by Happiness Hassan | Jul 22, 2021 | Family & Parenting
Training children Is a hectic job to do as there are lots of do’s and don’ts to be addressed to them. Kids are extremely sensitive and are fast learners, they are mostly action followers in the terms of behavioural traits that’s why there are things you shouldn’t do in front of them. The saying “ practice what you preach” is very important as a parent because kids are mostly affected by your actions and to ensure their good and productive upbringing, you have to be careful with what you display in front of them. Below are seven things you shouldn’t do in front of your children.
What You Shouldn’t Do in Front of Your Kids
1. Avoid the Use of Foul Language When Communicating With Your Kids
The use of foul language such as “you are useless”, “ stupid child ”, “your are a mistake”, ”I wish you were never born”, etc, on a child, leaves a bad mark on his mental health which also leads to a lack of confidence and fear towards you. A child being treated in such a manner yields little or no productivity, he also develops fear towards you which makes it hard for him to share his little problems with you as his parents and he tends to treat people he comes in contact with, in such a manner.
So as a parent, you ought to mind the words to say in front of your children.
2. It’s Wrong to Argue With Your Spouse in Front of Your Kids
In every relationship, arguments are inevitable, one thing leads to another causing exchanging of words, yelling, slamming of doors, and at times physical fights, but as parents, you ought to try and control your temper when in front of your children.
Every child needs love and care but constant arguments make the atmosphere unconducive for the child’s upbringing, most times the child becomes moody or sad so that’s why arguments, misunderstandings should be managed properly.
3. Avoid Smoking and Drinking Alcohol in the Presence of Your Kid
Most people do this to calm their nerves down but as a parent, doing this in front of a child isn’t advisable at all. Smoking and drinking don’t just affect your internal organs but also your mental health and social well-being.
No parents would be proud to see their children practicing such activities due to the consequences afterward so to avoid that, it has to start with you.
4. Never Ill-treat or Speak Poorly of Others in Front of Your Kids
Like they say; charity begins at home. Most ill-mannered people you come across with are due to their bad upbringing. One of the duties of, a parent is to train your child to respect and treat people with humility in his everyday life but when you as a parent constantly treat people badly or speak poorly about them in front of your children, they develop such character.
5. It’s Irresponsible to Spend Too Much Time on the Screen While Your Kids are Watching
We are in a computer age and this has not only become a problem for children but adults (parents) too, because the time being spent on gadgets is excessively too much. Wastage of time, yielding little or no productivity, depression, etc are the results of spending lots of time on gadgets.
A child spending lots of time on gadgets more than his books scores low in test and this makes the child feel like a failure so as a parent you have to control the time been spent on gadgets for your child and yourself as they follow in your footsteps.
6. It’s Improper to Compare Your Kids to Others
No one likes to be compared to someone who appears better at doing things than you. Children need encouragement when they fail at something rather than being compared to other kids who did better, as a parent you shouldn’t compare your child to other kids because comparison only reduces the child’s self-esteem and confidence.
Children need encouragement to do things better especially when trying new things, so the comparison shouldn’t be done in front of them because it only discourages them.
7. Telling Lies in Front of Your Kids Gives You a Bad Image
As earlier said, one of the parents’ major duties is teaching the child morals. Telling lies in front of a child, no matter how petty it is, teaches the child that there is nothing wrong with lying. To train your child’s tongue, it has to start with you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, parents should be cautious with what they do or say in front of their children. Children learn every day so it’s your duty as the parent to teach them good morals in a healthy and conducive environment and we should always bear in mind that whatever has been displayed In front of a child appears right to them.
In addition, feel free to share your thoughts regarding this post below.
by Happiness Hassan | Jul 21, 2021 | Family & Parenting
The joy of a parent to raise a healthy and decent child. But, what happens when the reverse becomes the case? This unprecedented change in a child leaves most parents confused. Subsequently, it results in fear and anxiety when the doctor’s report shows that their child is diagnosed with autism disorder. Unfortunately, no parents ever prepare beforehand to raise an autistic child. Therefore, it becomes devastating raising a child with autism for all parents.
