How to motivate children who lose interest in learning

Tips for parents with demotivated children at school:

Many parents are worried because their children do not do homework, do not pay attention in class, have no interest in getting good grades. It seems that to their children, everything that has to do with studies is indifferent and they are apathetic, discouraged and disinterested.
One of the most important tools parents can use to help them is motivation. When a child is motivated, he makes sense of what he does.
Causes of demotivation of children in school
But what is motivation? They are the stimuli that move the person to perform certain actions and persist in them for their culmination. We can find different types of motivation or demotivation, when one of these motivations is lost:
1. Intrinsic motivation: When the person performs an activity by himself, without external incentives. It is done for pleasure, curiosity, etc.
2. Extrinsic motivation: When what attracts the person is not the action itself, but what he receives in exchange for doing it. The person moves by external factors such as money, gifts, or in the case of children, stickers.
3. Positive motivation: Represents the reasons why you want to reach a goal
4. Negative motivation: Represents the reasons why you do NOT want to achieve a goal.
Motivation is the key to learning. It is essential to work from home and, thus, can be developed from daily activities such as: collect toys, dress, set the table, etc. Or from activities that pose a challenge such as: cycling, rollerblading or swimming
Tips to motivate children at home
The problem may not be lack of motivation. Many times we focus on that but what happens is something else, such as: a learning difficulty, a personal conflict with the teacher, problems with friends, they get bored in class because they find it very easy, etc. What can we do so that they don't lose interest in learning?
1. Plan short-term and long-term objectives: The objectives are very good motivators when they are met. The best objectives to mark young children are those of short term that can be fulfilled in a short period. To do this, parents should suggest tasks such as cleaning their toys or taking out the trash. As children get older they will have to be encouraged to look for long-term goals.
2. The objectives, better if they are specific: The more concrete objectives can be measured. Concrete achievements give children reasons to be more motivated.
3. Sense of competition: In its right measure it can be the most important motivator. The reason for setting goals should be for the child to learn that he can achieve everything one sets out.
4. Use positive and encouraging language: It is not the same to praise your child's work as to encourage it. When we praise we do it for the triumph achieved, however when we encourage we recognize the great effort it is making.

Tips to motivate children in school:

1. Expose the achievements of the child: Choose two or three of the work you have done at school and you like to put them in the fridge, or hang them in your room. They can be drawings, math work, dictations, etc ...
2. Talk about school on a regular basis: We must give the daily opportunity for the child to share his experiences at school with adults.
3. As the child learns and improves in school we have to compare his work today with those of the past so that he sees the progress he is making and feels proud
4. Beware of expectations: Sometimes there is a situation in which parents and even children have very high expectations. This can be counterproductive as it will cause many children not to try to do things for fear of failure.
5. Strengthen the learning style that best performs: Thanks to multiple intelligences, children learn in different ways, reading, writing, repeating, experimenting. We must define what our child's learning style is and reinforce it by giving opportunities in which he can fulfill his potential to the fullest.


Student: Rosina Barbé
Group: 4°A Magisterio - August 2019
Source: www.guiainfantil.com Borja Quicios (psicólogo educativo)