Motivation ABC

Student Motivation: Helping Your Child Learn

All children are born with the desire to learn. It starts in infancy as they navigate their environment and follows them through all stages of life. However, as children grow and become students in a classroom, parents often become faced with a drop in student motivation. What a parent does to keep their child motivated in school can be key to a childs success. Simple acts and positive reinforcement on the parents part can help a child become motivated to do well and stay that way throughout the childs education.

Feed Curiosity

Much like a parent nourishes a childs body, they must also feed a childs natural curiosity. A parent can feed this instinct by giving a child plenty of opportunity to be the natural explorer and scientist that they are. By providing the time, place, and freedom to be a curious student, motivation comes naturally and the child will be inspired to find out more. A child that is given the proper tools to continue his or her learning will surely use them to the fullest. A parent that can give not only the proper space but also the tools necessary to ensure that a child doesnt lose the spark for learning.

Be Accessible

A parent, who makes themselves available to their children when they have questions regarding school or homework, sends the message that they care about how their child is doing. Parents also become their childs cheerleaders when things become rough or the student feels incapable. A parent who can become vested in their childs learning encourages the natural student motivation in the child to continue. The accessibility of the parent demonstrates a willingness to be involved and to hold the child accountable for his or her education. Student motivation is often believed to go hand in hand with how involved and interested the parent is in the childs success.

Build Positive Sense of Self

While a childs sense of self isnt directly linked to motivation, it is however; it is one of the building blocks used for success. This is in turn linked to student motivation. For example, a child who views himself poorly is more likely to have lower grades and not put forth as much effort towards learning. On the contrary, that same student who views himself as likable is more likely to do well in school, and be motivated to continue to do well. A parent who helps a child create a positive self-image by complimenting, praising for work well done, encouragement, and empathy for failures, will help to imbed positive student motivation in their child.

Use Awards Sparingly

Many educators and parents alike argue about the importance of rewards for a job well done. The abuse of this system can cause undue stress and anxiety about meeting goals that are set for them. Parents wanting to praise and reward their child for maintaining student motivation are better off to refrain from any outside reward system. I would be best to stick to reiterating the importance of learning, and show their pride for their childs efforts, rather than their successes. Even a failed attempt is an effort worth praising when a child is motivated to do their best, no matter the outcome. Putting too much weight on achieving the goal instead of the learning process used to get there can deflate student motivation when the goal is not reached.

No matter which steps a parent takes to help their child learn, one thing remains true. Spending time and taking an interest in what the child is learning will surely benefit and motivate the child. The time spent just talking about what a child learns, can positively affect their motivation and can encourage the willingness to learn more. A childs student motivation ultimately lies within them, but an attentive parent can bring it forth and help it grow.

Ideas on How You Can Have Your Students Do a Student Motivation Journal

Many teachers are implementing the practice of having a student motivation journal as part of their classroom routine. A student motivation journal can go far in helping a student stay focused on their work. It also goes far in helping them retain what they have learned. If you are considering having your students do a student motivation journal here are some things you should think about:

* How important do you want the student motivation journal to be? Will it be part of the students grade? Will it be something that he or she has time to work on during class time or will it be purely a homework project? What type of things do you want recorded in the journal?

* How are you going to introduce the subject of a student motivation journal to the class? What can you tell the students about the benefits of doing a student motivation journal? Will it be extra credit? Will it comprise part of their semester grade? Is it purely a creative outlet?

* Are you going to do a journal, too? Many students will embrace the idea of a student motivation journal if they see their teacher journaling, too. Will you be open to sharing what you are writing in your journal? If so, will you ask students to share their work publicly? What if they feel it is too private?

* Will you require that the student motivation journals all look alike in appearance? Will you require that they have a table of contents? Can the students use a spiral notebook, or do you want them to use loose leaf notebook paper?

Many teachers find that having their students do student motivation journals opens the doors of communication. They get an inside peek into the minds of their students which enables them to teach better. You can take whatever route you would like to take with a student motivation journal. You may require your students to take notes in it throughout the day on every subject, or you can just apply it to something like poetry. You could read a passage to your students and then have them write about what they have just heard. This is one way that students learn how to tap into their imaginations and open up their inner beings. Another popular method of a student motivation journal involves just letting students free write for a set period of time. If this is the route you take it is important that your students are made aware that you will be reading what they write, if you do plan to read them.

Another method that could be considered is having your students do their student motivation journal via the Internet. This often gives students the motivation they need. You can set up a community of sorts for your class and make them each maintain a blog or journal of their life. It could focus on their school work, personal life, goals, dreams, pets or whatever the students wish to write about. If you go this route it is important that you first have the parents permission and that you make certain that each student has access to the Internet. Not all students will have access to the Internet, so you do not want to embarrass a child who may not. If not every student has computer and Internet access, simply revert back to a handwritten student motivation journal,