Furthermore, you begin to wonder what’s next? As your life will undergo drastic alterations, likewise, that of your child. However, you’re not alone in this struggle. This article is written to provide you with the best tips you need when raising a child with autism.
What Is Autism?
Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a term that encompasses a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that disrupts the ability to communicate, socialize, coordinate emotions, and comprehend things.
This disability varies from person to person. Oftentimes, it becomes a complex, lifelong challenge. Meanwhile, research has shown that autism occurs more in male children than females.
Causes Of Autism
There isn’t a specific cause for autism yet, although there are various factors that can give rise to autism disorder. Interference with the function, structure, and development of the brain result in autism. Most especially, when pregnant women indulge in unhealthy lifestyles during pregnancy like intake of hard drugs, alcohol, and anti-seizure medication— it affects the unborn child.
Also, metabolic conditions alter the function of the brain, for instance, diabetes, epilepsy, sleep disorder, obesity, or untreated phenylketonuria.
Other factors include heredity, gene mutation, exposure to harmful chemicals, viral infections, and being born to aged parents.
What Are The Symptoms of Autism?
1. Behavioural Signs of Autism
Autistic kids are impulsive, clumsy, have poor eye contact, engage in self-harm, and display passive/aggressive/disruptive attitudes.
They enjoy repetitive patterns like rocking, spinning, hand flapping, or walking on toes.
2. Social Signs of Autism
Perhaps you notice your child prefers being alone instead of associating with their peers, it’s a sign of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Subsequently, they become indifferent to caregivers, having restricted Interests.
Oftentimes, they struggle to express themselves. Some infants hardly respond to their names and lack joyous engaging expressions.
3. Development Signs of Autism
Delay in speech can be traced to ASD. Victims of autism have abnormal speech patterns like babbling or robot-like speech. These categories of children can be seen repeating a single word or phrase which is often meaningless.
4. Cognitive Signs of Autism
The simple litmus test for autism is through cognitive signs. Children with ASD have low intelligence, creativity, memory retention ability, and emotional coordination. They lack concentration and can’t understand easy questions or directions.
5. Psychological Signs of Autism
This includes being unconscious of their emotions and those around them. They are also victims of depression and being
sensitive to touch, light, sound, smell, taste, color, and texture.
Practical Tips for Raising a Child With Autism
1. Incorporate Patient While Raising a Kid With Autism
It’s exhausting bringing up a child who forgets everything that has been learned. Unfortunately, this is the state autistic kids belong to. In other words, they keep repeating wrong behaviors after being corrected countless times— slow at adapting to normal behavior. However, instead of getting angry with their lack of improvement, chose to be patient and supportive.
Learn how to be patient with that child, looking beyond their disabilities. Don’t permit your anger to dictate how to nurture an artistic child nor should you employ violent methods of disciplining a child when correcting them.
2. Non-verbal Communication Helps You Relate Better With an Autistic Child
Autistic children find it difficult to communicate and express themselves verbally—speech defaults. Therefore, to connect with them you must learn how to communicate using nonverbal methods such as communication using gestures, facial expressions, and touch.
This may sound ridiculous. However, raising a child with autism demands you learn them. It enables you to relate to their needs and provides for them. It further helps that child associate with others instead of being left behind.
3. Create A Safe Haven for an Autistic Child
A hostile environment stirs up autism spectrum disorder—it hinders improvement. Perhaps, you’re raising a child with autism, you need to make your home a haven. It isn’t the time for nagging, quarreling, or violence in the family. Rather a time to practice activities that increase love bonds with a child.
A healthy relationship communicates the message of love and value to an autistic child. Oftentimes, victims of autism give in to self-harm. Therefore, ensure you keep out all harmful objects, substances, and appliances from their reach. Always monitor their movements.
4. Study Your Child as a Parent
As a parent or caregiver, you must watch out for the signs of autism in your kids beginning from infancy. This enables you to seek the right treatment early. The outcome from your study will give an accurate knowledge of the things that upset your child, so you can avoid them. Similarly, the thing that cheers them up.
Don’t hesitate to do more of what makes them happy as it boosts their learning process of increasing normal behavior.
5. Reward Their Behaviors
To boost the retention ability of children with ASD you need to reward their good behavior often. Since they easily forget what’s learned, getting rewarded will help them familiarize themselves with normal behaviors.
