In this post, we will look at ideas for raising kids motivation and encouraging children’s learning.
Words of encouragement for kids motivation comes from being acknowledged.
Words of encouragement to raise kids motivation
In this post, we will share some nice sayings and positive words on how to encourage children. They will help them feel inspired and motivated.
Praise is needed and appreciated by most. It makes us grow and become more confident. Providing children with praise is essential to their development and should not be dependent on their achievement, but rather in relation to the effort they put in and the obstacles they manage to tackle in the process. Receiving praise for a job well done is something we all thrive on. Only receiving praise when you achieve might, however, be very discouraging as children are not always all good at the same things. Trying, even though you might find something difficult, is what we should instil in our children.
I have found the power of praise when working with children to be phenomenal.
They are no different to you or I. Acknowledgement of our achievements and efforts are important to us. It makes us feel good about ourselves. Praise/ acknowledgement inspires us to try again. Praise motivates us to try and better ourselves. We start to give up when our efforts are never acknowledged and might wonder, what is the point?
Kids motivation
Everyone learns at different paces.
Parents and teachers need to remember that for some people a tiny step forward is huge progress and we need to acknowledge it. We need to instil in children that it is ok to praise themselves and not to be reliant on outside praise. Teach them to set goals for themselves and be proud of reaching these. So many of the children I work with are the lower achieving children who rarely get 10 out 10 in their weekly spelling/ times tables tests. They’re not the ones whose handwriting stands out as “calligraphy”. These are the children who don’t get the certificates/ stickers/ rewards for producing a beautiful piece of work. Their peers seem to be given these instead.
Children are told that they haven’t earned their pen license yet and this exacerbates their lack of confidence in their abilities, adding to their list of failures.
Life becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.
The small steps should be recognised by parents, teachers and tutors. Offer praise and rewards for effort as well as results.
If last week they only managed to get one thing right but this week they managed two things or remembered something that they had learned last week praise this.
Show genuine enthusiasm for what they have done. Offer a genuine smile and praise that effort and help them realise their success. Here are some words of encouragement for kids you can use to offer praise:
- Fantastic
- Brilliant
- Well done
- Good job (a young 5-year-old autistic lad I work with says this to me a lot and it always makes me smile).
- I am proud of you
- I believe in you
Raising kids motivation
The more you offer a child genuine praise for hard work and dedication, the more their confidence will grow.
Children who are confident in themselves are happier to try new things and in the process be exposed to more things they might be able to do well. Therefore, as their confidence grows, the more practice they will get and subsequently, the better they will get at it. This will also assist in creating a growth mindset (the understanding the abilities and intelligence can be developed). Suddenly the self-fulfilling prophecy is spiralling towards positivity and the child’s own success.
I am also a big believer in incorporating games into learning as we can again use these to measure a child’s success and offer the required praise. Children also enjoy games and are more susceptible to learning new things when they enjoy what they are doing. Games are vital in keeping some children engaged and can open a world new world of learning while having fun.
When a child is low in confidence, participation is far more of an effort.
Why do we want to do something that we are likely to fail at?
Enthusiasm to participate is much more likely to shine through if it is concealed in a game. If a child has low self-esteem and confidence, I believe it is often a good idea to teach them the skills necessary and providing them with some extra support in the game so that the child wins (I know a lot of people will disagree with this viewpoint). By allowing the child to win, you can offer them the much-needed praise which will help grow their confidence.
The feeling of beating your educator is also one which will boost their confidence greatly.
I have seen children from 5 to 16 flourish after a couple of weeks of well-deserved praise. Starting from a place where they will succeed and grow from there. Moving at a pace that is suitable to their speed of learning.
How much does the child you’re working with need to gain confidence as well as knowledge? Think about how celebrating the small steps with a word of praise could completely change their abilities and attitude to the work you are doing with them.
Final note:
Praise should not be limited to achievement, but rather freely given. Teaching children that their efforts make a difference in their results not only helps facilitate intrinsic motivation but helps create a growth mindset. This ultimately can be carried over to all areas of their lives. The knowledge that hard work is worth it.
If you’re reading this as a parent wondering what you can do: I strongly believe the most important thing you can do as a parent is to tell your child you love them and that no matter what the final result is, as long as they tried their hardest, you will always be proud of them.
| Written by Dawn Strachan founder of Starr Tutoring and the Starr Tutoring Association. Dawn’s tutoring style and the business she has grown has largely been influenced by her background. Working with both dyslexic and autistic children has made her realise that learning needs to be a positive, creative and varied experience. Everyone learns differently and that needs to be embraced. No matter how we learn though, we all respond well to praise. To find out more visit: Starr Tutoring |
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Raising kids motivation
