

Understanding this process is vital for young people to help them make confident and positive decisions about the social, emotional and physical well-being of themselves and those around them as they move toward independence. In general, the people most influential in this process are family members and teachers who support these young people at home and during their time in formal education. So it is important for them to realize how you can develop such important life skills.

1. Encouraging young people to take decision-making steps

As children develop decision-making skills, discuss the following steps and explain how they can be applied to everyday scenarios:

• What is the decision to make?
• What are the options?
• Evaluate the options and choose the best
• Act on your choice and see how it works.

2. Include them in everyday decisions

Involve children in your decisions and seek advice from them. You can say:

“I am trying to decide whether to do rowing or yoga to improve my fitness. What do you think I should do?”

Next, review the pros and cons of each suggestion so your child can learn to think about different options so he can make an informed decision.

3. Allow children to practice making decisions

Allowing young people to make their own decisions contributes to a sense of independence and enables them to make decisions with integrity. However, it is important that the decision is really your own. To enable them to make the right decision, offer them a few different options that are acceptable to all of you, whichever you choose. By doing so, you give them confidence in their ability to make good decisions. Then, by showing interest in their choice, you show that the child's decision matters.

4. Encourage children to set goals

Setting goals is an important skill that children and adults alike often forget. The ability to set and achieve SMART goals is a life skill that, when taught at an early age, provides not only focus but also self-awareness and confidence in reaching adulthood. Something as simple as learning a new sport or learning a musical instrument can be a great opportunity to teach young people how to set goals. This demonstrates the importance of decision-making in planning and implementation, and thus also enables children to shape learning paths, not only in a physical sense, but also in a social and emotional sense.

5. Ask questions that encourage smart decisions

"What do you like about it?" , "What makes this the best option?" , "How does that work?"

These are all examples of good questions to ask your children to get food for thought. Such questions enable young people to realize their decisions and realize that they will have some kind of reaction or consequences.

This isn't close to every tool that can teach good decision making, but it's the perfect starting point!

Teaching good decision-making skills means enabling our younger generation to make positive life choices related to their social, emotional and physical well-being as they face the increasing challenges of life.

6. You have high expectations.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics have found that parents' expectations predict their children's success in school.

Neil Halfon, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and director of the UCLA Center for Healthy Children said. families and communities.

"Parents who saw university as their children's future seemed to lead their children toward that goal regardless of income and other assets," he said.