It seems like everyone remembers school as such a boring, needed experience. It’s where children spend most of the weekdays, trying to learn lots of different subjects so that they can be better prepared for the world. They go to school on their own, learning at the pace set by the school, but often children lose the want to actually learn whatever is being taught to them in the classroom. When children no longer want to learn, it becomes a big stress to do homework, activities, and generally get good grades. Here are a bunch of tips to help bring back the want to learn.
1. Do homework with your child
Many, many children get homework from school that need to be done each and every day. It may sound very simple, but sitting down with your child to actually do the homework will encourage them to work through their work with someone there. Having a second person, an adult to help them through their challenging work, can take the edge off of what they are doing. Instead of struggling on a problem alone, they have someone to turn to, which can often be enough to take the frustration out of homework and make it more enjoyable for the child.
2. Find educational versions of things they enjoy
If you have a child who doesn’t enjoy reading but instead enjoys playing video games, you can often find story books that have to do with those video games. You can sometimes find Maths games that contain the same characters or reading games of the same style, it just takes a bit of research. Giving children these alternatives, that are a sidestep from the things they already enjoy, can really help them learn without realising that they are learning. If your child is big into Minecraft, getting them Minecraft story books or allowing them to play the choose your own Minecraft Adventure movie on Netflix can encourage reading while also giving them a reason to want to read. Various educational boxes also can be fun to do with children who otherwise wouldn’t engage with science, for example! There are a lot of resources out there.
3. Praise your child for completed homework and good grades
If your child hates doing work and learning, often getting the projects done can be really rough on everyone involved. Making sure to take the time to celebrate the completion of projects or good grades on assignments can make your child feel proud and want to do better. They’ll start to feel special, especially after taking a chunk of their time out to do some hard work, because they have accomplished it. It’s very easy to tell your child you are proud of them or to make a big deal out of good grades, a habit of it just needs to be made so that each time they are praised.
4. Break homework and projects into smaller sessions
If your child really struggles with sitting down for an hour at a time, to do a task they don’t want to do, the task should be split into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Instead of trying to ‘just get it done’ having them do as much as they can before they get frustrated, before allowing a break, ends up making the task a more pleasant experience. These little breaks might seem like a waste of time and will drag out the time it takes to do homework, but having that break can really make a lot of the experience so much better.
5. Get professionals to help
When all else fails, it’s time to call in some professional help. You can get support from Tavistock Tutors, a tutoring company that specialises in creating a custom way of learning for your child, with the goal to make learning fun for them. There is a point when children just need a professionals help to get back into learning and sometimes having an outside influence, that’s not just someone they live with or someone they go to school with, can really help them. Professionals can also listen to your concerns and work on them specifically, giving you guidance in places that you otherwise might find yourself lost.
Finding the joy in learning is sometimes a really hard task, especially as school work does feel just like that; work. You might want to explore what motivates your child to want to learn, so that you can get to the bottom of what their drive is. Hopefully these tips can help you help your child love to learn.