Does your child lack the motivation to study? Some kids are naturally born with a thirst for learning, but it’s also a habit that you can cultivate for your child with the right nurturing. If you’re all about strict rules and the fear of consequences of breaking those rules, you may have found out the hard way that these strategies may not work as well as you had hoped. But not to worry. Today, we’ll show you how to get your daughter passionate about learning via these 8 substantiated steps. Take a look:
1.Don’t nag, scold or punish- they don’t work
Most Indian parents prefer the conventional way of doing things, which involves physically punishing a child to give them great motivation to learn. But we’ll let you know right now before we go any further, in no uncertain terms, that that doesn’t work.
But don’t just take our word for it. Not one, not two, but close to 70 studies have been carried out to show the relationship between physical punishment and the following attributes:
- Social behaviors
- Relationships
- Intelligence
- Attention
The unanimous result is that physical punishment resulted in zero improvements in any of these aspects. If anything, this is also why corporal punishment stands banned today across every higher secondary school for girls in Madurai and India at large.
2.Spice up the fun to spur intrinsic learning
If your child doesn’t enjoy learning then no amount of pressure in the world can change that. Your best bet is to inspire instead of control. Perhaps show them the fun in mastering a new skill, as well as try implementing the following:
- Cultivate innate interest by relating a subject with its real-life applications
- Let your child be more involved in deciding what and where she’d like to learn
- Celebrate milestones, and help her out when stuck
Studies show we learn better when happy. That’s because happiness elevates our learning ability and memory retention abilities via increased production of serotonin and dopamine.
3.Emphasize the “why” of learning
Let’s be honest. Some learning activities can be far from joyful, but they need to be done nonetheless. A simple example: your girl may have enormous potential in playing volleyball, but she may not be motivated to train. Yet, this is important to avoid injury and ensure peak performance.
If you can emphasize why they need to get through such “trivial” tasks for the end benefit of something they love or are curiously interested in, then the results will always be better
4.Give your child a choice
One 2019 study on ResearchGate revealed that autonomy can positively impact a language learner’s intrinsic motivation, a theory that permeates to all other spheres of learning as well. As the best girls school Madurai has to offer, we see this play out and can agree that giving learner’s a choice heightens their incentive or urge to learn.
Overall, the above stated research also finds that autonomous students fare better than their non-autonomous peers, in terms of:
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Rate of progress
So while it is useful to offer encouragement, be sure to back off and let your child take the lead in their learning process.
5.Find an optimal challenge
If learning feels too easy, then chances are your child will get bored quickly. That’s because they are not stimulated enough. On the flip side, if it’s too hard as well, then learners can begin to doubt their own abilities. Their interest in a subject can dissipate leading them to throw in the towel.
Here at Sitalakshmi girls school in Madurai, we try as much as possible to personalize learning, and give students an optimal challenge that stirs their problem-solving but without overwhelming. In the end, we find this approach breeds a fulfilling sense of accomplishment that inspires our students to even greater heights.
6.Leverage the power of relatedness
As a parent, you need to find the right balance between being authoritative, open, and caring with your daughter. That’s because research finds that an autonomy-supportive yet authoritative style improves child-parent bonds, cultivating a sense of belonging that fuels intrinsic interest in learning.
The same concept also applies from the teacher’s perspective. When learners feel connected, valued, and connected to the teacher as a person, then they experience greater motivation and interest in a subject.
7.Be more involved as a parent
How involved are you in your child’s learning? Financial support is great but it shouldn’t just stop at this. NCBI research substantiates that parental involvement leads to higher levels of not just motivation in learning but academic performance.
This increased student achievement is brought about by:
- Decreased absenteeism: One ResearchGate survey indicates a strong negative correlation between absenteeism and parental involvement.
- Increased self-esteem and a better attitude toward school, as evidenced by the same above study
- Improved parent-teacher satisfaction, that ensures an open line of communication that enables both parties to address and solve distractions and obstacles for learners, both at home and school.
8.Set goals before learning
Science finds that your daughter is much more likely to be successful and motivated to learn if she sets goals. Consider these statistics as food for thought toward that end:
- Learners who set goals are 10 times more successful
- Witten goals can be 300% more effective than unwritten objectives
- 14% of students who have goals feel more motivated to learn
So you want to set goals for your child or rather help her set her own, preferably written ones if you are to give her greater determination to study. While you’re at it, we recommend you be more positive, specific, and realistic about your goals. Also, don’t forget to incrementally increase goals and keep track of progress.
Your choice of school also matters
A school’s learning environment also has a huge say in the motivation of your girl child. At Sitalakshmi, girls higher secondary school Madurai, we try our best to nurture a positive school learning environment that bridges a positive home environment as well. We understand that when these two worlds are desperate, then the gains from one side can be negated by the adversities from the other. If you need a good girls’ school that has a track record of inspiring learners to greatness, look no further than Sitalakshmi. Contact us today for enrollments.