How to Motivate your Child to Study Harder...

Father Blogger

PF Regular
Jul 17, 2008
62
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0
Philippines
As our child is growing, he may be curious about other things other than what they are learning from school. Although it is not bad at all, his interest in studying might be greatly affected. Sports, friends and other leisure activities are among those that can influence him to be distracted in his studies. As parents, we must do some thing about it before it will be too late. I have two growing children and here is what I have been doing, and hopefully it can also help others.

Do not push him

As the grade level of our school kids gets higher, the harder the subjects are. We might be wondering why they are good at first, but tend to be lazy as time goes by. This may be due to the pressure they feel, and therefore we must not add anymore. He will feel more exhausted that will make him do the opposite. The worst thing that can happen is he will be rebellious which can lead to a bigger problem. You should know him better than others.

Inspire him

Instead of pushing him, why not inspire him? It is wrong to think that because our child is no more a toddler, we must stop from inspiring him for his small achievements. A simple appreciation can inspire a lot after finishing a hard quiz, or a completion of his school project. It is alright to give him a small prize afterward as long as you are not spoiling him. Success cannot be completed without the one percent inspiration.

Show him the effect

It is not enough that you explain to him good effects of studying hard. Make him understand how important it is to finish school with flying colors, such as greater opportunities ahead and living decently. Show him the daily laborers and compare them to great business icons, then let him feel the difference between them. Although being smart and strong are factors to make a decent living, education will play a major role towards a brighter tomorrow.

Talk to him calmly

He will not absorb everything that you say if you will be yelling at him. It is not the words that you will utter that are more important, but rather the approach or how you will say it. Instead of scolding your child while preparing for work, have a dedicated time to talk to him and discuss things calmly. There might be other things that should be settled first and his low grades are only the effect of a bigger problem. It might be you but you just do not realize it.

If you think studying your lessons is hard, ask the out-of-school youth.

Article Source: Happy Family Matters
 

Ben Smalley

Junior Member
Aug 14, 2008
15
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I do not think it is good to completely push him away from these extracurricular activities. These will also be very important in the development process of a child.
 

Father Blogger

PF Regular
Jul 17, 2008
62
0
0
Philippines
Ben Smalley said:
I do not think it is good to completely push him away from these extracurricular activities. These will also be very important in the development process of a child.
I agree. Teaching our child about time management is very important.
 

Aviation4kids

Junior Member
Oct 2, 2008
12
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0
USA
Father Blogger said:
Sports, friends and other leisure activities are among those that can influence him to be distracted in his studies.
I partially agree.A good friend can be also a great motivator in achieving good results at school and elsewhere.You know the proverb "You are nothing more than the people you associate with" .It's our job ,as parents,to select our kids friends.I know that this is not easy but we have just a limited time frame to do it (my son is 8 years old) .

Father Blogger said:
Do not push him

As the grade level of our school kids gets higher, the harder the subjects are. We might be wondering why they are good at first, but tend to be lazy as time goes by. This may be due to the pressure they feel, and therefore we must not add anymore. He will feel more exhausted that will make him do the opposite. The worst thing that can happen is he will be rebellious which can lead to a bigger problem. You should know him better than others.
I have somehow this problem.Sometimes I am to pushy with math and science (I just can't help because I like them so much! ) and I have seen some adverse reactions.Now I have slowed down and I try to "repackage the message"

Father Blogger said:
Inspire him

Instead of pushing him, why not inspire him? It is wrong to think that because our child is no more a toddler, we must stop from inspiring him for his small achievements. A simple appreciation can inspire a lot after finishing a hard quiz, or a completion of his school project. It is alright to give him a small prize afterward as long as you are not spoiling him. Success cannot be completed without the one percent inspiration.
I told my son that he can buy computer time (now he have half an hour per day and 1 hour/day during weekend). If he does extra work on math he gets 5 min/calculus page).Do you think that's a good idea?

Father Blogger said:
Show him the effect

It is not enough that you explain to him good effects of studying hard. Make him understand how important it is to finish school with flying colors, such as greater opportunities ahead and living decently. Show him the daily laborers and compare them to great business icons, then let him feel the difference between them. Although being smart and strong are factors to make a decent living, education will play a major role towards a brighter tomorrow.
I wish my son will be a rocket scientist (just kidding! ) but I am OK with anything that will make him happy.A daily laborer might be a more balanced and happy person than a great business tycoon. I have my own small business,I love my independence to make decisions even if it's not always that easy (especially these days) but I don't think he should follow my way.I was a daily laborer myself and it was not a tragedy.Of course that we want our kids to do better than us but we have to be careful how we approach this issue.

George

Aviation for Kids