As the brisk temps of fall slowly into “back to school” season, most of us feel both a bittersweet goodbye to summer nad an excitement toward the scheduled year ahead. But that doesn't always mean staying motivated all school year is easy.
Mighty Mommy shares six ways to help keep your kids motivated throughout the school year ahead and beyond.
1.) Become a Cheerleader
Show enthusiasm for your child's interests and encourage him to check out subjects and extracurricular subjects that really intrigue him. If he loves rock climbing and hiking, then encourage him to read about and explore places to go on a great climb. While you’re at it, see if he can become involved in a hiking club or look up some fun, new trails on his own. Does your daughter love to bake? Let her take over the kitchen on a regular basis and try out new recipes. Maybe she can even do some of the family grocery shopping with you throughout the year. School is a huge part of our kid’s lives ten months of the year, but they also need to branch out and feed their creative juices with outside interests as well. When we fuel their passions, it will not only help them to become more well-rounded individuals, but this will also help carry over into their school lives as well.
2.) Get Organized
Help your child organize her school papers and assignments so she feels in control of her work. If her task seems too daunting, she'll spend more time worrying than learning. With the extremely full schedules that kids today carry thanks to after-school activities, sports, clubs, and jobs—not to mention homework loads—time-management skills are imperative for them to keep their heads above water.
If your school doesn't provide a homework planner, invest in one of your own. At the beginning of each school week, sit down with your child and review what was assigned. Our schools post nearly everything on the school website, so I visit that frequently if I have any questions or if one of my kids seems confused about a particular assignment.
Realistically, help your child figure out an estimated amount of time per subject needed each night for homework. It will take a few weeks for you and your child to have a good feel for how long assignments take, but if you know your child excels in English but struggles in math, make sure you set aside more time for the math work each night. Let your child have input with this since he or she ideally knows what comes easy and what doesn't. We have our children tackle the harder subjects first so that they can get those out of the way. We also find that they have more focus at the beginning of the night, so doing the more difficult subjects and assignments earlier in the evening reduces their stress levels.
Break up the workload each night by teaching your child that he or she doesn't have to work straight through when it's homework time. I love using our kitchen timer to delegate blocks of time per subject/assignment. Once the timer goes off, they take a break with a cold drink or just get up and play with the dog or throw a ball around with one another so they can burn off a little energy. See Also: How to Overcome Homework Battles
3.) Celebrate Big and Small
In our household of eight kids, there is never an end to starting a project or book report, studying for quizzes or mid-term exams, and trying to stay on top of dozens of assignments. With so many competing agendas, we found that it was just as important to celebrate a small task being accomplished as well as kick up our heals when a major job was completed. When we recognize the efforts our kids put in on a regular basis, they tend to stay on task and motivated to stay the course. Completing a book report calls for a special treat, such as playing an hour of his favorite video games. Or when a mid-term project is done, why not let your daughter have a couple of her best girl friends over for a sleepover? You'll offer positive reinforcement that will inspire him to keep learning and challenging himself.
4.) Express Appreciation
One super easy way to keep your child motivated is to express your appreciation for having them in your life. There's nothing wrong with kids being grateful for material objects, as long as that doesn't supersede gratitude for the love and support of the people in their lives. My kids will be the first to tell you that I will comment, out of the blue, about the blessings we all have. When I’m up to my eyebrows in laundry, I’ll say something like “Thank goodness for my washer and dryer, I don’t know how my ancestors washed little boy’s pants over a rock in a stream!”
It's like when we lose power due to a storm, that's when we start to realize how blessed we are to have electricity every day. But why wait for the storm? Get into the habit of appreciating and sharing with your kids the things that make our lives so much easier on a daily basis—especially the gift of good health and a loving family. These everyday efforts will have a ripple effect in their own daily lives, especially when it comes to succeeding in school. See Also: 11 Ways to Raise Grateful Kids
5.) Don’t Overload Your Kids
A common mistake parents make when it comes to extracurricular activities is worrying their children will miss out if they don't participate in everything. This tip is probably one of the most difficult for families to do—cut back on their obligations and commitments and simplify their weekly schedules by eliminating one or two activities and instead staying home. If you can even drop just one of your family’s regular responsibilities this month, and not replace it with anything but down time, you might be inspired to slowly decrease other commitments throughout the year and take back some much needed family time. Less really can be more, which in turn helps your kids get that little extra edge throughout the course of the school year.
6.) Motivate with Positivity
Lack of motivation (for any of us) can be the result of not only way too much going in our world, but also being surrounded by continued pessimism. Many times being uninspired not only comes from a person or family simply doing way too much all at once and all the time, but also because of being tuned in to negative vibes, naysayers, and negative influences on social media, on the news, Internet, radio and even folks at the bus stop.
If this is contributing to some of the chaotic moments in your family’s life then try and disengage from the Eeyores of the world and instead try and connect with the Pooh Bear and Piglets. And if that’s not even possible, then stop and evaluate how you come across to your family and friends. Do you have a kind, encouraging word for others or are you a bit too critical and judgmental? When we have a positive frame of mind we tend to attract that into our lives, which in turn can result in more harmony and less friction for ourselves and our family and top-notch production in all areas of our lives will truly blossom.
How do you keep your family motivated? Share your thoughts in the comments section at http://ift.tt/1zMEe2L, post your ideas on the Mighty Mommy Facebook page. or email me at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com. Visit my family-friendly boards at http://ift.tt/1wyJKr5.
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