We would like to be able to protect our children from all the difficult things in life. Sometimes though, it may be better to not jump in for all the small stumbles, and allow them to deal with the challenges that school or friends throw at them. It could be about dealing with a bad grade at school, or not doing well enough at sports, and though as parents we must provide encouragement and support, it provides good experience to the child if they can figure out the way to success by themselves.

The best way for a child to develop better academic skills is to learn how to get over failure and learn how to solve problems by himself. We can contribute by helping with learning plans, but it is upto the child to understand what the best strategy for himself would be. If we keep planning out the way in all detail, we are not enabling our children to make their own way in the world, and instead only spoonfeeding our learning strategies and techniques onto them. Times are changing and the internet has made it so easy to access all information, that our child would be best suited to find how to make best use of it for the purpose of education.

Make sure that the child is exposed to tales of science and scientists, and even histories of world leaders, all of which will show her how the famous saying about “Failure being a stepping stone to success” really is possible. Even in fine arts, you will find many examples of authors like Leo Tolstoy who battled the writers block and rose again to give us great masterpieces. Exploring the etymology of phrases like “Try, try, try again” would also be an interesting activity to do with your child.

The important thing for your child to realize is that failure is never the end, it is only a small setback if at all, and should be treated as such. It is important to stay encouraging and not blame the child for failures, as this would hurt their spirit. As the child grows older and understands better how to get the best out of failures, they will be better equipped to face any situation with a positive attitude.

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