Tuesday 15th Oct- Term 4 begins
Wednesday 4th Dec- Last Day of Term 4
As students have now received their Semester 1 report, this can be a stressful time for both parents and children. For many parents simply learning about the areas where their child is struggling is not enough to automatically know what to do next or how to help their child be more successful.
There are different ways to “motivate" children to become better students. Studies support that notion that parents and others motivate children most successfully by creating an atmosphere that promotes self-motivation. This requires finding the “hook” for learning. Some parents believe that intimidation and fear tactics to help motivate children perform better. This may work in the short-term, but it certainly will not sustain motivation and it may eventually create resentment. This is the “do it or else” parenting method and many strong willed children rebel against this approach.
Another approach is to bribe children to improve performance through rewards and consequences. In this approach, parents may offer to pay children to earn the better grades. This may result in the desired outcome in the short-term, but what happens once the rewards are removed? These children will grow up to expect a prize for their performance instead of experiencing internal rewards from hard work and subsequent positive outcomes.
The most effective way to help children reach their goals and become internally motivated is to teach them about purpose. Humans are naturally curious and therefore making the connection between the intrinsic value of learning and purpose is not difficult, especially when grades and performance are not overemphasized and learning is seen as the ultimate goal. When helping children become more engaged in learning and therefore better students, parents help children understand how and why learning is important for them.
