Foster intrinsic motivation in your child by celebrating effort, learning from mistakes, and setting goals together. Encourage persistence and curiosity to help them develop a love for learning and growth.
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” - Maria Montessori
Key Concepts:
- Intrinsic motivation: doing something for the pleasure of doing it, for the reward of just doing your best, satisfying your curiosity, and meeting your goals.
- This type of motivation (versus extrinsic, which is done for the sake of reward/praise) is associated with greater achievement in children because of their pleasure for learning and ability to persist.
- Cognitive hardiness (a close relative of intrinsic motivation and growth mindset): a child’s ability to persevere, to try again, and to acknowledge that bad days and/or mistakes are part of the learning process.
What to Try:
- Dig into mistakes with curiosity. Use mistakes as an opportunity to learn, reset, and try again! “Did your tower fall down? Let’s work through this together and re-build.” Praise effort and hard work. “I see you working so hard to get that piece to fit!”
- Carefully consider how and when to use tokens as an incentive for behavior. These should be small, and only for a behavior that your child needs to practice, like brushing their teeth or making their bed.
- Involve your child in setting their own goals. If your child shows interest in learning to scooter, help them set a goal. “It’s so cool how interested you are in scootering. Should we set a goal? You can practice a bit each day to get closer to your goal.”
- Assist your child in evaluating their own success. “Do you remember over the summer you couldn’t put your shirt on by yourself? Look! Now you are doing it independently!”