All children are different and over the years I have taught many many, children and teenagers, probably thousands. I am also mum to three kids and therefore understand the psyche of learning and education. I am often asked what motivates a child to study and therefore have tried to answer that question in this post. This is an incredibly important question right now as we navigate a blended learning approach.
Many of us had hoped that schools would be fully open and functioning again now, but unfortantly we are not there yet. Whilst we are not in national lockdown, local lockdowns and bubbles having to isolate are the norm now. This means that children will be having a winter of what has been termed blended learning.
This approach means that children and teenagers will be having both face to face lessons and online provision for the times that they can’t be in schools. University students are already working this way and my daughter who is a third-year uni undergraduate is not expecting any face to face learning this year.
Therefore we need to be equipped to support our kids as they adapt to this new style of a blended learning approach. We can really support our kids by understanding what motivates children to study.
Whether you’ve always homeschooled your child or are just trying to make sense of the whole new study at home scenario in this pandemic situation, we know it isn’t easy. Probably one of the biggest challenges you could be facing while getting your kids to study at home is keeping them motivated, and if that sounds like you, here’s a bit of help your way.
What motivates children?
What motivates your child will not be the same as what motivates another to learn. I have three very different children. My eldest is motivated by success, she has a delayed gratification mindset and works for her future success. Whereas my son is much more immediate in his gratification and wants little and frequent rewards. Our youngest loves learning and therefore is easy to motivate as she is a keen learner.
Read on to discover 5 super effective ways to motivate even when they’re stuck at home.
Have Study Sessions Throughout the Day
Growing kids have a short attention span, and if you’re having trouble keeping them occupied with their study material for a longer period of time, maybe you’re just doing it wrong. If you can, split their study sessions into shorter chunks spread throughout the day instead of all in one go.
This will not just help them retain the study material better, but will also improve their concentration and focus.
Use the Internet to Your Advantage
The internet can be a wonderful place to learn and utilize, if you do it correctly that is. From puzzles and activities to interactive YouTube videos and games, there are a ton of fun ways to learn today- and you’ll be spoilt for choice- literally. This way, you can get your kids engaged in the fun side of learning, and keep them motivated with their schoolwork effortlessly. Here are my favourite Inspiring educational Youtube Channels.
Offer Choices
This one’s a biggie- even if it doesn’t seem like it. You’ll be surprised at how different things become when you offer your kids a choice between say particular subjects or topics they’re supposed to work on today. By allowing them to make a decision, you’re automatically getting them interested and they’ll be more likely to focus on the subject better that way.
Create an Action Plan
Having an organised plan of action in place can work wonders. Creating a daily or weekly schedule and having it up on the wall beside your kid’s study table can be a great idea. Believe it or not, kids need structure, and when you provide it to them, it’ll actually make your entire task a lot easier. Plus, this will also help them stay on track with their study schedule, tick things off as they get done and have a more composed and structured outlook instead of being all messy and obviously- unmotivating.
Keep it Interesting
This one’s pretty obvious- just keeping your kids schoolwork focused on textbook material isn’t going to help you for long. Eventually, your kids can, and will get bored. Try to include fun ways to learn and teach your kids about important concepts with the help of practical examples. Science concepts are best learnt through experiments and math solving can be made fun with practical examples.
We can’t excpect children to be intrinsically rewarded all the time so therefore I build rewards into my weeks. We all like to be rewarded, think about the workplace, we work for money as well as satifaction. Therefore I do believe kids should also be rewarded, much like they are rewarded in school settings with house points and certificates.
As kids get older money is the often the preffered reward but spending time together, using praise and even going for a hot chocolate etc are also important in rewards.
I hope this post helps you to understand what motivates children to study.
