It's one of the biggest challenges facing parents today - motivation. How do you get your kids to want to do their school work, chores, extracurricular activities, and any other tasks that take effort? The answer is not always easy but there are some tried-and-true approaches you can use to inspire your little ones and help them realize their full potential. In this blog post, we will explore how parents can motivate children without relying on bribery or punishment. Through developing a positive attitude towards learning and providing ample support (including rewards) when tasks are completed successfully, for instance, it is possible for even the most reluctant learners to succeed in various endeavours.

If you're homeschooling your kids, you are likely aware of how difficult and illusive the concept of student motivation can be. On certain days, your youngster is on course and moving quickly along the big learning highway.

On other days, they are stopped because they have four flat tires. They may have been diverted from their course by "everything" or simply one particular topic. There are two ways to encourage your homeschool kid, regardless of whether there is a general slump or a topic-specific one.

Most young children are naturally curious. They want to see everything, try everything, and know the ‘why’ about everything. We felt that all we needed to do was be ingenious about guiding that desire towards the knowledge and skills we felt they should have.

We could incorporate skills and subjects needed into the children’s everyday lives in a way they saw a point to, even if enjoyment was the point – they always learned something from what they did. But when subjects are laid out academically as they are in schools, usually for the purpose of testing, it can make them dull and seemingly pointless.

Another motivational approach we used was to tackle their learning through practical application and activity.

For example, say we were learning about food chains; rather than just study it via a book or online, we would go out for a picnic at a park or anywhere we might see some wildlife, plant life, or birds, chat about what we saw in relation to the topic. Discussion is one of the greatest tools for learning.

Through first-hand experience and discussion of a subject, children’s understanding grows and any academic study is more meaningful and readily absorbed and remembered.

how to get motivated to study
Motivation in education is an important need for achievement. Source: Unsplash
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Getting your kids motivated

Most learning could be incorporated into daily activities with youngsters. For example; we count, budget, and talk about percentages and decimals, amounts, distances, and time, so often during the day. We use language in various forms and mediums. We are involved with science all the time; you can’t get through a day without exposure to some scientific theory that comes up in the National Curriculum.

And then there’s geography to be discussed, historical concepts and how they’ve affected our world today (by visiting museums), all sorts of creative activities to be explored and any amount of physical activity (also develops mental capacity). Opportunities for learning are as endless as experiencing life.

Through this practical and hands-on approach to their learning, there was never a problem motivating the children when they were home-educated.

And as the children become older and are in the habit of working in such a way it’s a natural progression into perhaps less appealing activities. But by this time, having had discussions about why what and how in relation to their ongoing education, and having had some control over what they do, they are more motivated to take on any more tedious parts of their study for themselves as they become inspired to reach specific personal goals, like qualifications for example.

Generally speaking, we didn’t really need to coerce our kids into their education because children have a natural desire to learn anyway. Our approach was to see that we never switched that desire off!

Here are some ways that you can motivate your kids with their learning.

What Motivates our kids to Learn?

By now, most educators are familiar with the advice, “Praise the process, not the outcome.” which was revolutionized by Stanford Psychology professor, Carol Dweck. This strategy focuses on instilling a “growth mindset” an understanding that intelligence is learned, not innate, in students throughout their education. Dweck herself warns against blindly following her research. So we are going to take another look at what motivates students to learn beyond good grades.

She identifies two learning mindsets: fixed and growth. Students with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence is static, something you are born with, and if they can’t complete a task now, they never will. They believe that they must “look smart at all times and all costs,” that effort is a sign you don’t have the ability, and that mistakes “reveal your limitations.”

Students with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that intelligence is developed. They understand that the goal of education is to “learn at all times and all costs,” that “effort is what activates ability” and that “mistakes are a part of the process.”

She provides that praising children’s intelligence promotes a fixed mindset. Instead of building confidence in their ability to problem solve and work hard, children become attached to some vague idea of intelligence that feels impossible to improve upon.

