3 ways to motivate your kids to do well at school

Navigating through school is hard for any child, meaning staying motivated can sometimes be tricky. Not only are kids attending 4 or 5 different lessons per day, they have a multitude of homework to complete, exam worries all whilst trying to maintain friendships and grow up. Combined it can be extremely overwhelming, which can leave kids feeling demotivated, especially when they don’t have the right tools to be able to cope. Here’s some ways you can start to encourage your children to get back into the swing of school and achieve the academic success they deserve.

Set small step-by-step goals
Being successful can feel unattainable for many kids, especially as it can be tricky not knowing how to tackle all the different assignments, projects and exams. Big workloads can also cause children to feel extremely demotivated when it comes to school. To combat this, we recommend breaking assignments or revision into smaller realistic tasks, which should help with motivation levels. Start by sitting down together and creating a small list of goals that your child can tick off as they reach each one. For example, instead of writing for hours on an assignment, encourage them to break down the task into smaller blocks. This could be as simple as researching the idea, writing a rough draft and editing the final draft. Doing this not only makes the assignment easier to tackle but it provides your child with a starting point.

Focus on a customised learning plan
Forcing your child to study in a set way when they learn better using other techniques may be frustrating and hinder their progress at school. Instead tune into the way they learn best. Do this by consulting with teachers or perhaps consider a private tutor, so you can create a customised learning plan that highlights your child’s skills together. For example, if your child is an auditory learner, you could record them reading key facts for an upcoming test aloud so they can listen back to them. We guarantee if they’re studying using their strengths, it will help them have a positive attitude towards school and enable them to feel more confident in their studies. To find out key characteristics of auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners, check out our helpful post here.

No pressure
Even though you might not think it, your kids will already have a lot of pressure placed onto them from teachers, peers and even themselves to be successful at school. Avoid putting even more pressure on your child, especially by expecting them to achieve straight A’s or be top of the class - it’s only going to demotivate them further. Instead, find other ways to encourage them and listen to what your kids actually want to achieve. Discuss realistically how they can do this and empower them to be successful.