Motivational activities: Encourage your kid to conquer school work!

Some days, your kid whizzes through school work. Others, he lacks the drive to even open his book. Here are some motivational activities to get him going!

How to motivate your child to conquer the school year!

As parents we are heavily involved in our child’s academics because we believe that it is one of the few things that we can "pass on to them”, not to mention it costs a fortune! Parents make it a point to ensure that their child does well in school. But what if your child lacks motivation and just doesn’t want to deal with it?

Don’t worry! We gathered tips from here, here and here to give you a quick guide on how to motivate your child to tackle his schoolwork!

Learn from last year’s mistakes

If your child struggled with school last year, sit them down for a heart-to-heart touching on: what they learned from their struggles, what they can do to improve and ask how you can help achieve their goals. If they’re unsure of their answers and say, "I don’t know”, then you can provide suggestions and ask them to choose which they find most feasible.

Develop the different kinds of learning styles

While in school, children have different learning styles that help them learn faster and retain information easier. However, before school starts, provide your child several activities that support the different kinds of learning – from listening and visual learning, to sorting and sequencing. This contributes to their overall learning development and who knows, you may unlock another learning style that your child can use during the academic year.

Write down specific goals

This goes hand in hand with the first tip. Ask your child to come up with goals that are specific and to come up with an action plan for each goal. For example, your son Patrick didn’t do too well in math. For this quarter, his goal could be: Patrick will get a grade of 80 or above.

Patrick will get this grade by (a) answering math problems every night for 30 minutes, whether or not there’s a math test the next day, (b) attend math enrichment classes and (c) answer a weekly math mock test.

Offer “encouragement” more than praise

According to parent-institute.com, parents often resort to praising their child when they display good behavior. While there is nothing wrong with this, experts say that it is better to offer encouragement instead. What’s the difference you ask?

Praise is the parent saying kind words out of what they see their child do, while encouragement makes use of certain language that leads the child to see the good that they did. Refer to the above image for specific examples.

Let him EARN the right to study on his own

Pick a quiet spot where the two of you can study without being disrupted by unnecessary noise or other family members. Mention that if you see improvement in your child’s scores, then they earn the right to study on their own in their room.

Even then, when studying in their room, they must keep their door open so you can check in on them from time to time. By doing this, you teach your child that independence and trust is earned, and not something given on a silver platter.

Break it down

Sometimes, a child may be overwhelmed by how much homework has to be accomplished. Tip? Break down the assignments! Even if a child is assigned plenty of work, if they are not due the next day, then you can spread the work load into reasonable increments.

Make sure that you have a calendar wherein you can write all of this as visual reminders are more effective than mental notes.

Show your child that you think school is important

One way to motivate your child is by leading by example. Maintain an active relationship between you and his teacher, fellow parents and other key school personnel. Support your child’s programs and other school activities.

Foster a positive relationship when discussing school

Ask him what he learned in school as opposed to his test results. By asking him to explain his lesson in his own words, you can gauge if he truly understood his lesson and help him retain what he learned. Make sure to praise good behavior and academic results and to be encouraging when your child admits that he has flunked a test or is struggling with a subject.

Reinforce school lessons at home

If your child is reading a classic novel for literature class, wait until he is finished reading before suggesting that he watch the film version as well. You can then ask him to pinpoint the differences, if any, over popcorn! If he is studying about a particular culture, why not head on over to restaurant that serves food of the culture and learn a couple of basic phrases?

Celebrate achievements, no matter how small!

One thing that really gets children going are the rewards that they get when they accomplish a task. So whether your child aced a test or did well on a paper, make sure to offer positive reinforcement via a hour of play time, a trip to the park or whatever he really likes doing. This will encourage your child to do his best.

How to motivate your child to conquer the school year!

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Written by

Raisa Tan

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