Helping Your Child Become a Better Public Speaker

While public speaking is not a popular subject for most students, it’s a vital skill to learn. It helps with everything from self-advocacy and confidence to academic and career success. The skills involved in public speaking don’t come to most people naturally, but you can help your child develop them so they can speak clearly and with confidence. Read on for tips for helping your child build this important skill. 

Start with Confidence

Public speaking scares most people. In fact, it’s one of the most common fears. Helping your child overcome this common form of anxiety starts with building their confidence. Praise their effort and courage when they practice their speaking skills, and let them know when you’re seeing progress. Reduce pressure by allowing them to practice at the same time and in the same place. A familiar environment can be soothing and help your child warm up for the real speech. Go over calming techniques, like deep breathing, grounding exercises and positive affirmations, that they can easily practice before getting on stage. 

Practice to Build Skills

One challenge students have with public speaking is not fully understanding the material. Broaching an intimidating subject in a speech is hard work, but it’s often part of the challenge. Consider giving your child warm-up talks to start with before diving into research. Maybe they can give a “mini speech” for 30-60 seconds on their favorite book or the most exciting thing they learned in school during the week. Record these talks, and listen to them together. Give kind but constructive feedback. As they start to build confidence, practice tools like adding in transitions and ensuring there’s a beginning, middle and end to the speech. 

Remember the Core Speaking Skills 

The most difficult part of public speaking is that it’s not just talking to an audience. There are several aspects your child must consider simultaneously to ensure that their speech goes off without a hitch. Make sure to cover each of the following aspects of speechmaking with your child:

• Giving the speech a clear structure

• Speaking clearly with a strong voice

• Using confident body language

• Making audience-appropriate word choices

• Handling questions in a clear, coherent way

Try Real-world Speaking Opportunities

The best way to become a better public speaker is through practice. Fortunately, children and teens have plenty of opportunities for public speaking, from school clubs and library programs to science fairs and debates. Find something that inspires your child, and encourage them to become an active participant. As they grow into leadership roles and become more active in their small communities, public speaking will begin to come naturally. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, we encourage our students to use their unique voices to make a difference in the world. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

Understanding the Power of Positive Reinforcement

With younger children, providing positive reinforcement has an obvious outcome: joy and gratitude. As they grow older, children tend to be less expressive about how they feel when you recognize them for a job well done. However, positive reinforcement remains important for helping your child build and maintain self-esteem. 

Positive reinforcement can take many forms, from saying encouraging words in the moment to rewarding your child for major accomplishments. Read on to learn about the power of these simple actions. 

Why Positive Reinforcement Works

Praising your child and rewarding them for hard work helps foster motivation to continue their good behavior. Over time, it helps them build resilience, so when they receive constructive feedback, they’re better able to adapt and move on. This makes them more open to new ideas and new challenges as they move through life. 

How to Provide Positive Reinforcement

Parents have the most power to affect their child’s self-esteem, so it’s important to do so in a positive way. There’s more to providing your child with positive reinforcement than saying “good job” every time they succeed. When you affirm your child, be specific and sincere. 

Statements like “I was so impressed when you held the door for that elderly woman” or “Thank you for being so kind to your brother when he was having a hard time” can go a long way. They help your child determine what they’re doing right and feel empowered to keep doing it. The same can be said for commending them on their performance at school or their leadership in clubs and teams on campus. When they truly impress you, consider rewarding them with an activity or a treat they enjoy. 

Real-World Benefits for Children

Children who receive positive reinforcement at home become more resilient in school and beyond. They build confidence and a growth mindset, feeling empowered to explore their unique gifts and talents. Positive reinforcement also helps children build on other values, like kindness and cooperation with others. Being rewarded for kindness early on can help children understand the power of their words and actions. 

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

While positive reinforcement is generally helpful, there are some mistakes parents often make, generally going too far or being too sparing. These are the most common pitfalls when it comes to positive reinforcement:

• Overpraising or using generic praise

• Focusing on results rather than effort 

• Inconsistency in providing reinforcement

You can avoid these by being mindful of the praise and rewards you are giving your child. Be specific, be consistent, and try not to overdo it. Remember, your words and actions have power—use it for good. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, we work to boost every child’s confidence to help them find their genius and their place as a beloved child of God. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

Meaningful Summer Service Projects for Teens

Summer break provides much-needed time for rest away from the stresses of school. These breaks also give children and teens the perfect opportunity to spend their days helping out in the community. Finding a summer service project can be challenging, especially if you and your teen aren’t sure where to start. Read on for ideas of meaningful ways for your teen to give back this summer. 

Volunteer at the Library

Local libraries provide a plethora of services, and they do so with limited resources. Volunteering at the library can mean reading to children and seniors, helping organize programs, or assisting others who need help using computers. You can also spend the summer doing tasks like shelving books that help relieve busy librarians. If you love reading and want to share that love with others, the library is the perfect place to serve others during the summer. 