Subsequently, they begin to adapt to what’s learned to obtain the rewards. Meanwhile, don’t hesitate to show disapproval for wrong behaviors by not awarding rewards.
6. Build Your Child’s Interest
You must learn how to discover your child’s passion irrespective of their disability. Autism hinders a child’s cognitive ability and academic performance, however, it doesn’t terminate their interest in other activities. You also need to step beyond discovering their passion by giving them your support and encouragement. Developing their interest strengthens them to communicate and socialize faster.
Don’t be quick to conclude they aren’t good at anything—keep trying. I have met with an autistic child who is an awesome artist. Therefore give your child a chance!
7. Watch Your Words as You Speak With an Autistic Child
Raising a child with autism requires the use of gracious words. I know it hurts to see your child with disabilities but that shouldn’t alter your words used in communicating to them. It’s disastrous to use insulting words at them. This implies that your words can either become a healing or destructive balm. Depending on how you utilize them.
Using words like you’re worthless, you would never learn or why don’t you ever fit in like other kids tears down their self-esteem and worsens their condition. In contrast, use supportive and loving words; I believe in you, you can do it, you’re a genius, you’re unique among others.
8. Disallow Self–isolation for an Autistic Child
Oftentimes parents encourage the attitude of loneliness in autistic children by restricting their movement. Due to fear of being embarrassed when they misbehave while among their peers.
Unfortunately, this act doesn’t solve the problem. If you must succeed at raising a child with autism, you must realize that they are also entitled to the privilege and rights of a normal child— not less.
Therefore, give them your support by allowing them to associate with their peers. Perhaps, you feel their peers will laugh at them, ensure they hang out with a few friends, preferably one or two is healthy for a start. They adapt faster to normal behavior through positive peer group influence.
9. Involve Others
To prevent breaking down with depression, involve others in your quest to help your child overcome autism. In other words, you need the help of other household members. It’s one of your responsibilities to inform and educate them on how to relate to an autistic child. Therefore, instead of insulting or rejecting such children, they give their love, support, and acceptance. It further creates a conducive atmosphere to learn new skills.
10. A Private Tutor is Needed for an Autistic Child
Furthermore, it’s a waste of time and effort to assume that an autistic child will cope along with their peers. Therefore, you need to employ the assistance of a private tutor to simplify what’s taught, which aids their comprehension ability.
They also tend to forget easily. However, a private tutor will help in revising what is taught many more times until it’s adapted.
11. Commitment to Treatment
There are numerous treatments for autism spectrum disorder depending on the disability of a child. As a parent raising a child with autism you need to understand that these treatments work in a progressive pattern—not instantaneous. This treatment process calls for commitment and patience. There will be a time when you feel the treatment isn’t working, however, don’t quit! Continue sooner than later you will see improvement in that child’s life.
Autism spectrum disorder treatment includes speech therapy, occupational therapy( Enhance daily activities), physical therapy, educational therapy, family therapy and applied behavioral analysis.
In addition, certain medications may be recommended like antipsychotics for behavioral problems or antidepressants (for anxiety and depression).
12. Self-Care is Needed
You need to be healthy and fit to provide your child with the best support needed to walk through autism. Taking proper care of yourself is needed to avert a nervous breakdown. In essence, you need to be emotionally stable. Avoid engaging in self-pity or worrying, this often results in depression. Likewise, give your body enough rest, proper diets, and seek medical care when sick. Also, discard the use of hard drugs to forget about your pain.
Conclusion
Early recognition of autism spectrum disorder makes treatment achievable. Therefore, be an observant parent. Nonetheless, your support is highly required to enhance normal behavior, although you would have to make decisions for them for a long time before they attain independence.
Meanwhile, as a pregnant mother be careful of the things you take into your body system. These substances affect the unborn child.
In addition, share your views regarding raising a child with autism in the comment section.
by Happiness Hassan | Jun 21, 2021 | Family & Parenting
Raising a child as a single parent is stressful. This stage comes with several unpredictable changes and takes your life off balance. You will have to make crucial decisions. Oftentimes, choosing the happiness of your child over yours. Recently, the percentage of single parents is rampant. This is as a result of a separation or divorce. Which leaves hurting scars on the child involved.
