How to Motivate a Child to Study - 5 Techniques That Work!

Parents send their children to school in high hopes of getting them good education. Families and governments all over the world spend a great portion of their budget on providing for the education of children. The trouble with children nowadays is that they tend to quickly lose interest in things that do not appear fun and are too tedious for them. As most experts would say, attention span is a major factor in helping children remember and learn. And motivation is a crucial element in maintaining children's drive in studying.

How to motivate a child to study: 5 Techniques that work

1. Share Stories and Songs - Stories whether read to children or read independently build their vocabulary and widen their exposure to language. Young children who are not yet able to read by themselves benefit from stories by learning high frequency words and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words which will later be useful in helping children to spell. Making use of songs also enhances children's vocabulary, listening skills and appreciation for music. Children who are auditory learners remember their words better and are able to sound out faster through the help of music. Sharing stories and songs motivate children to study because these ways enhance memory retention without the pressure because they all seem like fun.

2. Incorporate a variety of media - Studying doesn't have to be through books and pen and paper activities. Nowadays, there are plenty of educational games on the internet as well as iPad and other mobile applications. Websites on teacher and parent resources are also available for printables, videos and more Even the television has kiddie shows that help children learn. Disney Junior's Word World for instance, is a great program that is geared towards helping children to spell. How to motivate children to study by incorporating a variety of media means making use of what is available at the home-newspapers, magazines, radio and music, television and the internet. Just an important note though, young children should always be exposed to these in moderation and with a certain time limit.

3. Let them play - Despite the many studies on play as a way of helping children learn, there are still some apprehensions on how this actually works. Well, here is one concrete example on how play is a way of helping kids learn to write. Writing is a fine motor skill and it really takes a while to develop because it goes through stages. Experts would suggest exposing children to a wide array of activities making use of their hands and fingers-- which are mostly play ideas like making use of clay, playing with sand, threading and beading, puzzles, etc.

4. A little praise goes a long way - This is pretty simple, give a small praise or reward when your child learns something new. Young children are fond of getting praises because they are at a stage in their lives wherein recognition of their efforts are such big deals to them. For young children being praised means they are liked and they are good. Thus, the likehood of a repeat in your desired behaviour or skill is much higher with praise.

5. Show enthusiasm as a learner yourself - Children look up to their parents and the adults around them. So if you or their other family members are enthusiastic about learning new things (not necessarily about school), your children will tend to have a positive outlook on learning and studying too.

How to motivate a child to study is not really a herculean task but it takes effort, patience and consistency. Once children find that studying isn't really a drag and they get to enjoy it, the benefits are boundless and you can count on these children to always have the thirst for knowledge.

Joshua See is a work-at-home dad who likes to be with his children and work on his business at the same time. Check out Joshua See blog for more information on parenting

Joshua See is also a successful Entrepreneur, Top Internet Marketer and Global Team Mentor who trains others to achieve Financial Freedom and Independence by creating wealth and prosperity online. For more information on the Top Internet Marketing Tactics for building a successful business, please visit Proven Home Business Opportunities, fill in the form and request your free "Special Report"!

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P-A-R-E-N-T-Ing: Perceive

As we take on our "Parent Challenge" to focus on strengthening the bonds of our family, we will begin the P-A-R-E-N-T-ing series with "Perceive". Webster's defines "perceive" as: to become aware of, know, or identify by means of the senses, to recognize, discern, or understand.

The purpose of perception is to understand. I often tell my kids they are not really listening to me until they are listening with a purpose of understanding what is said. This is true for all of us. In order to become aware of, recognize, or discern with any understanding we must exert a cognitive effort. This requirement sometimes presents a challenge to most of us right?

James A Baldwin stated, "Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." There is a powerful video on YouTube called Children See, Children Do I recommend every parent watch it.

It is important that as parents we know and practice good listening skills. This is especially important because parents are kids' number one role model. Kids imitate everything we do and say. If parents are to teach children good listening skills which result in understanding, parents must practice good listening skills. As a precursor to listening to your kids it is necessary to first perceive, be aware of changes, and recognize when something is going on in their lives. In today's world life move's so fast parents sometimes become taken over with daily pressures and forget to live in the present moments. Therefore failing to recognize those moments when kids really need mom and dad to "perceive".

