Many children tend to be unmotivated when it comes to school. Teachers do their best to try and keep students entertained and engaged, but an unmotivated student is not willing to learn regardless of a teacher’s efforts. How a child feels about learning can be influenced by a parent’s actions outside of school. Here are some ways you can keep your child motivated in the classroom!
Be Involved in Your Child’s Academics
Parental involvement is necessary for a child’s success within the classroom. The more present a parent is, the greater the positive impact on academic achievement. A parent can get involved in their child’s academics by simply helping out with homework or reading a book with them before bed. According to Waterford.org, children with families engaged in their education are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education, develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom, and have better social skills and classroom behavior. Parents may also ask their child’s teacher about ways to get involved with their child’s schooling.
Positive Reinforcement
Providing positive reinforcement for your child can improve their performance at school and motivate them. Instead of focusing on negative actions, it’s important to reward good behavior that you would like to see more often. Examples of positive reinforcement could include complimenting them, giving them a hug, or offering a special activity such as making a dinner of their choice. Opportunities to positively reinforce your child in school could be when they receive good grades or a compliment from their teacher, or even if they have a good attitude when getting ready in the morning. Positive reinforcement is best accepted immediately after the action so your child understands what they did well. If your child struggles in school, it is very important to provide praise when they show improvement.
Set Goals with Your Child
It’s never too early to start setting goals for the future with your child. Discussing both long-term and short-term goals helps your child build responsibility, improve decision making, and encourage prioritization. Examples of academic goals for your child could be to get better grades, finish all their homework on time, score well on a test, or receive high honor roll for the semester. Try to make sure that these goals are attainable and realistic for your child to accomplish.
Get Outside Help
If your child is struggling to stay motivated in school, it may be caused by a variety of reasons. Getting extra guidance such as tutoring in a particular subject, putting your child in summer programs, and getting homework assistance may help. If your child is struggling in a subject such as math, hiring a tutor can help them stay on top of their work and accelerate in this subject. Tutoring may also help your child stay organized and provide structure in their academic life. Before and after school programs like AYS provide students with homework help and additional academic support that helps them stay engaged in their learning, further motivating them to put forth more effort in the classroom.
Keeping your child motivated in the classroom is not an easy thing to do. But, there are ways to influence their behavior in school by being involved in your child’s academics, providing positive reinforcement, setting goals, and getting outside help. Learn more about AYS at www.ayskids.org/after-school-2023. Our before and after school programs could help motivate your child to stay engaged in school by providing them with homework support and helping them develop their social skills!
