The Critical Importance of Listening to your Child
It's easy for many parents to fall into the habit of assuming that their child should be listening to them, not the other way around. In reality, however, learning to listen to your child may be more important than you think. According to a recent study reported by U.S. News, a caring, engaged parent can go a long way toward determining student success.
How Does Listening Help?
Anyone who has been attentively listened to experiences feeling valued, respected, and understood. However, based on the study, listening helps children in ways that aren’t necessarily obvious.A caring parent can significantly increase the odds that a child will complete their homework. In fact, a caring parent can increase the odds of completed homework by six times--a substantial increase, especially if your child is struggling in school. In fact, empathizing with and listening to your child can have even more impact than regular family meals together.Simply listening can help your child process and handle trauma. When you listen to your child, you can help them process through many of the things they have experienced. Sitting down to have a discussion about traumatic events--or even just opening the door for those conversations--can help your child better face those events. Not only that, but it also increases the odds that they will not have to repeat a grade in school for the year.Listening to your child helps them show more interest in school. A child is more likely to be engaged at school if they have a parent to sit down and listen to at home.
Learning to Listen
Struggling to listen to your child? Try some of these strategies:
- Make conversation a priority. Take time out just for your child: not necessarily to do things together, but to just talk.
- Put your devices down. It's hard to engage in a conversation with someone who is tuned out on a cell phone (just ask the parents of a teenager).
- Make a habit of taking into account what your child has to say. Don't dismiss their feelings or opinions because of their age alone.
Listening to your child is one important step in promoting healthy growth and moving toward school success. Want to learn more about helping your child? Contact us today to set up an appointment.
