Sharing The Importance Of Education With Your Kids

Ed note: Did you always consider education to be important? For many of us, it’s difficult to see the value of education until you’re through with it. Jeannette Kaplun is teaching her children the importance of learning while they are still young. Here’s how she does it. Leer en español.

My parents always told me that the best inheritance I could receive was a good education. I still believe that is true and I am trying my best to pass their wise words on to my own children. A good education can improve your life and give you the tools to achieve your dreams.

In my family we are especially fortunate since my kids go to great schools, and they assume that in a few years they will be in college. At times I worry they might not take their education seriously enough. That’s why I began sharing our family history with them. After learning about how some of their great-grandparents barely finished high school, my kids realized that they take for granted something that is truly precious.

My Chilean-born father got his MBA and ended up being an assistant professor at his university in Texas; just a few years before that he barely knew English. My Peruvian-born father-in-law was able to get his Master’s degree in Colorado in just one year because his scholarship would cover all the credits he managed to get in 12 months. Both of them worked hard, and it paid off. My kids see the results and tell me they would have never guessed their grandfathers were willing to do so much to obtain the best education they could get. Concrete examples go a long way.

For artistically-inclined children, such as my daughter, it helps to show them that their careers also benefit from a college education. I do this by pointing out examples of actresses that have gotten a college degree (thank you Emma Watson!), talking about specialized schools, such as Julliard or Parsons School of Design, and even sharing stories about former stars that lost their fortunes because they lacked the tools to manage their money, didn’t save enough or didn’t know how to manage the businesses they built.

But the most important thing I can do as a parent is show them that I care about their education. I am involved in their schools and volunteer whenever possible. Instead of solely focusing on grades, I stress the importance of studying and understanding the lessons and materials they are given. Although I won’t help them too much with their homework, I ask them about what they are studying and explain the steps needed if they are stuck. Sometimes I even make jokes about how they learn things like algebra much earlier than I did so they must be smarter than I am.

Show kids how much you care about education, don’t just talk about it. Hopefully it will inspire them to not only study harder, but it will motivate them to graduate and go to college.