Many experts in the field of child psychology are beginning to support the idea that motivation is even more important than IQ when it comes to predicting a child’s success.
Motivation can be described as a child completing a task on their own without being told multiple times, beginning and completing it on time, paying attention during it, and sticking with it even when it gets difficult.
Convincing your children to do things they don't want to do can be challenging. When it comes to tasks that can be tedious, such as schoolwork, it can sometimes be tricky to motivate your child to complete the assignments at hand. Below we offer five different strategies that can be implemented to spark motivation and in turn create more success in your child’s life!
1) Limit Distractions
One of the quickest ways to lose motivation and attention towards a task is to become distracted. This applies not only to children, but also to people of all ages. In order to stay on task it is important to limit all outside sources of distractions. If you would like your child to sit at the kitchen table and complete his English assignment, make sure the TV is off, cellphones and tablets are put away, and there are no other conversations happening nearby that are not related to the assignment.
2) Relevant Rewards
When it comes to using rewards as motivation, the key word to remember is relevant. It is not advised to use general bribes to convince a child to complete a task. Rather, it is much more conducive to find a reward that is specific to the child’s personal interests that is educationally beneficial at the same time. Let’s say your child loves to read but dislikes math. Instead of offering a general reward such as TV time for completion of the math homework, offer him the chance to read a book of his selection for an equal or greater amount of time as the assignment takes. For example, if the math homework takes 30 minutes, offer 30-60 minutes of free reading time upon completion.
3) Develop a Schedule
Developing and sticking to a structured routine is critical to maintaining a child’s motivation. Children function better with predictability. For example, set a specific 2-hour timeslot from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm each night for homework, and make Monday Math day, Tuesday English day, Wednesday Science day, and so on.
4) Set Goals
Setting daily and weekly goals can help your child stay on top of her tasks, as well as allow her to feel accomplished as each goal is completed. You can do things such as using a timer to time homework sessions and writing goals on a calendar and then crossing off tasks as they are completed. The feeling of crossing off an item on the calendar will provide your child with a positive feeling of pride and accomplishment and this feeling will contribute to motivation towards future tasks.
5) Be a Role Model
It is crucial to model the behaviour you want to see from your child. You must demonstrate to your child what it looks like to be a motivated and successful individual. Set daily and weekly goals for yourself and record them on a calendar alongside your child’s goals. Make sure your child sees you complete each of your tasks in a timely and organized manner and allow him/her to be part of the process. Demonstrate what it is like to face a very difficult challenge and show how you do not give up. Relay to the child how good it feels to accomplish your tasks to instil that drive within him.
Research has shown that it takes 66 days on average for a new habit to stick1, so make sure to be consistent with these strategies once they are implemented and before you know it, your child could be completing schoolwork and other tasks completely on his or her own!
1Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W. and Wardle, J. (2010), How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 40: 998–1009. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.674