Therefore, as a single parent, you need to equip yourself with the right knowledge and skills to raise a decent child without burning out. Irrespective of your partner’s absence—although it hurts.
How to Raise a Child as a Single Parent
1. Eliminate perfection
Expecting to be perfect at raising a child even as a single parent is the fastest route to stress. This mindset builds pressure on you and makes you liable to other forms of health challenges such as depression and high blood pressure (hypertension).
Therefore, give yourself some credit and take parenting one step at a time. In addition, don’t give in to self-guilt when you get into mistakes. Such as using violent methods to discipline your child, nagging, abandoning them to the care of someone else, or pampering them. Accept your mistakes and learn from them.
2. As a Single Develop an Optimistic Attitude
As a parent, you are the first role model of your child. In other words, they are watching every step you take, this includes your attitude. Despite the awful situation surroundings you at the moment, you need to maintain an optimistic attitude. Your attitude influences that of your child.
Therefore, being negative when things go wrong will discourage your child from trusting you. Instead, cheer them up with positive words and an outlook.
3. Tell Your Child About the Separation or Divorce
Be open to tell your child about the absence of your partner. Keeping it a secret will tarnish the blossoming relationship with your child when they find out by themselves. Telling your child about the separation enables them to understand and cooperate with you better. However, don’t create a wrong impression about your partner before your kid, despite what they may have done.
This wrong impression may later result in resentment towards those of the same sex as your departed partners either male or female.
4. Create a Light Schedule For Yourself
The day you become a single parent marks the dawn of an entirely new life for you. Therefore, things are not going to be the same. And you would need to adapt to the new change. Hence, you need to lighten up your schedule by erasing unnecessary activities. Any activities that add little or no value to your life are best avoided.
Whereas, there are other activities you need to engage in once a month or suspend until your kids are much older.
5. Financial Stability is Needed
A stable financial life will be required to keep the family together. This will require effective planning on how to utilize your monthly earnings towards the needful. The needful includes providing the necessities of life and health care facilities for yourself and your child. In addition, affording a standard school for your child and other miscellaneous.
Raising a child as a single parent requires discipline in terms of money management. This will enable you to meet up financial goals and invest your money wisely. Always have a plan B for the unexpected event and the future. Subsequently, as a single parent, don’t rely on one source of earning. Engage in various legit businesses and learn to cut your coat according to your size.
6. Spend Quality Time With Your Kids
Oftentimes, your child may begin to feel the absence of your departed partner and results in emotional disorder. However, to fill in that gap, you need to spend quality time with your child. And engage in the activities that make them happy. Although there may be times you need to stay out late to make extra money.
However, don’t make that your routine which can detach you from your kids. A close, healthy relationship with your kids helps you discover your child’s passion. Likewise, their weaknesses, to help them improve. Spending quality time is one of the activities that can increase the love bond with your kids.
7. Create a Routine and Stick With it
A balanced routine helps create an order for your day-to-day activities and that of your child. This reduces stress and encourages independence in the life of your child. So, even while you’re away for some time, your child can coordinate him/her self.
There should be a set time to perform the important activities such as a set time for shopping, cooking, doing the home chores, and exercise.
8. Set Limit to Your Action
To control the urge of giving your child whatever they ask for, you will need to set limits and stick to them. Setting boundaries is one of the proper methods of disciplining your child. This helps instruct and guide them on the right code of conduct to put on. Set a limit to what they eat, how they associate with their peer’s and the time spent on the screen.
Instead, occupy them with activities that improve their emotional intelligence and academic performance.
9. Create a Personal Time
Your health as a single parent influences the wellbeing of your child because if you get sick, there’s no other person to look after your child to your satisfaction. Therefore, don’t become a workaholic, which causes the body system to break down. Create time; a time for yourself away from distractions. A time to relax and meditate. Also, a time to engage in the activities you love and spend time with your friends.
These sets of activities boost your immune system, enabling you to think through your problems from an advantageous perspective. Furthermore, it enhances your mental, physical, social, and emotional health.
