As a parent, you have to find tips on how to motivate a child to study, teaching them to be disciplined and consistent and encouraging them rightly.
To effectively study, you need to put in the time, deep concentration and discipline, and most kids lack these. Kids love learning, but when it becomes strenuous, they would want to opt out.
I outline these and many more points in this post on how to motivate a child to study-10 the best ways. Before discussing the subject matter, let’s see answers to other related as regards motivating a child about school and studying.
How To Make A Child Interested In-School
When kids start school, they begin to learn at a whole new level. The rigorous assignments, class work, tests, and projects can make the child stressed out or uninterested in learning. Here are some tips that can help them out.
- Even before he starts school (that is at the preschool age), talk about school positively so that he is eager to start.
- Ensure you put your child in a school where they understand his unique way of learning.
- Encourage him to make friends.
- Encourage your child to join other extra curriculum activities like sports.
- From an early age, develop a routine and study pattern that will teach the child the art of discipline while studying.
- Work hand-in-hand with the teacher and the school.
- Show interest in his schoolwork.
- Offer assistance with assignments and projects but do not do it for them.
- Offer encouragement to the child.
- Encourage learning rather than the child passing an exam or getting or getting a specific grade.
- Use the reward system for his efforts.
- Make him see the big picture of how important school is.
How To Get Kids Motivated
Besides studying, they are various ways to get kids motivated. And to be able to finds how to motivate a child to study, you need to understand how to motivate them outside studying too. You can get your kids motivated by using these tips.
- Spark up their curiosity.
- Set goals for them.
- Please encourage them to follow their interests.
- Encourage exploration.
- Reward their efforts.
- Be a role model.
- Let them take the lead sometimes.
- Be huge support.
- Teach them to decide on their own.
- Be loving and understanding.
For a deeper understand on how to motivate your child to learn responsibility, read the article by clicking here.
10 Ways To Motivate A Child To Study
After you’ve learnt how to motivate your child to complete mundane everyday tasks, you will need to employ fresh tactics to get them to study enthusiastically.
In this section, I will point out the various ways you can motivate your child to study. Now let’s discuss these ten tips on how to motivate a child to study.
1. Do Not Use Force
If you force a child to study, the chances are that he will forget most things. But when you motivate the child from an early age, he will become so used to learning that it will become part of him.
Then, it wouldn’t necessarily be about learning to pass an exam or take a test. Instead, learning would become in the life process, something that is part of him.
So, try as much as possible to encourage your kid’s interests by making reading fun. Take them out to see the world. Let them go to the aquarium, the zoo, and the open market.
As they go out, engage them in some meaningful discussions to spark their curiosity. For example, if you visit the zoo, you may ask, “have you wondered why dinosaurs have very long teeth”?
It would make them start thinking, and it would spark their curiosity. When they can learn in other places aside from the classroom, like the church, why travel, shopping, and home, they will readily connect these things to what they know at school.
2. Set Up A Learning Routine
Routines are structured activities that must be followed each day setting up a study routine and putting it in your child’s schedule is how to motivate a child to study.
It will give the child a structure to follow, keeping him on the right track. If not, he may not be effective in whatever methods you are using to motivate him if he is not consistent. Both of you can come together and plan a study time.
You can take your child’s school’s timetable to do this. You find out the number of subjects he has in a week and see how to pair the subjects together to study and still have time for other things.
Sometimes pairing a more easy subject and a subject that your child finds more tasking is better than paring two tough subjects together.
While setting up a study routine, ensure that you consider the time for study, probably each subject taught at school every day, and time for homework.
You should also consider duration of study time, time for a break, time for questioning and explaining what has been learnt, and time for practical.
Study time does not have to be at a stretch. You can break it down to, say, after school and dinner each day and at weekends for more intense study.
Note that the schedule may be wacky at first, but if you both are consistent, your kid will show marked improvement. This is an excellent way on how to motivate a child to study.
3. Identify The Cause Of Poor Study Habits
If you are figuring out how to motivate a child to study, you need to identify the probable cause and then find the right solutions to encourage the child. Several factors may cause poor study habits in kids.
Maybe the school is not adapting to his learning style, so he finds it difficult to understand, or he has low self-confidence. If he has low self-confidence, check the post on how to boost a child’s confidence here to help him.
It could also be that he wasn’t raised with a good reading culture, so he doesn’t see reading as a priority. The parents are not good models, or he is frightened at school probably because of bullies, the teacher, or no friends.
Take time to observe and see if it is any of these reasons that make your child unmotivated. Engage your child and ask why he feels school or studying is dull or tedious.
Interact with the teacher and ask about your child’s attitude towards school and school work. You can also ask his classmates.
All these will give you an idea of the possible cause of your child’s lack of motivation. The next thing is to swing to action. You both can work together to find ways how to make things easier.
4. Set Goals
After identifying the problem and creating a study routine, you would want to help your child set goals so that he can plan what he wants to achieve while reading. If not, the routine and the schedules may not be all that effective.
The goals should not necessarily be based on your child’s age but on the child’s learning style and attention span. The goal will give your child a clear direction on what he has to achieve and spur him to achieve it.
So instead of stating in your child’s routine, “read mathematics from 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.,”. You can further set a goal and say, “Ted, your goal should be to study subtraction and solve two questions on subtraction from 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.”
