An Abuja-based business woman and psychologist, Mrs. Abiodun Koleoluwa, has advised parents to mentor their children to be outstanding in the pursuit of their education.
Koleoluwa, who gave the advice at the weekend, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said parents should also help their children discover the best method of learning.
She added that parents should pay attention to the thing that interest their children and encourage them do that particular thing well.
“Find out what interest your child and help him/her explore that thing. Let your child show you the way he likes to learn.
“It is also very important for parents to tune into how their children learn. Many children use a combination of modalities to study and learn.
“Some learn visually through making and seeing pictures, others through tactile experiences, like building block towers and working with clay.
“Still, others are auditory learners who pay most attention to what they hear. They may not learn the same way their siblings or their parents do.
“By paying attention to how your child learns, you may be able to pick his interest and follow it up. You can even explain tough topics by drawing pictures together, creating charts, building models, singing songs and even making up rhymes,” she said.
Koleoluwa said that most parents were guilty of not monitoring what their children had learned in school or help them do their assignments.
She urged parents to find time to read together with their children and read aloud with them regularly.
“If your child is a reluctant reader, reading aloud will expose him/her to the structure and vocabulary of good literature and get him/her interested in reading more.
“Also, when we connect with what our children learn every day, it makes learning part of their everyday experience,’’ she said.
Koleoluwa said that parents should ensure their children spend minimum time watching television, adding that watching lots of TV programmes do not give children the opportunity to develop their own interests. (NAN)
