We know that kids are inquisitive and curious by nature. So, how come so many of them are struggling once they start school? What happens with their innate motivation to explore and learn? Well, those kids simply stop finding learning interesting. Instead, they see studying as a major bore and are no longer motivated to learn.
Our job is to help them keep their interest in studying, since they need to feel motivated in order to make the most of their education. Many parents resort to threats, others make promises about the big rewards they’ll get their kids if they do well at school. Neither way is very efficient, especially in the long run. So, what should we do instead?
Point out the value and consequences
Talk to you kids and tell them that studying is challenging, but that it can be fun, too. Allow them to talk to people who’ve studied hard and achieved great results, so that the kids start associating great effort with outstanding results. As soon as your kid starts school, help them balance their time. Insist that school is a priority over games and TV, but make sure the kids also have time to pursue their interests. Explain to the kids that avoiding studying always brings about consequences. Whether it’s an obligation to attend summer classes or some other undesirable consequence, your kids need to understand that failing to study will make their lives much harder.
Incentivizing study
Just like you need to point out the negative consequences of unsuccessful or insufficient studying, you need to set up a reward system. Just like we expect our work to be rewarded, our kids also need to see that their effort and results are appreciated. Whether it’s some extra money in their allowance, more TV time or some other treat, your kids need to know exactly how the system works. These small rewards will play an important part when it comes to your kids’ motivation to learn and they’ll soon get “hooked” on the sense of accomplishment and will be studying for the sake of academic success, rather than your rewards.
Creative environment
One of very important elements is the environment in which your kids are studying in terms of their classmates. If you’re lucky to be living in a cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong, let you kids experience learning in a culturally diverse environment, such as the one provided by the reputable Monkey Tree English Learning Center. They’ll be able to learn not only the language, but also to see how their peers with different backgrounds cope. This creates a healthy competition and since most kids are quite competitive, this will motivate them to learn more and better.
Play to their strengths
No kid is great at all subjects, nor do they like all subjects equally. In most cases, they learn to love the subjects that come easy and dislike those that take more work. Such dislike can easily lead the kids to shut down when things get harder and start finding excuses as to why they don’t do it. One of the things you can do is to relate the subject they don’t understand to a subject they’re good at. Let’s say your kid likes history, but despises math. Point out that history contains a lot of numbers or tell them stories about famous mathematicians to add a bit of personal touch to the context. Alternatively, you can draw their attention that mathematical methods like carbon dating help us figure out historical timelines.
Fun ways to study
Kids today respond to different stimuli than their parents used to when they were younger. Kids’ curiosity is now stimulated by visual and auditory prompts more than ever. That’s why you should introduce flash cards and sticky notes or find some great YT tutorials or podcasts related to the subject your kids are studying. You need to experiment with how the study material is laid out until you find the one your kids respond to well. When you see that they are having fun while studying, you’ll know you’ve done a great job.
Making studying and learning as much fun as possible isn’t an easy task, but it’s absolutely necessary if you want to help your kids. Not everything will go smoothly and there are bound to be obstacles along the way, but you need to be persistent. You simply can’t expect your kids to love studying and doing homework, since they are likely to see it as a time they waste on doing something tedious or difficult, which isn’t nearly as fun as playing games. That’s why you need to make studying interesting and help them realize the benefits of educational benefits.
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Sienna Penfold is a mom and a writer, who found her passion for writing as a young girl. She now writes stories to inspire people and to help them find useful information and advice.