What does it take to be successful? According to science, a lot of it comes down to decisions made by a child’s parents. What the parents do, or don’t do, can mean everything for a child’s future prospects.
Do you instill in them a sense of responsibility? Do you lead them by example? Are you raising them in a single-parent household or is your significant other in the picture as well?
These are all good questions to ask and it’s understandable to want to get some proper answers. While everyone likely has their own individual parenting styles, here’s what the research has to say about it.
1. Social skills should be taught early.
Researchers at Penn State and Duke
found that higher social skills in kindergarten may be a future predictor of better life outcomes in “education, employment, criminal activity, substance use, and mental health”. If you are able to expose your kids to other people and help them develop social skills from a young age, they will be better set up to thrive later on.
2. Regular story time makes a big difference.
Studies show that reading books to kids causes a number of positive things to happen. It’s one of the greatest head starts in life that you can give to a kid. Their literary and language skills will skyrocket.
3. Chores are good preparation for the real world.
Kids who have chores around the house to do will develop a strong work ethic early in life. “By making them do chores — taking out the garbage, doing their own laundry — they realize
I have to do the work of life in order to be part of life,” expert Julie Lythcott-Haims explained to
Insider.
4. Maternity leave is important in the first months.
Those parents who are able to take parental leave from work to be with their kids during the first few months after birth should definitely do so. That’s what a
study examining European leave policies found. “More generous paid leave is found to reduce deaths of infants and young children,” the abstract reads.
5. Having high expectations for a kid’s future results in a better future.
When it comes to future prospects, expectations often become reality. Parents who believe their kids will go to college are more likely to see their kids go to college. The
study shows that the best performers on the standardized test had parents that expected them to go (98% vs only 57% for the worst performers).
6. Successful kids require parental attention.
Mothers who are sensitive to their child’s needs from an early age can help them to get a head start in life. The
research points towards better social skills and higher academic achievement. All that attention is like applying fertilizer on a growing plant.
7. Parents who have a healthy relationship create a positive childrearing environment.
If both parents get along, it’s great for a child’s future success.
Conflict in the household, especially in difficult divorces, does not tend to bode well for kids. They are very sensitive to these sorts of things.
8. Self-control is a crucial lesson.
If you teach your kids self-control early, it can help to keep them out of trouble later. The
research is clear. Those kids with lower self-control are more likely to get involved in criminal activities or fall victim to substance abuse. Those with higher self-control are much more likely to become healthy, high-earners.
9. Parents’ education level can be a determining factor.
“Parents’ educational level when the child was 8 years old significantly predicted educational and occupational success for the child 40 years later,” the
study explains. Pursuing education can sometimes become a family tradition. It has to start somewhere.
10. Kids who make decisions for themselves become winners.
Parents who make every
decision for their kids such as food choices, cloth choices, after-school activities, etc, ultimately, aren’t doing their kids any favors. You have to let them get confident in making decisions for themselves. It will help them to develop a sense of independence, making them less vulnerable to controlling relationships as adults.
11. Math skills are very useful to have.
Helping your kids to get good with numbers and figures can pay off big time. Surprisingly, it was an even bigger
predictor of academic success than reading. Those with good math skills developed better reading skills, but the relationship didn’t hold up if reversed. Having reading skills did not cause kids to develop good math skills.
12. Television can be counterproductive.
Too much TV time at a young age can
cause children to have worse communication skills. It’s because that also translates to less communication between parents and their kids. There is more active communication involved when both parties aren’t mindlessly zoning out to cartoons.
13. Positive parent-child relationships are extremely important.
It all comes down to what
studies refer to as “sensitive caregiving”. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship for both the kids and the parents. Sensitive caregiving can help kids to achieve their maximum social potential.
14. Failure is a teaching opportunity.
Kids need to learn to fail, and fail often. Kids who are sheltered from failure never learn how to overcome obstacles on their own and take responsibility. The
truth is that helicopter parenting doesn’t really do anyone any good.
15. Stressed parents create stressed kids.
There are a number of reasons why. One of the main ones is that emotional states are contagious. “Mothers’ stress, especially when mothers are stressed because of the juggling with work and trying to find time with kids, that may actually be affecting their kids poorly,” sociologist at Bowling Green State University, Kei Nomaguchi, told the
Washington Post.
16. Resolving arguments without conflict is key.
Parents that resolve arguments peacefully also
transfer those skills to their kids. Kids are like sponges. Whatever they see, they absorb. If they see their parents have a small conflict and then manage to resolve it in a peaceful manner, they might be more likely to resolve their own conflicts that way.
17. Effort is worthy of being rewarded.
Parents shouldn’t necessarily only reward their kids when they are successful. Rewarding them for simply making an honest effort instead can actually result in bigger life gains. Even when failing, kids should be encouraged to keep trying so that they are able to develop a
growth mindset.
18. Names are more important than you might think.
It’s sad to say, but what you
name your kid can have a big effect on their future potential. It’s because hiring managers and other gatekeepers are biased towards certain names. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. People like names that are easy to pronounce.
19. Mothers who work outside of the home can help combat gender inequality.
“Daughters of working mothers completed more years of education, were more likely to be employed and in supervisory roles and earned higher incomes,” reported the
New York Times. They were examining research done by the Harvard Business School.
20. Nutrition and eating habits get passed down.
What you eat can have a big effect on your energy levels and performance. We all know that. If you want your kids to receive the benefits of a
healthy diet, you have to be a good role model yourself, while also encouraging them to make good food choices when you aren’t around.
21. Socioeconomic status plays a factor.
Children coming from poverty have more obstacles in front of them than those coming from wealthier families. It creates a massive
achievement gap. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to level the playing field.
22. Behavioral control is good and psychological control is bad.
Setting limits on behavior is helpful. However,
controlling kids psychologically through guilt, privacy invasion, and other similar methods is not helpful. In fact, it can be downright damaging to well-being.
23. Grit is an important life skill.
Parents who teach their kids to have grit and determination are basically teaching their kids to succeed.
Research shows that perseverance through challenges and difficulties correlates with achievement.
24. “Authoritative” parents are the best parents.
It’s different than “authoritarian” parents who try to control their child directly.
Authoritative parenting is more about pushing kids in the right direction through careful guidance. It’s the opposite of “permissive” parenting where parents basically just let their kids do whatever they want.
Follow the 24 parenting tips on this list and your child is sure to grow up to be successful!
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What does it take to be successful? According to science, a lot of it comes down to decisions made by a child’s parents. What the parents do, or don’t do, can mean everything for a child’s future prospects.
Do you instill in them a sense of responsibility? Do you lead them by example? Are you raising them in a single-parent household or is your significant other in the picture as well?
These are all good questions to ask and it’s understandable to want to get some proper answers. While everyone likely has their own individual parenting styles, here’s what the research has to say about it.
