Whether or not your child is athletically inclined, it is always a good idea to encourage him or hear to participate in sports. Only you as a parent can judge if it is ultimately working out for your child, but always give it a chance. Encouraging sports helps your child to learn valuable life lessons early on making it a vital aspect of his or her growing up process. Here are 7 reasons why you should encourage sports as a parent.
Getting your child to enjoy sports encourages a healthy lifestyle from an early age. Everyone knows that exercise is a strong component of living a long and problem free life so what better way to get your child to exercise later on in life than making him enjoy it from his earliest days.
Active participation in sports helps your child build self-esteem early on in life. It teaches him to feel good about his accomplishments and achievements and remain strong in the face of adversity.
Setting goals and working towards it is an active component of any sporting activity. The coach and other teammates will teach your child how to work towards the goals of the season and unwittingly your child will pick up on these aspects.
Playing sports helps your child understand how to exist and survive in a team. The importance of other team members and how each individual has to contribute in order to achieve the ultimate objective is an important learning for all children.
When your child is involved in any after school sporting activity, he or she understands the importance of time management. Knowing that he can attend his games only if he finishes his homework helps him to understand how to manage his time on his own.
In your home, your child probably gets all the appreciation and reassurance he needs but this can actually give him an unrealistic picture of real life. When he participates in sports, he will experience a number of emotions including the disappointment of defeat or the embarrassment of not performing.
In this day of video games and Internet, children are finding more reasons to stay indoors. The downside is the lack of exercise, harmful effects on your child’s eyes and general reduction in social skills. Encouraging your child to play sports gives him a reason to want to leave the house in favor of outdoor fun.
As a parent, you are constantly making decisions about what’s best for your child and encouraging sports is one decision that you will definitely not regret. For the reasons provided above it gives your child a holistic upbringing and better prepares him for the challenges he will face through adolescence.
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