10. As a Single Parent Take Decision Making Serious
A large percentage of single parents struggle to make crucial decisions about the well-being of their families. This is because they have become accustomed to sharing ideas with their partner before concluding what to do. Therefore, the departure of their partner leaves them confused. They begin to doubt if the choices they make are right.
On the contrary, as a single parent, you need firm courage in decision-making. Believe that your decision is for the betterment of everyone. Perhaps, you’re unsure about certain decisions, consult a family counsellor or a trusted friend or family member.
11. Share With Other Parents How You Feel
When it comes to healthy parenting, no one is a superhero at training kids. Similarly, every parent needs the advice of other parents to forge ahead when raising a child as a single parent. There will come a time in your life as a single parent where you’re overburdened and feel like giving in to your challenges. During this period, staying alone often leads to depression. Instead, learn to share your feelings with others who are willing to listen to you.
Seeking the help of others doesn’t mean you’re weak or makes you an irresponsible parent, rather, it helps you ease the burden you feel. However, you should join a single parents club or group. This helps you get advice from other parents who can relate to what you are experiencing in raising a child as a single parent.
12. Create a Relationship Between Your Child and the Opposite Sex
This kind of relationship depends on the gender of the partner that has departed, either male or female. There is always a need for a child to feel the love of both a mother and a father while growing up. Therefore, create a connection between your child and a trusted person. A person who truly shows and represents the love that your child needs to receive from a mother or a father. This could be a family friend or relatives or counsellor.
Conclusion
Raising a child as a single parent can be made much easier if you take parenting one step at a time. It isn’t compulsory to get it right at first. Gradually, with time, you will succeed at raising a child without the help of a partner.
Perhaps, you have a tight working schedule to meet up with the growing family needs, endeavour to get a babysitter to look after your kids while you’re away. Meanwhile, this practise shouldn’t be a routine. This often distances you from your child, which is one of the parenting mistakes you should avoid.
Finally, share your thoughts in the comment section below.
by Happiness Hassan | Jun 15, 2021 | Family & Parenting
There is a connection between your happiness and your passion. Therefore, passion is an unquenchable longing and determination for something, either positive or negative. Discovering one’s interest at an earlier stage enhances a successful future profession. In addition, bring the feeling of joy and satisfaction to the soul. However, it’s the responsibility of every parent to discover their kid’s passion. Similarly, it’s beneficial to learn about how to find your child’s interest.
This serves as a guide to secure your kid’s future.
How to Discover Your Kid’s Passion
1. Observe Your Kids Critically
There is an inborn strength and abilities in everyone. These abilities are natural and performed with fewer struggles. Therefore, through observation, you can denote the natural strength of your kids. Ensure you keep a close watch on their behaviours, their shopping choice, and how they relate with their peers.
In addition, the things that make them happy and are easy for them to carry out. Perhaps, your child finds it fun to assist in preparing the meal. This attitude is a pointer to your child’s interest in catering.
2. Get Closer to Your Kids
Certain kinds of interest are not visible to detect easily. However, as a parent, you can find your child’s hidden interests by drawing closer to your kids. In other words, a healthy relationship with your kids aids you to discover their passion effortlessly. You must have a conducive atmosphere for communication with your child.
Through effective communication with your kids, you can find out their interest from their words and from the things they love to talk about the most. Therefore, you need to learn about the activities that increase the love bond between you and your kids.
3. Ignite Their Creativity
Oftentimes, a spark of creativity in your kids reveals their hidden interests. That’s why you shouldn’t wait until they are much older to find out about their interest. Instead, engage them with activities that enhance their creativity.
When your kids have a high emotional and intellectual quotient they become equipped to go for the things that make them happy and fulfilled.
4. Explore With Your Kids
Are you a parent, who is Keen on how to find your child’s interest? If yes, then you must be ready to go on adventures with your children. Locking them up within the four walls of your house wouldn’t reveal their interest. Rather, it restricts their passion. Our world is vast and filled with lots of exciting places. Therefore, allow your kids to view the beauty of the world they live in and feel the joy it brings.
During the adventure, your kids are exposed to a variety of things that can make them happy. In their happiness lies their passion. This activity includes camping, swimming, visiting wildlife parks, festivals, fishing among others.
