What Are the Factors that Determine Success at School?

These days, success at school is determined by a  combination of several different factors, ranging from social and family interaction, to guidance, appropriate incentives and good nutrition.

Success at school isn’t solely based on the number of hours that children study. There are a number of stimuli and conditions that can favor children’s academic performance greatly.

Let’s take a look at the different factors that can help children excel at school.

What is meant by success at school?

When we talk about success at school we’re referring to a new global concept. It has nothing to do with the old way of thinking that our child is successful if he gets the best grades. In fact, getting the best grade doesn’t necessarily reflect a high degree of knowledge, nor does it mean that the child will retain that knowledge.

The basis of success at school is that there should be a high degree of integration into society. In other words, children must be able to work effectively and correctly with their peers and teachers. Among other things, they must be able to process the information they receive correctly.

The concept of success at school has changed over the past few decades. It’s no longer considered that the best student is the one with the highest qualifications. The best student is the one who manages to balance all aspects of his life.

Students who have the best grades can also have, among other things:

• Behavioral problems.
• Difficulties socializing.
• Psychosomatic diseases.

Who are the real successful children then? They’re the ones who manage to learn the lessons taught to them by parents and teachers, and who can also integrate into society effectively. This doesn’t mean that a student with difficulties socializing is inferior, but simply that his or her success at school shouldn’t be based solely on grades.

Ways to help children achieve success at school

Here are some recommendations for your child to develop well and be successful at school:

Healthy habits

Good habits contribute greatly to our overall well-being and, because of this, they must be instilled from childhood. Getting good sleep and proper nutrition will give children the energy they need to carry out all the necessary daily activities.

Nutritional experts estimate that breakfast provides 25% of the daily calories that the body needs to function properly. Children who don’t have breakfast have low energy during school time, attention deficit, headaches and can’t retain information. The same happens when they don’t get enough sleep at night. Hence the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Beware of the Pygmalion effect

We have to be careful with the expectations we have of our children, and the so-called Pygmalion effect. We must also be careful with what we demand from them. 

It’s often counterproductive to demand high grades and success, if you don’t make any effort to help or support them along the way. Likewise, we shouldn’t be teaching them that high grades are everything in life; they must also be taught to value the learning process.

Many children suffer from stress when they can’t get the high grades that their parents expect (or even demand) from them. For this reason, we need to evaluate the extent to which we demand things from them, and know their capabilities in depth.

Remember that every child has the potential to learn, but we should respect his own individual rhythm, and know how and when to help so that he can benefit from the knowledge he needs.

External motivations

For a child to be successful, it’s not enough just to send him to school every day. You have to help him in different ways to get him interested in the learning process. We can do this by asking him how he’s doing with his school work, and also by sitting down with him and helping.

A very simple and useful way of supporting children is to provide them with the tools they need to be able to study comfortably. A good study area can significantly enhance their interest in school activities, and can even help them develop other related interests, such as reading, writing, painting, drawing, and so on.

You can also start conversations at the dinner table, so that your children can participate and, in this way, feel more comfortable doing so in class.

Teamwork

Together with his teachers, evaluate how the child is getting on with his schoolmates. It’s important to know if your child has friends in his class, or if he perhaps doesn’t feel comfortable at school.

If you find out that things aren’t going well at school, don’t just start blaming your child for not having friends. Instead, look at the big picture and teach him lovingly some basic concepts of socializing. You should also aim to:

• Teach your child basic values.
• Show and give your child love
• Stimulate your child’s self-acceptance
• Listen to what your child has to say, without judging him.

As a parent, it’s important for you to be your child’s number one guide and helper. Don’t hold back from providing all the help he asks for: get him to school punctually, help him with his homework, and if he needs to do school projects with friends, then allow them to come to your house.

These simple tips will help you to be alert to all your child’s school needs. If you’re his helper and guide, then he’ll certainly have all he needs to be truly successful at school.