Motivating Children To Learn, Give It Time

 

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Keeping learning fun is a great way to make the activity more enjoyable. Some children may appear unmotivated to learn. Motivation is defined as a desire to invest time and effort in a specific activity, even when difficulties may arise along the way. A student who is motivated to learn will perform the school assignments on their own initiative, will participate more in the lessons, and will enjoy the learning process. They may wish to strive to achieve high achievements that express their potential. Their learning will be more effective and they will not develop a tendency to procrastinate. 

Lack of motivation can result from a variety of reasons and factors. The main ones being: low self-esteem, fear of failure and other negative emotions, such as: anxiety, anger, shame or guilt. It may related to a condition such as ADHD, which is accompanied by a high level of distraction and  impulsivity. It may also cause a lack of focus and difficulty controlling behavior. Learning disabilities, difficulties in organizing and managing time, a study framework or study style that does not suit the student's needs, and more.

What can be done to motivate the child to learn?

A student's lack of motivation is not an unchangeable fate, and intrinsic motivation is something that can be nurtured. Before you rush to judge the child as "lazy", and before you state that "nothing motivates them", here are some tips that you as parents can apply, to stimulate the child's inner urge and motivate them to learn:

1. Your involvement is key. Create a fun environment for them to learn. Promote reading, writing and activities. Look at something such as Age of Learning to make things a little more fun. The greater the sharing between you and the school in general and the children's teachers in particular, the more the child will feel that the dominant figures in his life want to do better with him, which will allow him to feel safer and more protected. A sense of protection and belonging will allow your children to be more available for learning.

2. When it comes to security and protection, convey to the child that you believe in them, that you are confident in their abilities and that you know that they can succeed. A child whose parents cultivate his or her self-confidence will be a child with a higher motivation to learn. One strategy to build on is to start with small, relatively easy goals to build upon.

3. Positive behaviors of the child should be encouraged and reinforced. When the child takes responsibility, when they express satisfaction with the work they have written, when they set goals and strive to strive towards them - be proud. When she/he asks questions, they should be praised, so that they continue to adopt such behaviors, from which they will benefit throughout their life.

5. Don’t punish them for struggling. Punishment causes the child to feel wronged, to develop feelings of guilt that can further delay them. Instead, encourage and try to get to the bottom of why they are feeling so down. Is it the lack of friends at school? A poor homelife? Consider everything.

This is a contributed post