Other study goals you can set are “read a passage on page 54 of your English text and answer the questions, review your notes on science and write out any questions you have. But, again, these are specific goals on a subject.
This is a very helpful note on how to motivate your child to study and love studying.
5. Set Up A Conducive Study Space
You may not achieve much in your quest to find how to motivate a child to study if you do not organize the study area and as the such, study may not be effective. So as you plan and schedule study time, ensure you plan to study the area.
It should be free from distractions like the TV screen or in front of the house where people are constantly passing or by the kitchen.
Be sure to switch off the TV set or reduce the volume and minimize noise and too much activity in the home during study time. Phones, tablets and other electronics should be turned off and put silent.
Yes, your child may have to use phones and tablets or the computer for assignments, and this may be a source of distraction. To minimize this distraction, you can set up software like self-control and leech block and stay focused.
These are specific software for different search engines that can help to limit distraction. Be sure to get a comfortable chair and table in the study area, and there should be light. It will help the child stay more alert.
Also, help your child gather the right tools before the study, things like a ruler, pencil, pen, erasers, book, textbook calculator, glue, etc.
Kids usually get distracted by standing up to get these items during study time. But once all these are in place, it will avoid wasting time and enable the child to stay more concentrated.
6. Appropriate Monitoring
While you have set up a conducive space, the next thing you need to do is to monitor and ensure that you get your child to do the needful.
If you mainly want to motivate a lazy child to study, you need to monitor the child closely and ensure that he achieves the goals set out for the day.
If you have younger children, you have to sit with them and guide them on why they learn because they may not figure out everything independently. If you have to motivate a teenager or an adult child, you may have to sit close by to monitor your child to ensure studying.
You can get your laptop, sit by your child and finish up some chores that you have to handle at work while your child studies, or you may decide to check in once in a while to observe your child.
It will make the child see that you are focused and want to be focused. But if you watch TV or play games while your child studies, he will be distracted.
He may want to join you too, and this does not show a good example. While you monitor your child, help your child out by giving him clues to answers. Explain in detail what the child does not understand clearly.
Ask relevant questions that stimulate him to think critically and watch how easy it becomes to motivate your child to study.
7. Find Your Child’s Learning Style
Your child might be having difficulty studying maybe because he isn’t taught how to grasp things quickly and become frustrated. So you want to learn about different study techniques and the different levels of learners.
There are four types of learners and they are:
- The visual learners: Those that know by what they see, like pictures, video clips, and drawings on the board.
- The auditory learners: Children that learn and retain information more by hearing things like recordings, and audio clips, listening to the teacher and reading things aloud.
- Read and write learners: They grasp more by personalized study and write out the facts they have learnt in their own words.
- The Kinesthetic learners: The children under this category learn more by engaging in hands-on practical.
So if your kid is learning in a traditional classroom where most teachers use visual and auditory techniques, he may not fully grasp and won’t be motivated because it is not his learning style.
You should study closely and observe your child to know which kind of learning style he has. You may have to work hand-in-hand with the teacher because your child spends more time learning at school.
If your child is in a school where that uses traditional teaching methods, you may have to discuss with them to adjust to his learning style or find a school that accommodates the different levels of learning.
It will make a difference in his learning and will be an excellent guide on how to motivate your child to study.
8. Try The Reward System
Children, even adults, are motivated when they know that they will get a reward for a job done. As adults, we do not overlook the monetary compensation we have from our jobs hence tips and incentives are perfect motivation at the workplace.
So also it is for your child. One way how to motivate a child to study is by setting up appropriate reward systems. It could be more time for play if they learn hard or extra cash as an allowance, free cookies or cakes, a chance to play games with friends or skipping chores.
You can set up the reward system this way using your study goals, attach a reward to each of the goals and if your child meets his study goal for a day, he gets a reward, but if he doesn’t, he does not get any. It will spur your child to study.
For example, you can say, “Ted, if you review your notes and can answer the questions I ask today, you can skip washing the plates after dinner”.
9. Seek Extra Help If Necessary
Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you may not have the right skills to teach your child, or you may find it hard to learn how to motivate a child to study especially as it’s in an area that you know nothing about.
So it may be worth it if you seek extra help. You can help your child form a study group with friends who know a particular subject very well. Because sometimes learning with your peers is how to motivate a lazy child to study.
Or you can get a tutor that understands your child’s unique study style. It is an essential tip on how to motivate a child to study. Also, a tutor can help encourage a child who has a fear of school.
With one-on-one interaction with the tutor, the child may begin to overcome fear and may soon be free around teachers. Other aids that you can try out online tutoring services, one-on-one teaching with your child’s teacher, etc.
10. Strike A Balance
While you intend to motivate your child to study, do not go overboard, setting rigorous routines and study goals and forcing your child to study even if retired.
Most likely, your efforts will crumble like a pack of cards. Instead, try to balance things. There should be an appropriate time for play, rest and study.
Make learning fun by using flashcards, drawing pictures, telling stories, etc. Studying shouldn’t be all about having a good grade.
Conclusion
The main thing is for the child to learn and know and reproduce after being taught and ensure you relate learning to things around and things he can connect with.
Ask critical questions to spark up his creativity, and always believe that your child can do better. These tips are tested and trusted ways how to motivate a child to study.
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