First Post!!!!

Finally, I decided to blog about my thoughts on motivating your child to learn.

My observations are mostly from my profession and from my two boys at home. They may not fully apply to your situation, but it should shed some light for you.

Since this is my first post, we shall talk about something very basic: motivation. Motivation can be broadly categorized into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that has been internalized. It is the higher form of motivation that comes from within. It is something that the child want to do because the child enjoys the task. This is the level that each parent wants to achieve.

Extrinsic motivation is the motivation that is external to the child. It is an outside factor acting on the child. Some examples are rewards, sweets and praise. Extrinsic motivation links these external factors to the task. This is the easy way out for most parents. Offer a reward to get a job done. Bribe the kids with sweets to control them.

At first look, intrinsic motivation is better than extrinsic motivation. On a very loose context, you are not wrong. However, the best way to motivate your child is to use both. Extrinsic motivation is very useful if your child has totally lost interest in the task. It is vital to start your child feeling a bit motivated first. Then, we can transit him into intrinsic motivation.

Some people may say that I am very lucky that Zenith (my eldest son) has an interest in learning and doing homework. But, they do not know that he followed a very intricate plan of motivation. His interest did not happen by chance.

As you can see, I am very much into this and hence the long blog post for the first post. Stay tuned as I share my observations!

the little motivator