5. Get Involved in Their Academic Activities
Furthermore, your kid’s academic performance influences their interest. This is because, beyond the scope of learning to read and write, they are exposed to various perspectives of life through the different topics taught. They learn about the lifestyle and cultural practices of others. Gradually, they start to develop an interest in the things they read about.
As a parent, how to find your child’s interest wouldn’t be stressful for you if you cherish your child’s academic performance. Ensure you select the right school for your child and assist in doing their homework. Furthermore, read informative books together with your kids. In addition, employ the help of a private tutor if need be to enhance their academic performance.
6. Random Selection
While you wait to discover your child’s natural interest. You should get them engaged with activities that may later turn out to be their interest or activities that the majority of children find fun doing. Your kids get to try lots of options and develop interest for any. This activity includes
Sports
Sporting activities enhance the immune system and keep the brain alert. Therefore, it’s not compulsory for your child to have an interest in the sport before you enrol him/her in sporting activities. However, go for a sport that is suitable for their age and keep a close watch on them not to go extreme.
Music/Musical Instruments
Music is food to the soul. Music goes beyond the production of sound. Rather, it awakens a dormant passion in one’s life. Similarly, you can employ this method to discover your child’s interest. Although music may not be their passion it will guide them into their passion by inspiring them.
Vocational Skills
Academic knowledge may not be sufficient to discover your kid’s passion if it’s not visible. However, when they learn certain vocational skills it begins to surface gradually, as they pick interest in a certain skill such as tailoring, art, and craft, interior design, hairdressing, and its sort.
7. Allow Your Kid to Mingle With Their Peers
Most parents are scared of their kids being influenced negatively by their peers. However, peer group relationships also have their advantages and benefits, such as inspiring your child to become creative. As your child sees their peers excelling at a particular thing. They are inspired to try.
In addition, kids are free among their peers to express their real selves. Hence, among their peers, they begin to showcase their strength.
Conclusion
Having learned about how to find your child’s interest. What matters most is the amount of support you give to their interest. Your support enhances the growth of their interest. Whereas, little support kills their interest. Always, ignore your child’s weaknesses and give more attention to their strengths. Therefore, if your kid’s happiness matters to you, then don’t hesitate to find their interest.
Finally, share with us how you’ve been able to discover your kid’s passion.
by Happiness Hassan | Jun 10, 2021 | Family & Parenting
The aim of education is beyond the scope of learning to read and write. Therefore, as a parent who is still contemplating on how to choose the right school for your kids in Northern Nigeria, you would need to realize that education helps in cultivating the mind. To gain abilities, skills, knowledge that leads to physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, moral, and social development.
Presently, the population within Northern Nigeria states is increasing rapidly. This growth has paved the way for more educational institutions. Similarly, this change has thrown lots of parents into confusion about which school is best for their kids. However, a standard school isn’t measured by expensive fees, online presence, or the population of pupils, although there are factors to evaluate but shouldn’t be the basis. Hence, to make the right choice, consider the below factors.
How to Choose the Right School For Your Kids
1. Consider the Learning Environment
A conducive learning environment influences your child’s academic performance. Irrespective of how talented their teachers are, the learning environment matters. Subsequently, the health of your kids becomes liable to harmful Illnesses such as cholera, typhoid, asthma, and lots more as they learn in a congested and dirty environment.
Therefore, check out the interior and exterior outlook of the school before you register your kids. This should also include having a comfortable learning table and chair for their pupils.
2. Ensure the School has an Updated Curriculum
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world
Nelson Mandela
In essence, we only get to see our world change when the teachings our kids receive in school are competent in combating our current world’s perplexing issues. Perhaps, what is taught is still similar to the curriculum used in the 90s. I advise you to retrace your steps from such school premises. In our twenty-first century, a standard school curriculum must have Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) inculcated into their syllabus.
This approach builds your kids to be creative thinkers and problem solvers.
3. Search for Schools With Quality Teachers
Furthermore, the learning process becomes fruitless when there are no teachers to transfer the knowledge. Similarly, an incompetent teacher will impact little knowledge on your kids. This kind of teacher would always skip topics that they don’t understand, which are important to the students. In other words, skilled teachers are needed to teach your kids.
