How Can You Motivate Your Child at School?
One of the keys to becoming a good teacher is knowing how to get students interested in learning. As this isn’t always an easy task, it’s always great to have some hints and tips on how to motivate your child to learn more.
It’s very difficult to motivate children to have a sense of obligation to carry out their school work. In these cases, it’s important for parents and teachers to join forces to try to generate enthusiasm in the children. That’s why it’s always good to get some advice on how to motivate your child in class as well.
A key to getting someone interested in an activity is to make it attractive. In other words, it shouldn’t be seen as an obligation. On the contrary, you should see it as an opportunity to do something you like and that, above all, will be useful to you in the future.
As it’s often difficult to motivate children in class, we believe it’s helpful to consider certain issues, like the ones we’re going to deal with now.
Recommendations to motivate your child at school
1. Awakening your natural motivation
This is fundamental, since there is no stronger motivation than that which is born of the mind itself. This may very well seem like a truism. However, we’re going to show you how to achieve just that.
A very effective measure to start with is to introduce the topic in a different way than the traditional one. You can use movies, games or outdoor activities that bring the student into contact with other materials.
Doing an experiment at school or visiting a museum is usually much more effective than reading about those same topics in a book. Also, the audiovisual versions of classic works of literature can easily motivate your child, and grab his or her attention.
2. A good atmosphere will motivate your child
This is another vital foundation to build healthy learning on. Teachers who constantly resort to shouts and punishments only succeed in causing rejection in their students.
On the other hand, those who maintain an open attitude and treat their students in a friendly way are the ones who achieve the best results. They are able to get along with their students, but maintain their authority at the same time. They must be able to facilitate learning and support children as they constantly grow.
3. Set goals and recognize your achievements
It’s a positive thing to set goals in your groups. However you don’t need to resort to competition and comparisons in doing so. Of course, their achievements must be followed by compliments, acknowledgments and even a reward for their efforts and commitment.
Here’s an example: When telling children they have to do a role play in front of everyone the following week, offer an extra point to those who find out or add additional information that wasn’t originally in the sketch. In this way, the children will be motivated to find out information for themselves and to be creative.
A very effective measure to motivate your child is to introduce the subject in a different way to the traditional one.
4. Participation is key
In our modern world, the relationship between students and teachers is something that is constantly evolving and that requires flexibility. It’s a fact that feeling part of the educational process and being more than just mere recipients of information creates a much stronger commitment in children.
Let’s try to explain this with a specific case: If you have to teach your children about the workings of the town hall or local government, you could ask them to think about a problem in the community. After that, they can think about what tools they have to help it to reach the appropriate authorities. And, finally, what process must be followed so that it becomes law?
From then on, you can expand the issue to provincial and national governments and even compare it with real-life events in the US or in other countries. As you can see, it can be extremely productive to show how the material can be applied to real life.
5. It’s not all about exams
A common mistake among many teachers is to give exams a central role. Although they’re often necessary, and sometimes valuable, we must also realize that they create a lot of stress, anxiety and even fear in certain children. In fact, children who tend to do well in school can easily lower their performance at exam time.
Because of this, it’s better to consider them as simply one more activity. This doesn’t mean we have to lessen their importance. What it does mean is that we should be clear that the “success” or “failure” of a child’s school year doesn’t depend on exams.
Finally, the last quick recommendation has to do with new technology. We live in an age of new technology, and we should make good use of it rather than completely banning it.
A good option here is the use of games and apps that offer children the opportunity to learn about certain topics, such as mathematical operations or historical facts. The tools to motivate children in class are within our reach. We just need to know how to make the best use of them.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Thorne, K. (2008). Motivación y creatividad en clase (Vol. 246). Grao.
- Raffini, J. P. (2008). 150 Formas de incrementar la motivación en clase. Editorial Pax México.
- Tapia, J. A. (2005). Motivación para el aprendizaje: la perspectiva de los alumnos. La orientación escolar en centros educativos, 209-242.
- Urdan, T., & Schoenfelder, E. (2006). Classroom effects on student motivation: Goal structures, social relationships, and competence beliefs. Journal of school psychology, 44(5), 331-349. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440506000380