HOW PRAISE CAN INCREASE LEARNING PERFORMANCE

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)

A recent study has shown that praising your child for efforts made in solving a problem even though he or she has failed to produced the desired results help promote efficient learning. Just telling the child you are intelligent or smart does not cut it! Learning comes through practice with successes and failures. Read more on this article by clicking here.

Training of a child requires a lot of effort. Think about potty training! The child would continue to wet the bed on and off until he or she finally gets it. Just telling the child, "Don't wet your bed," would not cut it. A child learns to walk by taking few steps at a time. One step, he or she fall down, rises up again and then take another step. Over time, the child begins to take multiple steps and then learns to navigate obstacles. This is what training is all about. Learning to identify ways to get up to speed on some action or developing a problem solving skill. It does not take a day to attain perfection. In fact, it is a long process but once the skill is acquired, it lasts forever. 

This is the type of training the Lord is asking parents, teachers, pastors, educators, leaders, etc., to do. A skill that last a lifetime. Ask skill that "when he is old he will not depart from it." Children must be taught the word on a daily basis so that it would be engrave in their minds, heart, and soul. Most of the children of this generation have not been trained in the things of the Lord. They are empty vessels with no Word of God in them. Yet, we expect them to live a noble and morally upright life. How do they know what is right or wrong when they have nothing in them to compare to or to convict them of sin? 

When children are imbibed with the Word of God or trained in godliness at an early age, the seed sown in them would germinate over time. They may fall and make some mistakes, but then, they will rise up again if they are encouraged to keep trying. 

May the Lord grant you the ability and wisdom to Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. AMEN!