without seeing the dawn
What Fires Motivation?
Babies are born with an inherent drive to learn. Your challenge as the parent of a child with learning or attention problems is to help him build what Drs. Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein (Raising Resilient Children: Fostering Strength, Hope, and Optimism in Your Child) call "islands of competence," to offset the frustrations and low self-esteem that can result from his learning struggles. The goal is to find subjects or activities where he is self-motivated to learn, enjoys the process of learning, and sees the value of what he learns.
Deborah Stipek, Ph.D, Dean of the Stanford University School of Education, is an expert in the subject of motivation in young children. She's also a mother, so her latest book, Motivated Minds/Raising Children to Love Learning, is full of practical advice.
Dr. Stipek says kids will be self-motivated to learn when they:
Feel competent about something
Have some choice and control over their learning
Believe that intelligence isn't fixed at birth
Feel loved and respected by their parents
Help Your Child Discover His Passions
Help Your Child Discover His Passions
One way to build a sense of competence in your child is to encourage his passions. There's an academic payoff to building competence this way. Dr. Stipek says, "The good news may seem paradoxical: research has shown that the indirect strategy of helping your child enjoy learning and see its value is the best way to improve your child's grades and raise his test scores."
If your child has a particular strength in school, such as being a math whiz, find ways outside of school to expose him to math in the real world - computers, hands-on science museums, and math camps.
If he struggles with most school subjects, look elsewhere for his passions. Pay attention to whatever makes your child perk up. Is it animals? Plants? Music? Art? Dinosaurs? Video games? Skateboards?
To play on these passions, help your child deepen his knowledge. For example,
Babies are born with an inherent drive to learn. Your challenge as the parent of a child with learning or attention problems is to help him build what Drs. Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein (Raising Resilient Children: Fostering Strength, Hope, and Optimism in Your Child) call "islands of competence," to offset the frustrations and low self-esteem that can result from his learning struggles. The goal is to find subjects or activities where he is self-motivated to learn, enjoys the process of learning, and sees the value of what he learns.
Deborah Stipek, Ph.D, Dean of the Stanford University School of Education, is an expert in the subject of motivation in young children. She's also a mother, so her latest book, Motivated Minds/Raising Children to Love Learning, is full of practical advice.
Dr. Stipek says kids will be self-motivated to learn when they:
Feel competent about something
Have some choice and control over their learning
Believe that intelligence isn't fixed at birth
Feel loved and respected by their parents
Help Your Child Discover His Passions
Help Your Child Discover His Passions
One way to build a sense of competence in your child is to encourage his passions. There's an academic payoff to building competence this way. Dr. Stipek says, "The good news may seem paradoxical: research has shown that the indirect strategy of helping your child enjoy learning and see its value is the best way to improve your child's grades and raise his test scores."
If your child has a particular strength in school, such as being a math whiz, find ways outside of school to expose him to math in the real world - computers, hands-on science museums, and math camps.
If he struggles with most school subjects, look elsewhere for his passions. Pay attention to whatever makes your child perk up. Is it animals? Plants? Music? Art? Dinosaurs? Video games? Skateboards?
To play on these passions, help your child deepen his knowledge. For example,