Become a Tutor

Use your academic skills to help peers or younger students who need help in a certain subject. You can join a tutoring group or find individuals to tutor during the summer. There may even be local service projects you can join to help children in underserved communities. Summer tutoring gets students who fall behind back on track for the school year, which can make a huge difference in their lives. 

Join a Charity Race

Charity walks and runs happen year-round, and these events always need help. Some of the most impactful ways to help at these events are volunteering to support the racers and starting your own fundraiser. Individual fundraisers take place online before the race once you sign up for the event. If you’re athletic and want to support a good cause, this is a great way. Find an event that supports a cause that appeals to you, and join in! 

Help Feed the Hungry

You can help those dealing with hunger in your community in many ways. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry. Raise funds, prepare meals, or sort donations for a local food bank. Deliver meals to those who can’t leave their homes. The possibilities are endless, as is the need for these services. If you’re looking for a summer service project that impacts the lives of the most people, you can’t go wrong with hunger relief. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, serving the community is part of the curriculum, and we also encourage an attitude of service outside of school. Students at our Tampa Christian school thrive creatively, academically, and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

How to Teach Your Child Time Management Skills

Time gets away from us all, especially children, who likely don’t understand the concept of spending it wisely. While children learn about time management in school, home is the perfect place to practice. You can help your child understand how many hours they have in a day and how to find balance while getting everything done. Here are some ways you can build those time management skills at home. 

Start with a Bedtime

One of the first scheduled activities children become familiar with is bedtime. Setting a consistent bedtime routine can help children understand the basics of time management. They learn how long it takes to wind down before bed to make it to bed by the set time. This helps with skills like gauging how long something will take, one that’s essential when it comes to time management. 

Have Meals at Set Times

Eating meals at the same time every day may not feel necessary, but it helps children in a few ways. They learn about how much time they have between meals. It gives them consistency in their routine, which is essential for their development. Letting your child know when you’re beginning to cook and how much time each timer is set for can also be a great lesson in time management skills. 

Plan Out Homework 

Balancing homework and other activities causes children more trouble than any other area of time management. Homework feels like it takes longer than it should, or it’s done in a hurry. Help your child by setting a specific time each weekday for working on homework assignments. Ensure that this takes place in an environment free of distractions. Adjust the time frame according to how much time they usually spend. Make sure to include breaks for assignments that take longer to complete and between subjects. 

Establish Screen Time Rules

In today’s world, people of all ages struggle with screen time. Guidelines can help children, who are especially susceptible to social media algorithms that keep people hooked. First, focus on screen time at night, when it can do the most harm by disrupting sleep patterns. Encourage your child to track how much time they spend on their devices. They’ll likely be surprised to know how much time they spend scrolling. Children and teens can spend anywhere from 4-9 hours per day looking at screens. 

Work on Setting Priorities

When it feels like there’s too much to do in a day, your child will need to learn to set priorities. Chances are, they’ll need your help with this. Work on building a list of everything they need and want to do, and help them sort it out. Try to leave time for the “wants” while getting the “needs” accomplished in a timely manner. Setting priorities and learning how to shift them around will go a long way in helping your child understand time management. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, we understand that time management takes practice. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

Building a Supportive Environment for Your Gifted Child

When you find out you have a gifted child, it’s often more of a confirmation of something you knew all along. Your child is special, and they are likely to outperform their peers. However, being a gifted child is rarely that straightforward. Gifted children tend to feel the need to prove themselves, and they struggle to ask for help when they need it. Here are some ways you can be a supportive parent to a gifted child. 

Avoid Comparison to Others

Most of the pressure gifted children face is from comparing themselves to others. These could be peers who they perceive as being smarter or more socially adept than they are. Help your child by avoiding the trap of comparing them to other people. Telling your child they are smarter than someone else can make them feel uneasy. Comparing them to someone who is outperforming them can make them feel less than. Focus on your child as an individual, rather than finding others to compare them to.

Applaud Effort and Accomplishments

Gifted children sometimes need to be reminded that effort matters. They tend to be more focused on the end goal and accomplishing the next big thing. However, the small accomplishments along the way are what help them get there. These children also need to be reminded that, even if something is not a resounding success, the effort made to reach the goal was worthwhile. 

Encourage Relationship Building

Your gifted child may appear to live in their own world. Children with diverse interests sometimes struggle to understand the importance of other people. Encourage your child to focus on building relationships with others, and not just their teachers. Talk to them about the friends they’ve made at school and their relationships with other family members. Guide them in focusing on friendships and relationships just as much as they focus on the very interesting thing they learned about in science class. 

Provide Enrichment Opportunities

Your gifted child is likely to have a lot of different interests, but some will persist over time. Whatever they’re interested in, provide opportunities for deeper exploration. If they won’t stop talking about sharks, spend a day at the aquarium together. Go to the library, and see if you can find some nonfiction books that will allow them to learn even more about their favorite things. Help them find answers to their seemingly endless list of questions. 

At North Tampa Christian Academy, we create opportunities for every child to explore their genius. Students at our Tampa private school thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.