The most commonly reported types of motivation sources in our quick survey are intrinsic, attainment, personal connection, and perfectionism. As parents, you can use summer opportunities to maintain and hone your child’s motivation.
Encourage your intrinsically motivated child to pursue an area of interest, or several. Hold discussions on what he finds in his research or what he discovers on vacation trips, museum visits, or nature walks. Discuss what fascinates him most, what he has learned, what questions he has, and what he believes the future direction will be for his area of interest.
Find ways to challenge your attainment motivated child. Make sure there are opportunities for competitive games that involve thinking and strategy. Include competitions that involve academics if she is interested, but don’t push this over the summer. Comment on her use of strategy and problem-solving when playing the games, not just on winning and losing.
Give your perfectionistic child opportunities to be less than perfect. Ask him to try things at which he may not be successful. As he progresses toward mastery, comment on his ability to overcome obstacles, to persist in his efforts, and to learn from his mistakes. Summertime is a great time to practice being less than perfect. For example, learning to cook a new recipe can often be messy and full of opportunities for mistakes. Even if something gets burned it is not a disaster, merely a mistake to correct the next time.
Later in the summer talk to your child who wants a personal connection. Let her know that the overwhelming majority of teachers want to foster good relationships with their students. Especially for older students who will have several teachers, talk about being able to work with different personalities. Also, discuss how different people make connections in different ways. While expecting the year to start off well, discuss options for not letting a personality conflict get in the way of achievement if she feels a teacher does not like her or want a personal connection with her.
To explore how your child is motivated and investigate options for supporting motivation try out our Motivation Panning Tool at http://blogtopractice.weebly.com/motivation-planning-tool.html.
Encourage your intrinsically motivated child to pursue an area of interest, or several. Hold discussions on what he finds in his research or what he discovers on vacation trips, museum visits, or nature walks. Discuss what fascinates him most, what he has learned, what questions he has, and what he believes the future direction will be for his area of interest.
Find ways to challenge your attainment motivated child. Make sure there are opportunities for competitive games that involve thinking and strategy. Include competitions that involve academics if she is interested, but don’t push this over the summer. Comment on her use of strategy and problem-solving when playing the games, not just on winning and losing.
Give your perfectionistic child opportunities to be less than perfect. Ask him to try things at which he may not be successful. As he progresses toward mastery, comment on his ability to overcome obstacles, to persist in his efforts, and to learn from his mistakes. Summertime is a great time to practice being less than perfect. For example, learning to cook a new recipe can often be messy and full of opportunities for mistakes. Even if something gets burned it is not a disaster, merely a mistake to correct the next time.
Later in the summer talk to your child who wants a personal connection. Let her know that the overwhelming majority of teachers want to foster good relationships with their students. Especially for older students who will have several teachers, talk about being able to work with different personalities. Also, discuss how different people make connections in different ways. While expecting the year to start off well, discuss options for not letting a personality conflict get in the way of achievement if she feels a teacher does not like her or want a personal connection with her.
To explore how your child is motivated and investigate options for supporting motivation try out our Motivation Panning Tool at http://blogtopractice.weebly.com/motivation-planning-tool.html.