Few things play as significant a role in the making of a good human as schools. Though education is the parents’ and teachers’ primary objective, many essential social skills are learned from schools. For example, no classroom teaches how to make friends or how to conduct yourself in a group. Children observe these things by trial and error method, by practically making and losing friends, by loving and fighting.
While it is true that social skills are important, their lack of them is not going to have an immediate impact on the kid’s life. Education is a time-sensitive thing during that age. A few kids always top the class, most stay comfortable in their mediocre application, and some lurk in the last. How would you motivate your child to do better in school? Or how do you motivate your child and the toppers to stay toppers and the mediocre and less-than-mediocre into exceeding their past performances? Is your child lagging in education but was once great in it? Or has your kid always been hesitant to explore his complete learning prowess, and you are unsure of how to make him reach his full potential? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to at least one of the three questions, we got you covered.
While you try to motivate your child to do better in school, you might seem like expressing negative emotions, like anger or disappointment, work, to your children but the result will be transient. The child will be terrified of enraging you or disappointing you that they do what’s asked of them without thought or reason. But you can not control the kid for long; there will come a time when he/she throws in the towel and decides ‘enough is enough’ and begins to hate education altogether.
Instead, use positive emotions. If your child is failing a subject, sit with them and talk. Maybe during that particular class, a bully is disturbing him/her. Or the teacher is going too fast, and it is hard for the kid to grasp. There could be a myriad of reasons preventing your child from achieving his/her highest abilities, and them being careless couldn’t even be it. You may never know if you do not make your kid comfortable by having positive, cordial conversations with them.
And if the child cannot grasp the subject, maybe it is time to hire a private tutor. Or if you are up for it, you can do it yourself. Apart from making your child smarter, you are also bonding with them. If this becomes a habit, you can help your child perform well by teaching him adult problem-solving methods. Like breaking one huge task into several small manageable ones. Or how properly to use the internet to learn something.
Children love deals. And, unlike world-weary adults, children are brimming with curiosity and wonder. Combine these two facts to make them achieve little goals. Confusing? It is simple. Children are attracted to a lot of things. It is not hard to make them want something. Just take them to a local mall, and your kid will set his/her eyes on a particular toy and bug you to buy them. Don’t get them anything, not yet. Instead, drag the child to the house and make a deal. If they complete a chapter and do their homework, they can have that toy.
This is just one example of motivating a child. On top of teaching them how to keep their ends of the bargains, you also show them that hard work is the only way to get anything in life, not petulance. As they grow older, their wishes will evolve, but you may apply the same principle until they exit adolescence.
Humans are creatures of habit. If our routine gets perturbed, our minds don’t work in their optimum capacity. For instance, you are on your way to work, and you hear a pop. From the minute your eyes set on the flat tire, to the moment you step into the office, your mind is riddled with anxiety and stress–about the day’s work, about requesting permission from your boss, and such.
Likewise, children need routine too. But the thing is, they do not yet know the importance of routine, and their days are not alike. It is fine, but when it comes to studying, they should have a routine. If they don’t, you as a parent should make one for them. Create a schedule for them to follow. Organize chapters into various dates and create goals for them. You may even go as far as buying them a neat desk and establish a ‘work station’ for them to do all their school’s obligations.
When you make them do this continuously, by making little Deals with them, they would inadvertently and unknowingly develop a routine. And as they grow up, no matter what happens, they would try their hardest to not divulge from it. Following structures, plans and schedules will create a very disciplined kid who outperforms himself/herself every time.
Meet the educators:
To motivate your child to do better in school, you have to keep your eyes open. In short be aware of what’s happening. If all your strategies and trial fails, then the problem is not with the child but in the school. Try talking to other parents and learn as much as you can about the school. There could be bullies or unfit teachers. Fix an appointment with the principal or a particular teacher on whose subject your child seems to lag. They would be able to help you identify the nature of the problem, and with that, you can conceive an appropriate solution.
Many parents are under the false idea that their responsibilities are cut short right after they send their kids to schools. But in reality, their responsibilities quadruple. At least when the child was a toddler, our duties were mostly keeping the child from eating glue. Now he/she is out there in the real world, facing so many problems and responsibilities of their own. And you, an adult, who’d had experience in tackling that world, should help your kid. When it comes to education, it is partially your duty to motivate your child to do better in school. And just paying attention to the child’s studies and supporting them is enough most of the time.