Then there are those times when mom and dad are aware of something going on but are just too tired to "deal" with it. I've been there. I used to work as a Store Director for the highest volume convenience store in our area. I worked between 70 to 100 or more hours a week. During those two and half years I did not see my twins very much. We stopped eating dinner together and spending any quality time together. I had no idea what was going on in their lives let alone what was on their hearts' or the challenges they faced. Unfortunately this was during one of the most crucial times in their lives, the start of high school!

Both of my girls were going through difficult transitions and the pace of high school was too much for them to absorb. One of my girls was bullied on a regular basis and her sister was overwhelmed so much by the curriculum she began to shut down. Before high school and before my enslavement as a convenience store director I was home every evening with my girls and took the time to know what was going on with them. As well as teach and encourage them on a daily basis which gave them the confidence to overcome their challenges, however this changed.

Most nights upon coming home I had about 30 minutes before I would need to be in bed in order to get enough sleep to be up by 3:30 a.m. I would come home and the house was trashed! The girls had let their friends in the house while I was working and stuff would come up missing. There were dirty dishes all over the kitchen, the trash was overflowing, the dog had not been fed or let out, their shoes and dirty socks were laying all over the living room as well as empty cups and dirty dishes. Their rooms were a disaster as well, while they both lazily sat on the couch on watched television.

I would be so outraged because they knew better. We didn't live like this nor did they break mom's rules. We always did our chores every night after supper! I would lash out at them(which by the way didn't do any good) and I could tell by the backlash(which was completely out of character) of my girls that something was going on in their lives, but I was just too tired to take the time to be a parent! Because of this, things only got worse and the backlashing turned into outright rebellion, dangerous and costly rebellion! I

If you find yourself in these circumstances, driving in the fast lane, not living in the present, life passing you by or you are just too tired to be mom or dad.....make some changes fast! Your kids need you and you only get one chance! They need you at home every night to love, support, teach, and encourage them. They need you to perceive when something is going on in their life and take the time to understand how they are affected by it. Then you can do what you do best! P-a-r-e-n-t!

Jennifer C Vogel, CEO of Freedom Leaders Marketing Group, invites you to sign up for a free parenting webinar workshop by visiting our website at http://www.freedomleadersinc.net/. You will also receive free parenting reports as well as free resources to help make your job as a parent easier. Sign up today at http://www.freedomleadersinc.net/.

Copyright © 2011 Freedom Leaders Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Parents' Play-By-Play Promotes Language Growth

When I am out and about, I like to watch parents interacting with their children. As a speech-language pathologist, I am interested in observing how parents make use of life's constant opportunities to nurture their children's language-learning.

This article is the first in a series about missed opportunities for parents to be good language mentors. I will identify what the situation was, what the parent opted to do with the occasion, and what I would suggest as a language-rich option.

While waiting through one of those "must-do," every-other-year required emissions check-ups for my car, I stood at the observation window watching the technicians using a variety of pieces of equipment, wondering what each one did. I was fascinated by the rollers that the car's tires whirled on, the car staying in place and just slipping a bit side to side.

About halfway through my experience, a young boy came bolting through the door to the observation room, head eagerly tilted up, with an expression on his face that broadcast, "Ooh, I'm in a new, interesting place!" His father was right behind him.

My first thoughts were, Great-this dad will surely show his boy what is going in with their car.

I was disappointed to see that this young dad had his boy sit on the adult chair next to his chair. This very compliant three or four-year-old sat on the chair without protest, craning his neck unsuccessfully, trying to see over the sill of the observation window. The father did not notice his son's interest in seeing what was going on, since he opted to do some browsing on his cell phone.

Within a few minutes, the dad picked up his son. I thought, Good! Now he is going to take him over to the window. But, sadly, no. He did hold him and give him about 8 rapid kisses, which showed me that he loved his boy, but, to me, the kisses did not make up for his silence during what could have been an enjoyable and productive shared verbal interaction.

We know from research that children who hear about 25,000 words per day acquire much richer language skills than children who hear far fewer quantities of words spoken to them. And, children with stronger language abilities show higher intelligence than those who do not. Guess which children do better in school.

In my view, this 15-minute encounter could have supported at least a 1,000 word investment in this child's language development. What follows is an example of what a parent who is "tuned into" what a child needs might have said. I will provide examples of what the father could have initiated, so this will sound like a monologue. Of course, in a real situation, the parent should listen to and respond to anything the child says, to further shape the verbal input to the child's interests.

