Motivation is like the fuel that fuels our will and allows us to achieve our goals. If that gasoline is lacking, we will hardly feel encouraged to move on and fulfill our duties or purposes. This is how it happens with sports, with work, or with studies. Adults can become more aware of lack of motivation and devise strategies to stay motivated. On the other hand, for children, it can be more complicated. Many parents, in fact, are often faced with the dilemma of how to motivate their children to study. There is no single solution that encourages a child to study, but you can apply the tips that we propose in this article to help your child regain his motivation.
How to motivate children to study at home?
1. Detect your child’s block
Children, like adults, can be unmotivated to study for many reasons. Lack of motivation can be a consequence of fatigue, difficulty concentrating, lack of interest in a certain subject, etc. In addition, at the same time, these factors can be secondary causes of external elements related to the environment or a particular situation that the child is experiencing. The changes in routine may also affect your child and have an effect on their school performance. Not surprisingly, after confinement, restraints, and homeschooling, many children no longer have the same motivation to study. Finding the reason behind your discomfort will help you find the best way to plan together the best strategy to overcome the problem.
2. Find a solution together
Each child is different, so they will have different needs, interests, and learning times. This is a first point that must be taken into account if we want to arouse his curiosity and encourage him to study. Without forgetting the above, something that usually works with all children is structure. Creating a curriculum together with your son or daughter will help him to be more disciplined and fulfill his assignments. In the curriculum you should establish:
- At what times should homework be completed each day.
- Define priorities (can be by the due date or subject)
- How much time to spend on homework.
- Rest times and alternative activities (intervals and duration).
3. Make them feel in control and responsible
Some parents, unconsciously, have a tendency to want to plan every detail of their children’s lives. As a result, children raised in this way do not develop a sense of responsibility. And the lack of motivation is one more consequence since motivation is born within us when we know that what we do today has effects on our future. Allowing children space to feel in control of their lives can be a lot of effort for parents at first. However, this will allow the little ones to learn to better manage their tasks., be more responsible, and feel more motivated. How to encourage this attitude in children? An exercise that you can propose to your child if he is unmotivated in the study could be to offer him support for the organization of his tasks and establish a time each day at a specific time to solve his doubts. This strategy will also be very effective for parents to put some order in the family routine in times of telework and home school .
4. Try to create a suitable study environment
When you have talked with your children and managed to understand the cause behind their lack of motivation to study, it is possible that among the problems factors such as noise, lack of material or interruptions appear (small siblings, pets, more people who study or work in the same environment, etc.). Studying at home can be difficult for a child when the environment does not suit his needs.. For this reason, trying to create the ideal study environment to reduce distractions can be successful. Obviously, not all homes have different rooms for each of the children and even fewer are designed for home school. Even so, it is possible to adapt to the environment so that the little ones can concentrate and study better. Take note of some details that you should review at home to encourage your children to study:
- Create a study environment as isolated as possible.
- Make sure you have all the supplies on hand.
- Avoid interruptions during the times established for the study.
- Define the moments for the breaks and the times.
5. Set concrete and achievable goals
This technique is also used in other areas and is valid for children and adults. You can experiment with this technique when planning the study plan with your children as we have proposed in point 2. It is basically about fragmenting the tasks into small tasks and thinking about each objective together. In this way, the child will see more clearly what they need to achieve the different tasks and will feel more motivated as they are fulfilled. Conversely, unclear goals may seem insurmountable to a child who, in addition to quickly losing enthusiasm, will also become frustrated.
6. Follow a consistent approach
When you have discovered what worries or bothers your child, you have created together with him a study plan more adapted to the situation and organized the environment to minimize distractions, remember that respecting the agreements is key. Of course, an environment based on respect for the agreed rules will be more bearable for everyone. This advice is useful for both children and parents and is necessary to prevent situations of exhaustion when we have to adapt to new routines. As we have commented in other sections of this article, there are no tricks to motivate children to study, but techniques and strategies can be used to encourage them when they are not motivated. In addition to these methods and tips that we have proposed, there are also stories to motivate children to study and many other effective techniques according to the age of your children. Has any technique worked for you to motivate your child to study? Let us know in the comments!