Being a dad isn’t just about working for the family and sending the kids to a good school. Aside from the dad duties you have, you can also be a tutor to your kids. Children can learn a lot of things at home, aside from the lessons they learn at school, and it will be great if dads are also going to be their teacher. You might think it’s tough, but it can be fun as well. If you want to try teaching your children, here are some tips on how to be a great dad tutor.
Prioritize Your Relationship with Your Child
If you’re going to tutor your children, make sure you’ll always make them feel loved. Yes, you may be teaching them lessons and giving them grades, but don’t make them feel like they need to be good at academics for them to be loved by you. Make them understand that you’re there to help them become better.
Focus on Character
Character is one of the most important things children should learn. Schools can teach them Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and other subjects, but Character is best taught at home. Teach them the value of being obedient, respectful, responsible, and a good listener as well. These characters can help them have a good relationship with other people once they go to big schools.
Always Encourage
It’s better to tell them, “do your best” rather than “be the best”, because it can cultivate an internal gauge for excellence. Telling them to be the best is like making others the standard. Being a dad and a tutor, you should see to it that every effort they make is applauded. This could be a great way to encourage them to give their best efforts in everything they do, not just in the lessons you teach.
Integrate
It’s also important to incorporate the lessons you teach in real life situations. This way, your children will understand the importance of each lesson or subject you’re teaching them. For example, when teaching your kids Math, you can tell them that if they learn how to add and subtract, they will be able to buy things in stores. This is one way of making them love studying.
Listen and Learn as Well
Aside from teaching them, you should also listen to them and learn with them as well. Tutoring your kids is a great way of getting to know them more. Give your full attention to them. When you give them some activities or exercises to answer, see to it that you’ll both be working on it. Make your kids feel that you’re in the challenge together.
Encourage Self-Directed Learning
Comprehension is another important thing you can teach your kids. When you teach them to be self-directed learners, they will be able to know where they would get information about a certain topic. This will help them easily understand and process things they see and hear. Sometimes, it’s best to let your kid learn independently. Online education, for example, is a tool that you can use the most. You can search for professionals who create online courses. This way, you can let your kid learn by himself and then, when he has questions, that’s when you come in.
Look for Higher Order Thinking Skills
When they have an upcoming test or quiz and they ran up to you for help, don’t advise them to just memorize the information in their lessons. As a great dad tutor, teach them how to analyze facts, form their own opinions, and as well as come up with their solutions to problems in a creative way. They will be able to easily remember their lessons in this way compared to just memorizing keywords.
Motivate Them Through Their Interests
Since you’re their dad, you are aware of the things your children want. So when you teach them, try to use these interests in your lessons. For example, you have a son who likes marbles. You can use marbles in some of your examples like in counting, adding, or subtracting.
Use Learning Styles
Children can learn in different ways. Sometimes the teaching methods of their teachers at school do not work for them that’s why you need to re-teach them the lessons. For them to be able to clearly understand the lesson, you need to adjust to their learning style. Are they visual learners or audio learners? If they are interactive learners, you can connect the lessons to interactive activities such as sports. Since you’re their dad, it will be easier for you to discover what their learning styles are.
Be Patient
Children can also not take you seriously at first as their tutor because you’re their father. Being with you can mean playtime to them. But remember to always be patient with your kids. Always show them how eager you are to teach them. They will listen well to you eventually. They also tend to ask lots of questions. Be patient to answer all the questions they ask one by one.
Be Positive
To be a great dad tutor, you should learn to always be positive. When you teach, show your kids how fun it is to learn. Avoid giving negative comments to them. Even when there’s a need to correct them, or to tell them they are wrong, always use a positive approach. This will help them keep their interests in studying. They could also acquire the positive attitudes you’re showing them and they can use those in dealing with their own situations in life in the future.
Being a dad tutor isn’t that tough. In fact, it is something that can help in preparing your children for a successful life. Schools and teachers can give them knowledge about certain things, but as a dad, preparing your child for success is a task you can do better than others.