Max had dreamed of going to college since his father told him, “Everyone in our family goes to college.” Max got along well with people. They trusted him. He had a head for business. His attitude inspired confidence. Max wanted to specialize in business. But, to get into business school, he needed to pass a statistics class.

Max started having trouble in math in first grade. His parents sat with him night after night as he struggled with his homework. One day when Max was in third grade, he yelled and tore up his math homework, refusing to go to school until he knew all the multiplication tables. Yelled his father. His mother cried.

In sixth grade, Max couldn’t understand factor trees. He did not know how to solve equations. His parents found a tutor who came to the house twice a week. Max did a little better the second semester. He got a C, although the F he received the first semester embarrassed him so much that he never told any of his friends.

In sixth grade, Max “knew for sure” that he was a math dummy. I was afraid of math class. Every time the teacher called him, his heart raced. I couldn’t think. It stopped for time. He blinked back the tears. He told himself it would be over soon.

Then algebra class! The teacher expected me to memorize all the math facts. She hoped he understood factor trees. She expected him to solve equations. Max hated school.

“Terrified” by math all through school, Max believed he would never be successful in any math class. Therefore, he “just knew” that he couldn’t pass statistics class and Max “just knew” that he would never be admitted to the business program that was his dream.

In this area of ​​his academic life, Max had lost sight of his power of achievement. He had given up his creative spark and replaced it with despair and expectations of failure. He had believed in the failure of mathematics for so long that it had become his reality.

An effective educational perspective

When Max and I started working together, I explained to him that he was smart, but that sometime along the way he began to believe in limitations and had stopped relying on his intellect and natural gifts. He had come to believe that he could not learn. I encouraged him to trust his great talents and allow me to create a study and learning program for him that would maximize his brain’s ability to understand and remember information. He had the natural gifts to succeed, and with the right practice and encouragement, he could be a star in math!

When Max got an A in statistics class and was accepted into the business program, his comment was, “Math has long been a sore spot for me academically and I think it finally turned the tides!” Several months after starting his business classes, I heard from him that he was getting the highest grades in his class!

Unfortunately, Max suffered with doubts throughout the school. He lived with the “knowledge” that he was a math doll. His doubts about his intelligence seeped into other aspects of his life. He did not always trust his own judgment. He relied more on the opinions of others than on his own beliefs and desires. If Max had received more guidance in developing a self-empowerment perspective earlier in life, he would have had more faith in his ability to succeed and would have had more academic successes to remember.

Facilitate academic success

Parents and education professionals can open the door to a student’s belief in self-empowerment. Empowered students believe in their ability to succeed. They understand the degree of control they have in their educational experience. They see themselves as the most important factor in their own success. They know that they are destined to achieve their dreams.

Until students believe in success, success will not be an achievable reality. As a student mobilizes his belief system to make academic success a belief habit, emotional barriers and learned helplessness fade away. Students find joy in academics. They learn to tackle challenging tasks with a renewed sense of faith and confidence that ignites the energy they need to be academic stars.

One of the best gifts a parent can give a child is to see them as a strong student. Find every opportunity to notice your child’s academic strengths. As your happy thoughts, pleased looks, and words of praise reflect the qualities you want to develop to your child, they will begin to flourish.

Talk to your child about his intelligence and innate abilities. Express your confidence in his abilities and let him know that you are confident that he can learn anything and everything he wants to learn. Let him know how proud you are of him and his unique talents. Help him get in touch with his gifts and make it clear to him that he can become proficient in each and every area he chooses.

Direct attention to a child’s academic problem only long enough to find a solution. Then turn your full attention to that solution. See each student as a confident and successful star. Envisioning students as powerful achievers is the key to their self-transformation.

Resist the temptation to notice problems and deficiencies because your child will be encouraged to “know” that he is “stupid.” Help your child believe in success and you will keep him on the path to self-esteem and achievement in all endeavors.