In a study done with 10 to 11-year-olds, Dweck found that the majority of children who were praised for their intelligence chose to continue to do tasks they were already good at, while children praised for their process chose to tackle more complex problems. Even when students returned to easier tasks, those in a fixed mindset got lower scores than those in a growth mindset.

Lastly, have fun if you can! When will you next have this much time to yourself at home with your children? Even though there are some terrible things going on right now in the world, learning should still be joyful. Therefore, take a step back and consider your motivation. Your children may feel irritated right now, but they will admire your perseverance in the long run.

school
Getting your child motivated will have a big impact on their grades at school. source: Unsplash

What else can we do?

Some parents thought the importance of praising the process should eclipse everything else, and doled out praise regardless of progress. Others were so hesitant to accidentally promote a fixed mindset that they only offered encouragement when their children or students struggled.

If you find yourself falling into one of those two camps, try to remember that at the core of Dweck’s strategy is giving students enough information that they are able to recreate the behaviour for which they are praised. “You’re so smart!” feels good in the moment, but it is difficult for students to simply “be smart” when they encounter their next challenge.

Next time, point out something specific about the work - may be the student took a unique approach, or it’s obvious that they tried a few solutions before they landed on the correct answer - and praise them for their creativity or tenacity instead.

While it is crucial to have one or two specific learning places so that resources aren't scattered around the room, kids need to roam around during the course of the day. Examples include a desk in their room for personal work or the kitchen table for homework assistance.

Supplies like pens and paper should be kept in a basket or other container so they may be carried easily from one study space to another. Take your education outside the "classroom" as well. Life skills like mowing the lawn, finding herbs in the forest, and assisting with food preparation are all crucial to acquire.

Rewarding your child for their good efforts is another popular approach, but it may be less effective than we think. Like Dweck, Dan Pink, author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,” also did a talk in 2010. Pink found that as soon as a task required creative or conceptual thinking, larger rewards actually led to poorer performance.

To motivate your students or children, try to focus on one of Pink’s non-reward drivers: autonomy, mastery and purpose. According to Pink, feeling as though something is your own, knowing you are getting better at it and making a contribution are powerful motivators of learning and performance.

Setting up your child's schedule will lead to more productive homeschooling, read more here.

talented youth
Getting your child to take their music lessons more seriously with a guitar tutor. (Source: Unsplash)

Make your child accountable with a tutor

If you are looking to light a fire under your child and get them moving with their preparation for an upcoming exam or even take their music learning more seriously, then providing them with a tutor might do the trick!

Having a tutor will provide some much-needed accountability for their learning. Organising regular sessions with the tutor will also help them to progress a lot faster with the respective skill or subject. It might also improve their attitude towards learning too.

The number of tutors that offer their services across the UK is on the rise. There has been a surge in the number of students looking to learn skills or improve their grades at school using a personal tutor. Now many students are looking to gain an edge over their classmates by getting the one-to-one attention of a teaching professional.

When starting out it is important that you find a teacher that they are both comfortable with and work well with. This is something that Superprof make particularly easy for students, the platform gives you the opportunity to refine your search according to your kid's own personal needs.

You can shortlist tutors according to their suitability across categories such as affordability, level and proximity.

Starting out can be quite daunting for any child. It can be difficult to figure out where to find the right tutors to mentor them and help them along the way to achieving their potential.

This is not the case with Superprof! The platform provides students with a degree of flexibility in how they choose to progress. In fact, the majority of tutors that list their services on the platform give students the option to learn from the comfort of their own home, the home of the tutor or in a remote setting via webcam.

You can guarantee that the tutor will have excellent teaching skills and know how to get the most out of your child as a student so that you progress toward their own individual goals. Why not kickstart their journey with a tutor today? The right mentor for them might just be waiting around the corner!

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Jon

As an Englishman in Paris, I enjoy growing my knowledge of other languages and cultures. I'm interested in History, Economics, and Sociology and believe in the importance of continuous learning.