Preparing Your Children for a Life of Learning

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Gone are the days where you passed your exams, got a job for life and retired at
60 or 65. Now, we all have to be continuous learners and most of us can expect
to go on working until we are well into our 70s. In all likelihood, this will be the
case for your children too. So, it is very important to teach your children how to
become lifelong learners. Here are a few things you can teach them to help them
to be ready for that and improve their ability to pass exams and secure good
qualifications.

Show them how to produce good-quality work
Your children need to know how to produce work that is accurate and well
written. If they write a paper that will go towards their grades encourage them
to get it proofread. We are all, to some extent, blind to our mistakes. So, it is
always a good idea to get someone else to read through what you have written.
Usually, they will pick up errors that you have missed. For really important
academic papers like dissertations, it is wise to have the proofreading done by a
professional.

Help them to develop good communication skills
Passing exams is rarely all about learning a series of dry facts. Far from it,
usually, you also have to communicate how you arrived at an answer or why
you reached a certain conclusion. Teaching your children good reasoning skills
and how to get things down on paper in a clear, concise way is essential.
Help your children to explore memorisation techniques

Being able to quickly absorb information is a very useful skill to have. It can
really give you an edge and make learning almost effortless.

Encourage your children to explore the different memorisation techniques that
are outlined here. Importantly, the methods you will find there have all been
tweaked to make them suitable for children to use.

Encourage them to capture important thoughts and facts
When inspiration strikes, for example, a storyline for an English paper or the
solution to a maths problem it is important to be able to capture that thought.
Getting your children into the habit of writing down their ideas and important
thoughts will prove helpful for them. Encourage them to keep a diary. When
they are old enough to have a phone, suggest that they use an app to keep a
record of their ideas and things that are likely to come in handy later.
Explain how to keep good research notes

For certain projects, your children will have to carry out a lot of research. Teach
them how to do this effectively. For example, how to take notes that are orderly
enough for them to reference later when it is time to write up their essay or
another type of academic paper.

Help them to understand the need for a good work-life balance
Your children also need to understand that they need to pace themselves. You
do not want them to end up feeling that they must use every spare moment they
have to study. They need to learn how to pace themselves and recognise when it
is time to take a break. Doing this greatly reduces the chances of them burning
out because they have pushed themselves too hard academically.