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  *How to motivate child to do homework” is on almost every parent’s mind right now. Getting kids to do homework doesn’t have to be painful. In fact, it can be outright fun! In this article, I will share the secret on motivating your child to not only do homework but also love homework. Yes, you read it right. It is possible to love doing school work. No yelling, screaming, threatening or crying required.

Why Do Kids Hate Homework Let’s start with kindergarteners. For many children, kindergarten is their first formal experience in school. Kindergarten has changed a lot over the last decade.

Once a place for socialization and play, kindergartens now emphasize the importance of learning to read, to count, to sit still and to listen to the teachers. Going from playing all day at home to behaving or sitting still in a structured environment for hours at a time is a tough transition.To add to that, many kindergartens also assign homework to these little children, further reducing their available play time. It’s no wonder that some kindergarteners are not motivated to do homework.

Homework Motivation Remember when your child was still a toddler, he/she would get into anything and everything?They were curious and they were eager to learn about everything around them.They were passionate learners.

Children naturally love learning, if we provide the right environment and motivate them appropriately.

Here’s the problem…When you hear the word “motivate”, what do you think of?If you’re thinking about toys, money, iPad time, points, stickers, etc., you’re not alone. Rewards (and sometimes punishments) are many parents’ go-to motivators.Parents love them because they work almost instantly. You present the prize and the child complies to get it. Problem solved.Simple and effective.But very soon, you will notice some unintended results.

Here is an example.

A TEACHER was approached by a couple who told him about a system of rewards they had set up for their son, which had produced much improved behavior  THEY SAID “He sits up straight and eats his DINNER and he is really very well behaved,” they reported. Until, that is, the first time the family dined at a nice restaurant. The child looked around, picked up a crystal glass from the table and asked, “How many points not to drop this?” A fine example, of the detrimental effects of over-reliance on rewards to shape children’s behavior.

This example is far from rare.In fact, it is very common when a child is motivated purely by an external reward. Once the reward is removed, the child will no longer be interested in continuing the behavior.What’s the right way to motivate our children? The answer is intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for its pure enjoyment. This enjoyment comes from within an individual and is a psychological satisfaction derived from performing the task, not from an extrinsic outcome. In other words, to get your kid to do homework, first help them enjoy doing it.

It is not as crazy as it sounds. It’s unfortunate that homework is called “work”. We like to separate work from play.So naturally, we feel that homework is drudgery. But it doesn’t have to be.

Homework is a tool for children to learn and get familiar with the knowledge taught in class.To enjoy homework, the child just has

How To Motivate a Child To Do Homework to enjoy learning.

To motivate kids, we first have to change our mindset, from a working mindset to a learning mindset.

The goal of going to school is not about getting into college, finding a good job, earning a stable income, etc.Of course, all of those are wonderful, but that’s a working mindset – you’re doing all that work for reasons other than enjoying the learning itself.

Going to school should be about learning, acquiring knowledge, exploring new subjects and growing as a person.

MAKE CHILD ENJOY DOING HOMEWORK

Have a special place for your child to study. The homework area doesn’t have to be fancy. A desk in the bedroom is nice, but for many children, the kitchen table or a corner of the living room works just fine. The area should have good lighting and it should be fairly quiet. Provide supplies and identify resources. For starters, have available pencils, pens, erasers, writing paper and a dictionary.

Other supplies that might be helpful include a stapler, paper clips, maps, a calculator, a pencil sharpener, tape, glue, paste, scissors, a ruler, a calculator, index cards, a thesaurus and an almanac. If possible, keep these items together in one place.

Set a regular time for homework. Having a regular time to do homework helps children to finish assignments. Of course, a good schedule depends in part on your child’s age, as well as her specific needs. You’ll need to work with a young child to develop a schedule. You should give your older child the responsibility for making up a schedule independently—although you’ll want to make sure that it’s a workable one.

You may find it helpful to have her write out her schedule and put it in a place where you’ll see it often, such as on the refrigerator. ß Remove distractions. Turn off the TV and discourage your child from making and receiving social telephone calls during homework time. (A call to a classmate about an assignment, however, may be helpful.)

 If you live in a small or noisy household, try having all family members take part in a quiet activity during homework time. You may need to take a noisy toddler outside or into another room to play. If distractions can’t be avoided, your child may want to complete assignments in the local library. ß Don’t expect or demand perfection. When your child asks you to look at what she’s done—from skating a figure 8 to finishing a math assignment—show interest and praise her when she’s done something well.

If you have criticisms or suggestions, make them in a helpful way. One final note: You may be reluctant to help your child with homework because you feel that you don’t know the subject well enough or because you don’t speak or read English as well as your child. But helping with homework doesn’t mean doing the homework. It isn’t about solving the problems for your child, it’s about supporting him to do his best.