Even as you ponder on how to choose the right school for your kids in Northern Nigeria, be reminded that your kids only excel in whatever topics they have been taught. In addition, inquire how often the school management organizes seminars and workshops to brace up the performance of their teachers.
4. Adequate Equipment must Be Available
Effective learning is achievable as the student can practise what is taught. However, beyond the theoretical aspect of education, a standard school should make provisions for workshops and scientific laboratories. This medium makes certain courses real to the students and improves their memory retention abilities.
In addition, it must have an updated library where teachers and students can research for more information.
5. Get the Testimonies of Others
What others are saying about a particular school tells a lot about the school. Their testimonies either positive or negative is an indicator for you to either proceed in registering your kids or reconsider your decisions. Therefore, ask questions that are centred on the relationship that exists between the school management, their teachers, pupils, and parents.
In a school where there is little or no regard for parents, the aftermath is often reflected in the way the pupils are treated—harshly.
6. Consider Their School Fees
It’s believed that all fingers aren’t equal. This same principle applies to humans. It makes no sense to go bankrupt to send your kids to school and compete with your friends and neighbours. We’ve earlier established the fact that expensive fees don’t equate to a standard educational system.
Therefore, there are standard schools with affordable fees out there. Besides, there are other family needs to solve. Thus, balance your financial chequebook and learn to cut your coat according to your size.
7. Extracurricular Activities
A standard school always creates room to develop their pupils beyond academic knowledge. Especially vocational skills. In recent times, those who excel at vocational skills have aided the eradication of poverty and brought about national development.
Therefore, as you consider how to choose the right school for your kids in Northern Nigeria, inquire about a school that teaches vocational skills such as art and craft, catering, textile and design, interior design, painting, tailoring, among others. In addition, teaches soft skills like time management, stress management, communication, and listening skills.
8. Consider the Proximity
How close is the school to your home? To select the right school for your kids, you should ensure that the school location is accessible, and its transportation fees cost less. You don’t have to go over long distances to get the right school for your kids simply look within.
Movement over long distances can cause stress on your kids, which in turn affects their academic performance.
9. Discipline is Another Factor to Consider
The school is a medium where kids are trained on the code of conduct that is acceptable within society. This could be achieved through regular orientation for their students. Therefore, a school with no discipline is a bait to lure your kids into waywardness. Furthermore, ensure that there are set rules and regulations against violence in the school such as bullying.
In essence, as you reconsider your decision on how to choose the right school for your kids in Northern Nigeria, consider a school with effective guidance and counselling units where the majority of wrong behaviours among kids are addressed.
10. Schools With High Security Should be Chosen Over Others
The safety of your kids in the twenty-first century can’t be overemphasized. Therefore, avoid schools that don’t have strict monitoring and checkup policies by qualified security personnel. This is because there have been cases where strangers disguise themselves as parents to kidnap kids from school.
In essence, go for schools where there is a legit identification before any child can be released. Also, beware of isolated schools, the kids in such schools are vulnerable to attacks.
11. Ratio of Teachers to Pupils
Students learn faster when they can relate with their teachers and ask questions on things they aren’t sure about. For instance, a class of 50 pupils handled by a single teacher won’t produce excellent students compared to a class of 20 handled by a teacher.
Therefore, to avert sabotaging your resources while your kids profit less from your efforts, avoid the school with a congested class population to a single teacher.
12. Consider Their Parent Teachers Association(PTA)
The educational system is not for students and teachers only. Parents also play an important factor in the growth of schools. That’s the essence of PTA in a school. This creates a medium for parents and teachers to discuss challenging issues, likewise, solutions.
In addition, as a parent, you get to air your view about things you aren’t comfortable with within a school during PTA meetings.
Conclusion
Education remains the fastest route to develop a child’s intellectual abilities, which leads to national advancement. That’s why it’s your responsibility as a parent or guidance to ensure they get educated in the right school. In addition, even as you reconsider the available options on how to choose the right school for your kids in Northern Nigeria, ensure the service rendered is worth your payment.
In addition, tell us what other factors did you consider before selecting a school for your child in the comments.
