Work is for adults what studies are for children. If you enjoy your work, if there are positive reinforcements and good rewards, you feel more motivated to give it your best. Otherwise, every day feels like the Hunger Games. You can’t be on an edge all the time and if your child isn’t enjoying studying, it could feel exactly that way.
Sure, you may be able to discipline your child into mugging up their lessons and scoring decently, but does that facilitate learning? Once they are done with their exams, they will be done with all the information that they temporarily hoarded in their minds to get good scores.
Many parents struggle with getting their children to focus on their studies. Many children also struggle with the anxiety that comes with the pressure to perform. How do you then help your child develop a keen interest in studying and learning? Here’s how.
Use positive reinforcement
Motivation is an important part of human behaviour and without it, your performance can be both half-hearted and botched. While intrinsic motivation, that is the kind that comes from within, is ideal, children need that extrinsic push too. However, tangible things such as money, food and gifts aren’t the healthiest of rewards. Children feel enthused with positive reinforcement that focuses on making them feel happy about themselves. “The reinforcement given can be verbal by giving words of praise, support, and recognition that the teacher gives to his students,” says a 2019 study titled Building Children’s Learning Motivation Through Positive Reinforcement In Science And Math Classroom published in the Journal of Physics Conference Series.