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How To Motivate Your Child In a Pandemic

Caribbean Scholar TeamLast Edited: 2021-01-30
Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Think Education is Expensive? Try Ignorance”

Andy

You’ll have a hard time judging a student for not wanting to study in a crises.

Even more so, students are struggling to bounce back from what happened with CXC grades last year. Imagine the heartbreak of working so hard only to be undone by such an unfortunate situation.

Here is the good news – grades are temporary but skills and expertise are forever.

In order to inspire your child to study, you have to help them broaden their understanding and expectations about education.

What is Education?

Education is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and habits.

It is the gift that keeps giving. It is a personal journey of continuing self development and discovery.

There is no doubt that thoughtfully pursuing education can provide additional opportunities and a strong foundation for one to create oneself.

Furthermore, education applies to just about anything you do. It is possible to learn and improve on anything once there is passion involved.

Help your child to find what they are passionate about by exposing them to different possibilities. Afterwards, help them to set goals for their education around these things.

What Education is not.

It is not a reflection of self worth. This is especially true for grades. From a very young age children are tossed into an educational wrestling ring. On one hand, tests are important – and useful. However, you must help your child to separate their grades from their emotional well-being. One of the biggest pitfalls of educational systems in general, is that we put the majority of our students in a headspace to think that they are just not capable of learning. Ranking students from a young age is a big part of that.

It is not restricted to pen and paper. You can acquire and improve skills in any area of life. Help your child find their passion and plan accordingly.

It is not restricted to school. In the information age you no longer have to depend solely on school to expose and educate your child. There are so many opportunities for them to expand their knowledge and from a young age.

What Makes Learning Enjoyable?

Learning becomes enjoyable when you do it for yourself.

Education that is forced on you can feel like medicine going down your throat for a disease you don’t have.

Help your child to discover their ‘WHY’ in terms of pursuing an education. This is the first step in helping them to get a healthy relationship between learning and how learning makes them feel.

What Makes Learning Difficult?

Learning is difficult for way too many reasons.

The one that I see most often is a lack of confidence. Students internalize negative thoughts about their abilities from a young age, only to end up missing out on their full potential.

We can all help them by letting them know that learning is a skill in itself.

The type of effective learning that we are capable of, is something that needs to be taught, practiced and refined.

How Can My Child Become a Better Learner?

Becoming a better learner can start with the following:

  • Discovering your learning style
  • Finding healthy ways of working with your procrastination habits
  • Effective goal setting
  • Effective time management
  • Realizing what it means to be truly productivity means
  • Finding your productive environment