Are you concerned about your child’s lack of motivation in math? Studies show that motivation is a vital component to math success. Learn six ways to cultivate self-motivation in your child. Although this article specifically talks about math, these tips will work in other areas of life too.
Emphasize intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation is the desire to do an activity for pleasure, satisfaction, or fun. Extrinsic motivation may inspire a child to do math homework for a reward, like candy, money, or praise. Intrinsic motivation has a longer lasting effect on behavior than extrinsic motivation.
You can tell what your children are intrinsically motivated to do by noting what they do in their free time. If you have to battle and coerce your child to engage in math activities, they are not yet intrinsically motivated in it. Intrinsic motivation changes depending on many factors, including the culture, confidence, fun, and support structures. If you are not sure how self-motivated your child is in math read “Where Is Your Child on the Math Motivation Ladder?”
Extrinsic motivators have their place in getting kids to do desired actions, like study for a math test. However, use them sparingly and try to wean them into doing the desired behaviors without the extrinsic reward.
Do Fun Activities
Curiosity and self-motivation often fuel each other. Curious children will be motivated to learn about a subject and motivated children will be more curious. You can use activities they already enjoy in their free time to ignite curiosity about math. Read some of our Mathnasium of Cottage Grove articles about fun ways to engage with math with your child.
Use Competition Carefully
Collaborating on a team and participating in friendly competitions can be healthy and motivating. Just be careful to avoid making comparisons between children. Instead, challenge children to compete with their own personal best scores. If the highest math score they ever got was a 75%, challenge them to get an 80% on the next test.
Give them the Support to Learn Persistence
Albert Einstein said, “It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.” Motivated children will work harder and longer on a math problem. Adequate support nurtures persistence or “grit” because they when they get frustrated they have a way to get help and keep moving forward.
Once a child develops grit, they can apply it to other arenas, like the workplace, sports, and other classes. At Mathnasium of Cottage Grove, we cultivate persistence as a habit. Persistent kids do some amazing things. 3 Amazing Kids Using Math and Science to Make an Impact
Help them See the Big Picture
Explain that math is necessary in order to reach their goals. Most kids do not see how learning to use the binomial distribution formula will benefit them. You may not remember ever using it yourself. The truth is that a strong grasp on math will improve their ability to make (and keep) money.
Plan for Success
If your child struggles in math at school, help them set reasonable goals. Achieving goals helps children feel competent, in control, and successful. All of those feelings build motivation. Choose goals based on your child’s developmental timeline. If you need help choosing goals, call us or read the article:
Once you have some goals, make a plan to support succeeding in it. A goal without a plan is just a wish and wishes don’t build confidence or increase motivation.
Mathnasium of Cottage Grove is a math only learning center, but we want to see kids succeed across domains. Our method builds confidence in learning math. You will be surprised at how that confidence in the ability to learn math transfers to reading, and even sports. If your child feels stuck in a math rut, bring them in to our center to get the support they need to build intrinsic motivation.
You may also like this article:
3 Amazing Kids Using Math and Science to Make an Impact
This article is copyright protected. Mathnasium of Cottage Grove has permission to use it. Other Mathnasium locations must purchase it at https://hdwrite.com before using it.
(651) 560-5477
(651) 329-8574
