Giving Your Child The Educational Start To Help Them Thrive

Every parent who cares for their child is naturally going to want them to excel at school. Even from an early age, it can feel like you can start to see the gap forming between children based on things like vocabulary, the rate at which they pick up new things, and more. It’s important to recognize that there is a very long way, indeed, to go before you can really measure their aptitude for educational attainment. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t start doing things to help them now.

Read to and with them

One of the very best things you can do for a child, in terms of their education, is to make sure that reading plays a major part in their life. Whether it’s bedtime stories or you create a lovely garden to read in, make sure you have some time to sit down with them and a book. Whether you read directly to them or you encourage them to try reading some of the words, reading expands their vocabulary, gives them a headstart on literacy skills, including writing, and gets them engaged with the act of sitting and paying attention for periods of time.

A great way to help children get excited about reading is to sign up for a book subscription that is developmentally-appropriate, so that they can look forward to fresh, new stories each month! 

One of my favorite book subscription boxes for children includes Book and Bear, which is quite special because it features a DIY stuffed animal plush! (Use code sweetsofties for 15% off.) Your little one gets to stuff their new friend with this easy, hands-on kit.  It's such a fun and engaging way to instill a love for learning and literacy. 

Get playing with crafts and educational toys

All kinds of play are, in some shape or form, beneficial to your child. However, your kid is a lot more likely to start using their hands to engage with things physically beyond kindergarten and so, finding toys that can help improve their fine-motor skills can help them be much more adept at writing, using scissors during crafts, assembling puzzles and displays, and much more.

Make learning visual

If you want to go over some of the things that they might have been learning in kindergarten, or you’re supplementing their education with things that you want them to learn, it’s important that you try to keep learning engaging and fun, especially at a younger age. A young child’s capacity for simple recitation or engaging with text alone is not very advanced. However, learning materials like the visual materials from Topguru can do a lot to help you educate them at a level that’s a lot more likely to interest and engage them. It can help them learn to enjoy learning, too, which will stick with them even as they move to more “serious” forms of learning materials.

Help them spend time around other children

Your child might have some friends or relatives that they spend a lot of time with, but school (regardless of what level it is) might be the first time that they are introduced to so many strangers at once. Some children will have no problem at all when it comes to getting stuck in there and making fast friends. If your child is a little more on the introverted-seeming or cautious side, then it might help to arrange playdates with other parents, first and foremost, so that you can help them get used to socializing with new people more easily.

Teach them the right kind of behavior

Of course, the educational experience isn’t just about learning various elements of the curriculum. For most children, it is the first experience of the educational world and, as such, they need to acclimate to it. To pay attention, not start playing, and not interrupt, these are all elements of good schoolroom behavior you should teach them. Sites like Connections Academy offer tips specific to online education, and exploring resources like an IQ test online can also be beneficial, especially if your child is engaging in online learning as part of their school curriculum.

Get used to talking to their teacher

If your child is entering kindergarten or even their first grade at “real school,” then the one contact you want to make sure that you have the ear of is their teacher. Their teacher can give you a much better idea of how they are doing, where they might be struggling, and where they can use some support. It is a simple fact that children get the best chance at a good education when they have a parent and a teacher that are both invested and engaged in providing a good education for them.


A good start can be very valuable when heading into the world of education. However, you have to bear in mind that it is just that: a start. They are going to require support and active attention at their education for a long time to come, so try to make it more of an easy habit rather than some big effort you undertake all at once.