No matter if your children are keen learners or more reluctant it can be a challenge to keep them motivated when they receive remote teaching.

If you can manage to can tap into what motivates them, you can almost lean back and watch them fly. It might take some experimentation to figure out what motivates your kids the best. It’s important to keep in mind that your goal is to support them to success with their own goals and aspirations.

Getting started

Check in

The main thing to remember that what would motivate your children last year might not motivate them this year. Your child may snif at the gold stars that they loved last year, or the child who was slow to do the homework might suddenly speed through it to quickly to get to do other stuff. It is important not to make any assumptions about works. Instead ask questions.  Never make any assumptions on what should work. Ask questions instead. Keep an eye on how they do, talk with them about how they feel, ask what they dream about doing and think about how you can help them to get there.

Lead by example

Your own energy will also go up and down, but even at the days where your energy runs low it is important that you stay positive and that you are stable in your approach. In case you feel your child is flagging, try to find role models. It can be from movies, books or real life that they can relate to and that can inspire them

Build their work ethic

Most children want their school work to be over with, but it is important that learning no longer is something you can get over with, but is a lifelong project. When you discuss schoolwork with your children it is important emphasis how they are building skills and how satisfying it is to see things through, and how confidence building it is to accomplish a goal. It is surprising how children can push themselves when working on something that is important to them as succeed in a game or mastering dance choreography. Use the enthusiasm and try to transfer it other areas.

Praise effort

Even if everything is not correct still remember to give them credit for the effort. Like they might have got the problem wrong but still have asked the right questions or in case they have breezed through one day’s reading the previous day’s might have been tough.  Therefore now is the time to find situations where your children makes an effort and use it to encourage them to keep carrying on and thus keeping the momentum.

Proven motivational strategies for just about every kind of Child

Establish structure and routine

Stability is very important for kids so by working after a schedule you can get the children to keep plugging away. Structure also helps to keep their instincts from goine rogue. Clear expectations that are communicated well will make them easier to meet by the children. There’s a lot of digital tools that can help you to create structure like to-do lists and site blockers or screen-limit settings that can help the children to stay focused.

Maintain accountability.

Even when you can’t motivate your children yourself, their best might be able to. Arrange daily check-ins with a friend. It can be by text or on social media. By getting your children to be accountable they learn that they are not alone, and you give them a very good reason to work hard.

Incentivize.

An effective way to motivate children is to offer them some kind of reward, but keep in mind that it is important to make them feel like they have earned the reward or you will end up in a vicious cycle. E.g. let them choose a board game if they have finished one packet and make brownies if they have finished two packets.

Make it special

Mark the occasion

It might not be Friday pizza parties or dances. Luckily there’s many other possibilities like game nights, movie nights, zoom parties, a family celebration. Only your imagination is the limit.

Let them see progress

Some children are very visual, so try to make their progress visual. It can be a calendar or some other visualization tools where they can see how much they have managed to do, and much there left to finish.

Do a related activity.

One of the pros of remote learning is that you have the option to dive deep into subjects the children love or find interesting. Try to create a natural connection to what they find interesting to what it is they are going to learn. Like if they are supposed to learn about the solar system, download an astronomy app let them stay up late and map the night sky.

Mix it up

Be willing to experiment

Try to open and aware that if the way you had imagined from the beginning is not working there might be other ways to the end result. If your child is struggling with reading, try with an audiobook instead or do a read-aloud together. When math is “booring” try to change the scenery by going outside and solve the problem with sidewalk chalk, or just try to use a whiteboard instead. This can do wonders to your children motivation

Break up the day

If it is possible for you, try to break up the day in smaller bites. E,g, let them start easy in the morning and do the more demanding tasks after lunch. Be sure to agree beforehand on the rules: “You can have the morning up, but you will have to do your homework before you can play with your friends later.”

Change the timing

Almost always is the teaching done from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. as a reminiscent from the old industrial society. If your children have online classes they will naturally need to attend those classes. But when it comes to working through assignments it is possible to test different times of the day for doing it. It might be so that just the change in time is enough to make a difference.

Trouble-shooting

Appeal to a favorite teacher

If the child has a favorite teacher, it can be very helpful if the teacher will record a small encouranging video message, a text or an email. Most children won’t like to let somebody down who trust them.

Rule out other issues

Lack of motivation can in some cases be caused by some other type of problem. It can therefore be an idea to make sure that there’s no other issues that fills the children so much that they lose their motivation for learning.

Adjust expectations

As a parent it is easy to expect a lot of one’s children, but it can be counter productive. Your kid may not take to the new learning environment. Insist on the bare minimum (completion of all assignments), and set up natural consequences for noncompliance (maybe they miss out on an online playdate). Empathize with your kid’s feelings and move on. Allow yourself a moment to gather your strength and recharge. Celebrate the little victories, and start tomorrow with fresh eyes.