We parents take different approaches to motivating our children, particularly with regards to schoolwork. Some of those approaches are stuff we got from experience, while the others we just came across in magazines and websites. But what if you had the chance to motivate your kids through techniques that arose out of actual scientific studies? Would you be applying them to your kid? Of course you should, because they actually make a lot of sense. An article by Eric barker for Time lists down some of the ways to motivate your kids (and other people) according to science.
Stop bribing children
It’s interesting how Barker lists down “Stop Bribing Them” as one of the best ways to motivate your child. We know that bribes—we call them rewards—actually work. Barker, however, says rewards do nothing more than just motivate people to get rewards, that once those rewards stop, they’d also stop doing their best. I’m not really sure if this really applies to our children, because so far, I’ve had a certain measure of success when it comes to rewarding my child for doing well in school, and I’m sure I haven’t really given out rewards on a consistent basis, but the kid does her schoolwork well just the same.
Make people feel something
One thing I totally agree with is the one about making people feel something. This actually applies to people from all walks of life. How can you excel at something when you don’t have the passion for it? Motivating people by emphasizing progress is also a great approach. As for the fourth tip about “forming a cult” with a story, I guess I’ve already been doing that, sharing with my child certain life experiences that I’m hoping will guide her as she grows up.
Click here to read the article.