Wow, son--this room has big windows. We get to see what the people do to our car! We can observe what the technicians are doing with their equipment. That man is in the driver's seat. He is making the car engine go fast. Look! Our tires are spinning-they are going around and around really fast. But our car isn't moving! Hmmm--I wonder why not? Oh! Look at those big rollers under the tires! That's why our car isn't going anywhere. But our car is slipping side-to-side. Interesting! There's an orange cord going through the open window. I wonder what it is plugged into. Oh, and there's a big funnel. It's checking if our car has clean-enough exhaust. We don't want our car to put dirty air into the air in our world. We want to breathe clean air.

And so on! Giving a running commentary of a situation is easy. It's just like the sports play-by-plays sports announcers make.

If you use a "big" word, just precede it or follow it up with simpler words that "anchor" the meaning of the new word. You will find several examples of that technique in my example.

Even if you don't think of yourself as a talkative person, stretch yourself for your child's benefit. Think of this type of talking as just being a play-by-play on the game of life. Your child will be all the better for your efforts.

Mary Lou B. Johnson, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist with over 36 years experience working with children and their families at Children's Hospital Colorado. In her eBook, How To Help Your Child Learn to Talk Better in Everyday Activities, Mary Lou provides the information, insights, and ideas that she has shared with parents in her practice to enable parents to gain new ideas and more confidence in their abilities to help their children acquire strong speech-language skills. View the Table of Contents at http://helpyourchildspeak.com/.

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Techniques for the Prevention and Management of Tantrums to Ensure They Decrease in Frequency

Prevention

Technique 1

Loving and Affirming

We need to make it our aim to give praise, love and affirmation in our management of children. We need to aim to keep an atmosphere of happiness and relaxation in the family. We help to build self-confidence by allowing choices when practicable and by praising children frequently for good behaviour.

Technique 2

We Have Clear Expectations

We have a clear system of discipline and expectations in the home, at school and in public places. We try tot be flexible in our approach to discipline as the tantrum may be a reaction against inflexibility.

Technique 3

We look after our own Needs

We ensure we nurture ourselves regularly so that we feel happy and are less likely to react to the child's tantrum.

Technique 4

We monitor the cause of the tantrum.

* Is the tantrum because the child is tired?
* Is the child hungry?
* Is it an attempt to get what thy want such as an ice cream?
* Is it to get attention from the parent?
* Is the child getting frustrated because the task is too difficult?

Being aware of the cause can help divert the tantrum.

Technique 5

Be Aware of Behaviour Changes

We need to be aware of changes in the child's behaviour that might herald a tantrum about to erupt. This may be frowning, sighing and shows of slight irritation. Responding to these may help divert the tantrum.

Management Strategies

Strategy 1

Stay Calm

* Stay Calm Regardless of how annoying the behaviour. We need to aim to be calm and peaceful.
* In our heads count slowly from 1-10.

Strategy 2

Distract

* Distract the child by showing something interesting.
* We can use Humour to distract the child.

Strategy 3

Have a System to use in Public Places

* Use a countdown system saying slowly 1, 2, and 3.
* If the behaviour continues after 3, then pick up the child and remove from the situation. This might involve if in a public place, packing up, going home and returning later.

Strategy 4

Reward

Have a reward system, reward when children behave and don't throw a tantrum in situations in which they would have had in the past.

Strategy 5

Ignore

Whenever practical ignore the tantrum. This is helpful if the child's goal in throwing a tantrum is to get attention. This is easier to do at home but not so easy in public places.

Strategy 6

Avoid

We need to avoid or minimise critical situations.
1) When the child is overtired.
2) Stressed.
3) Hungry.

Some Don'ts

1) We never give in to the tantrum by giving the child the object which initiated the tantrum. Thus we ensure there is no pay off for the temper tantrum.
2) We never reward immediately the tantrum ends as this way they will team tantrums with rewards.
3) We don't argue to try or pacify the child as this only causes the behaviour to accelerate.

Managing Persisting or severe Tantrums

Seek help from a doctor or health professional if tantrums are severe and very disruptive to family life. Severe and persisting tantrums may indicate that the child may have a language, hearing or learning disability.

In conclusion temper tantrums while annoying, frustrating and sometimes embarrassing by using these prevention and management strategies, they should gradually vanish.

