How do you motivate your child to learn? Take away the gadgets? Promise a toy? Tell them about the benefits of knowledge or threaten them with a job as a janitor? All these ways are unlikely to help to really interest a child in learning. In this article we will share ideas that will give a long-term effect and really motivate the schoolchild.
“And what can parents do? After all, motivation to study depends on the school itself,” you will say. And you’d be right! But only partly. The desire to learn arises on the basis of curiosity and is reinforced by a system of life values, in which education is given an important place. Both begin to form in the family even before school, do you agree? And during the school years, the development of the necessary qualities in the child continues, and parents not only can, but should influence this process.
We’d like to share a few ideas on how to create an atmosphere in the family that will set the child up for learning, work to create an inner need for learning. They are suitable for children of any age. So what can parents do?
Set a personal example
Nothing has such a strong educational effect on a child as the personal example of parents. But it’s not about hanging their diplomas on the wall or reminiscing about their school years. The example will be much more visible and contagious if parents will learn new things in front of the child, especially since modern life requires us to continuously learn new skills. And it is not necessary to get another higher education or another profession. You can just learn cool cooking or play the guitar, understand the new computer program or assemble furniture. The main thing – to do it with excitement!
It is important to constantly share with your child the joy of learning, tell him what interesting things you have learned, what you can already do well, and what you still need to strive for. And it is equally important to show not only successes, but also failures, do not hesitate to talk about mistakes and how they can be corrected. If you show your child how learning changes the life of parents and the whole family for the better, he or she will gradually absorb the idea that learning is a benefit and pleasure “in one bottle”!
Draw up an educational “family tree”
Nowadays, more and more people are becoming interested in their roots, drawing a family tree and writing books about their family. This wonderful hobby can also be used to increase motivation. If you collect information about what, where and how family members of different generations studied, what they then did in life, how education influenced their lives, you can discover many new and unexpected things, see interesting parallels and patterns. The result can be the creation of a Family Education Tree. Depending on the age, the child can participate in this work as much as possible, it will give him a lot of food for thought. He or she will feel part of a family system in which everyone’s education plays a role.
An educational “family tree” is a good way to help the child get the idea that part of any person’s life is learning, which bears fruit, and it is largely up to the child to decide what that fruit will be and how he or she will use it. But the Tree of Education is a delicate instrument. It is important that the child can draw his own conclusions, you should not impose on him stamps like “Grandpa did not finish school, and therefore could not find a good job” or “All the women in our family became doctors, and you should continue the tradition”. Children should not feel hostage to family scripts. Freedom of choice of thoughts and actions will keep them motivated to learn much better than externally imposed stereotypes.
Play intellectual games
Imagine a boring class taught by a boring teacher. It’s a sad picture, isn’t it? But not all children are bored in the same way. Some really languish in anticipation of the bell, and others do not feel much discomfort, do all the tasks and even show interest in them. Why does this happen? Because some children are accustomed to enjoy intellectual activity, and even in a boring lesson, the educational material gives them the opportunity to occupy their brains with interesting work. And others do not feel the taste for the “mind game” to enthuse them, the lesson must constantly happen something very entertaining.
To instill in your child a taste for getting results from intellectual effort, as often as possible play games with him that require such effort. Jigsaw puzzles, brain teasers, board games – whatever you like, the choice is huge nowadays.
Make a day spent without a “smart” game a day wasted.
What’s that got to do with games? We’re talking about school! But the habit acquired in one area, the child will then transfer to other areas, including learning. The main thing is that he “caught” the feeling of joy from mental work, learned to “feed” the brain with intellectual tasks, and this feeling he will want to “catch” again and again, even in the classroom.
Intellectual games are an almost universal way to teach the brain to work with pleasure, but here there is a condition: the game must meet the child’s capabilities and arouse his interest, otherwise you can get the opposite effect.
Expand horizons on the topic of education
School is one of the oldest inventions of mankind. At all times, children had to learn something in order to enter adulthood fully equipped. But modern students find it difficult to fully appreciate the opportunities that education gives them, because they have nothing to compare their usual way of school life with. To realize the importance of learning as an eternal value and to see their personal educational prospects of the child will help to expand their horizons on the topic of education.
It is useful to periodically “plant” the child information about how and what children learn in other countries. And, by the way, about the fact that millions of children on the planet are deprived of the opportunity to learn. It is useful to attract historical material about learning in different eras. It is better to do it unobtrusively, paying attention to interesting details that evoke emotions. Floating schools in Cambodia, an underground school in Virginia, a nomadic school in Yakutia, or schools in the highlands of Nepal that take hours or even days to reach on foot are just a few examples that can impress the child and stimulate reflection on the role of school in human life.
Additional opportunities can also be found close to where you live. Many cities now have museums dedicated to school and education. And children’s centers sometimes have programs and quests that play on school themes.
Read the right books
Choose books to read with your child that emphasize the value of education. These can be fairy tales, realistic stories or biographies of famous people. It is best to do this yourself, rather than relying on lists of books about school for children of all ages that can be found on the Internet. To find a book that will “hook” the child, it is important to focus on his individual characteristics and interests, to take into account his own school situation.
Will the above methods give an instant effect? No, they are designed for long-term application, as they work on the cultivation of internal motivation. But the result will be much more stable than when using “carrots” and “sticks”.