It’s not uncommon for kids to lose interest in their studies or struggle to stay motivated when it comes to school. Perhaps your child has been showing signs of disengagement, avoiding their schoolwork, or expressing feelings of doubt about their abilities. As parents, it can be difficult to know how to respond. Watching your child struggle can be frustrating and concerning, especially when you know how important education is for their future success.
You may wonder how to motivate them without adding pressure or making school feel like a chore but there are lots of simple, practical steps you can take to help your child get back on track. By creating a positive learning environment, setting achievable goals, and showing up to offer them support in the right ways, you can help your child rediscover their love for learning.
To build motivation, you must be motivated! Providing the space and atmosphere to be productive, and engaging in work alongside each other, can not only improve your child’s motivation but yours as well! Consider setting aside time within the day where you both can work together on things at the dinner table or in an office.
Show interest in your child’s work, ask them what they are doing and why. But don’t push too hard, let them come to you. Despite working alongside each other, your child’s anxiety in their work can increase if you watch over their shoulders. Build some boundaries and if they prefer to work alone, allow them the quiet time and space but show them how it is done!
Create achievable milestones alongside your child, asking them what they are aiming for and looking at their predicted scores. Consider their strengths and weaknesses, focusing on the topics they are struggling with. When you build a plan with goals they can aim for, you can incentivise them with rewards! The rewards can vary in scale and don’t necessarily need to be physical, for example, a trip out somewhere or a day off doing whatever they want.
The important part about rewarding is that you reward the effort, not the outcome. If they worked incredibly hard on a GCSE subject, aiming for a 7 but only hitting 5, reward the effort. Sometimes no matter how much planning you do, or motivation you have, you may not meet your intended goals. And speaking of planning, keep it relevant to the moment. If your child is working on their GCSEs, they should only look at their grade goals for now. Having a career goal is all well and good, but focusing too far ahead will only serve to be more overwhelming.
It might be tempting at first to just answer your child’s questions but encouraging them to find solutions through other means on their own is a life skill that they can benefit from greatly! Being able to sift through information in books, the internet, from their teachers, and concluding on their own will help them succeed beyond school. How do we do this naturally? Act curious, ask how else they can find the answer and go from there.
Query mistakes and show them how they could improve but don’t punish or be too critical. Let them talk through their thinking process aloud without any shame or anxiety. While an evening of maths homework might not be ideal for you, remember that it is also challenging for them, and they are still only learning. One thing that can really help make learning easier is to identify your child’s learning style. If you’d like to know more about this, take a look at this blog! Be supportive and make it an enjoyable moment of discovery between you both.
When it comes to schoolwork, time can feel incredibly finite. Every hour counts to achieving the perfect score at the end! But in reality, studying is just like exercising… you should still have breaks every so often for your brain to refresh and come back stronger. Of course, there needs to be a balance between working hard and playing hard. That is why creating a study schedule is so great – you can make sure that you create balance within your routine.
Motivate students to get the work done quickly, so that they can do what they want quicker! When they just come back from school, still in that work mental space, or early in the day on weekends before having the rest of the day to themselves. This works as a reward system, encouraging them to work sooner rather than procrastinating and getting stressed at the last minute.
Whether it’s completing homework, coursework or revising for an exam, your child is learning more than you may expect. It’s not just about understanding and remembering information but developing skills that will help them in their personal and professional lives too. Staying motivated, working through difficult obstacles, and building resilience and a positive mindset. These are the things that will help your child as they progress further, becoming independent in their learning and take more responsibility for their future success.
We have some great resources that can help your child build a positive mindset when it comes to learning. Smarten Your Study is an interactive workbook full of study techniques that make learning easy and fun! Don’t Get Your Neck Tattooed is great for thinking about life outside the classroom. They’ll join our mascot Milo as he journeys through the Z to A of life, discovering tips that will help him achieve his goals for the future and live a fulfilling life. Christmas is just around the corner so why not create a book bundle to treat them with!
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