About the Author Marguerite Clancy

Marguerite's passion is to help children and adults reach their potential in a more peaceful and joyful world. She is committed to early intervention and prevention. This is evident in her books, services and workshops. She is the author of Inspiring Success, Book A and Book B. Inspiring Success available from User friendly Resources,Australian Office Telephone: 1800 553 890; Fax: 1800 553 891.

Her book "Joyful Parenting" now selling cheaply from her website: http://www.parentingwithzest.net/ and "Expert's Hot Tips for the Mnagement of ADHD" now available on Amazon ASIN:BOO4INHQ8Y. Follow her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/parentsupport.

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The 7 Reasons Your Family Is Stressed Out

We often hear people saying, "Gosh, life is more difficult than when we were kids." Yes, it is very different in terms of how global the world has become and how the world feels faster-paced. This pace is what has caused parents to feel so overwhelmed by their responsibilities.

From my experience of working with families all over the world I have found that there are seven clear reasons why families are stressed today. Do any of these match your life?

Confidence in setting limits and following through consistently. Parenting can often leave moms and dads wondering when and how to discipline their children. It's this uncertainty that makes many parents frustrated and stressed when their child challenges them.
Not living according to their top values. Parents know that one of their top values is family time, however when they look at their lives they see that other things are taking over their life. Parents often feel guilty about this and that causes them to stress and worry.
Not enjoying enough quality time with their family. Today, many parents are spending an enormous amount of time driving their children to lessons, practice or birthday parties. The phrase, "Come on, we have to go!" is common. The busyness in parent's lives has left them feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
They over-schedule themselves. When every night has something "going on" you know there's going to be stress because there is little time left to relax and refuel. Between dance lessons, soccer practice, tutoring sessions and guitar lessons parents and kids have a lot going on. The goal is to enrich our children's lives however the consequence is that the classes are overwhelming our lives.
Systems are not put in place. Many families have told me they feel like life is controlling them instead of the other way around. There are so many jobs to do around the house and rooms to keep tidy and things to get accomplished, that the list can be overwhelming and daunting. Life is controlling parents instead of parents putting systems in place so they feel a sense of control over their lives.
No routine is established. With the whirlwind lives that families are leading these days, having a consistent routine that ensures their children eat, sleep and play at regular times is often thrown out the window. Kids are sleeping in strollers or the car instead of their beds nowadays and this affects the quality of their sleep. The result? Whiny kids who often throw tantrums. The consequence? Frustrated and anxious parents.
Not enough "me" time. There is a martyr mentality out there right now, especially for women, where parents think that the more they do for their children the better parents they are. So, parents are doing, doing, doing, and forgetting to schedule in time for the things that refuel THEM, make THEM happy, and give THEM energy. Who can truly feel happy and fulfilled when they are always exhausted and experiencing nothing that feeds their soul?

Does this all seem a bit bleak? Well, the good news is that all of the items listed above are changeable! We have the power to change it - isn't that great?

There are happy families, huge families of 6 children or more who live slow lives and spend quality time with one another every day. It's doable! You don't have to have a lot of money, you don't have to live in the countryside, and you don't even need to have one parent stay at home! With a few tweaks here and there, family life can be incredible. Coming home can actually recharge your battery instead of depleting it.

What is the solution? Take an honest look at your family's life and see where the stressors are. Are you running around too much? Is every day different, with little or no routine? Are you constantly losing your keys and searching frantically for them in the morning? Are your kids throwing tantrums around specific times of the day?

After you've taken a microscopic look at the way things are now for you and your family, decide which area to address first. What system or routine could you implement that would alleviate your current problem? What could you truly give up? Which lessons could you cancel? What activity do you love doing that you haven't done in years, but would love to start again?

Start with one item and feel the dramatic change, then next month work on a new area. You and your family will feel happier, lighter, and more connected with some of the stress gone. It's truly about making a choice to live a calmer life. Think about what is TRULY important to you then design your life around it; just because the outside world might be running at a frenzied pace doesn't mean you and your family have to.

Erin Kurt, B.Ed, spent 16 years as a teacher and nanny around the world. Now, she applies her expertise as a parenting expert and author of Juggling Family Life and The Life Balance Formula.

You can learn more about Erin and her simple, loving parenting method, and subscribe to her weekly parenting tips e-zine at erinparenting.com. You'll also receive Erin's free video series "8 Secrets to Stress-Free Parenting", packed with parenting tips!

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