Monthly Archives: June 2016

what-motivates-your-child

What Motivates Your Child?

According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), self-motivated children are more involved in their own learning and development. So , what motivates your child?

A child is more likely to learn when they believe they are pleasing themselves and not their parents. Parents should guide, while still giving lots of freedom and options. Children that are persistent, challenge oriented and independent tend to be self-motivated.

What motivates your child and some tips on creating self-motivation:

Environment: Provide an environment that allows children to freely explore.

Persistence: Allow children lots of time to work on a task. Make sure they can finish and resist the natural urge to “help”!

Independence: Allow for as much independence as possible, when working on the task.

Interact with adults: Provide as many opportunities as possible for children to interact with adults directly.

Challenge: Provide situations that give challenges.  Activities that are slightly difficult for the child will be more motivating and provide for stronger feelings of success when accomplished.

Evaluation: Give children opportunities to evaluate their own accomplishments. Ask “What do YOU think?”

Ration Rewards: Do not use excessive rewards. Rewards can undermine a child’s ability to value themselves. Praise and rewards should be based upon effort and persistence, rather than on the actual accomplishment.

Most importantly, when considering what motivates your child, the habits and attitudes toward learning that are formed in these early years set the tone for future learning.

The Child Development Institute also has a great list of 8 ways to encourage self-motivation in your child.

Encourage self-motivation with Teach My Preschooler – the multi award-winning all-in-one learning kit for preschoolers 3 years+ The kit is divided into four sections to teach your preschooler – Reading, Printing, Numbers 1 to 100 and Math. Requiring no batteries or DVDs, the kit has an assortment of everything necessary for to teach the basics. Full of Pre K activities, the kit has fully-coordinated books, flashcards, posters, a print guide and magic drawing board, all in a case.

What Motivates Your Child