Motivation is one of the most important weapons to achieve personal success. Therefore, it is essential to motivate our children to perform better in school from an early age. Here are 5 ways to motivate the little ones.

That child is motivated is essential for them to do their best in school and enjoy the learning process. As parents, creating an environment to educate them in effort and dedication is very important, since a motivated child will try harder, have a positive attitude to invent or to learn, and will face and address problems in different ways. Therefore, parents have to direct efforts to motivate their children.

1. Have the right expectations

Children are very aware of how parents perceive them and, many times, adjust their expectations according to what parents think. Therefore, if you expect your child to succeed, it is very possible that his motivation and chances of success are much higher. If your expectations are low, it is very likely that you will not get the expected results.

It is important to set the appropriate expectations and according to each child. To do this, follow these two steps:

Talk to your child: talk openly with your child about the fields of study he likes most and in which he excels the most. Offer your opinion on what you have also observed. In general, if you both agree on an area, it is possible that the highest expectations are set in it.

Reassess when necessary: as your child grows, interests and abilities will change, so it is important to adjust expectations every so often.

2. Help your child set goals

It is important to teach your child to set their own goals, which will help him be more motivated and achieve his goals.

Write down the goals: reaching the goals will be easier and more motivating if they are written on paper. It can be very useful to place these notes in a visible place in the house so that your child remembers them every day.

The goals must be specific: for example, rather than setting the goal 'next semester will be better for you in math', it will be much more effective if you specify more: 'you will review math problems 20 minutes every day'.

The goals should be measurable: the goals have to be quantifiable to assess whether progress is being made in their fulfillment.

3. Find ways to show your child that school is important

If we show our children our own interest and enthusiasm for education, they will adopt the same attitude. There are several ways to encourage this interest:

Establish a relationship with your child's teacher: share with the teacher the expectations you expect for your child and ask for his opinion about it.

Support your child's school programs: attending events organized by the school, plays, etc., serves to demonstrate to your child the importance you attach to the school and its activities.

Create a proper environment to do homework: make sure your child has a quiet and well-lit place at home to do homework and study. Lend help and collaboration with homework, but never do them in their place.

Know your child's homework: what you are studying in each subject, the work, and exams you should do, etc.

4. Use language that encourages you

Encouraging children motivates much more than praising them. The difference between these two forms of motivation is that encouraging implies that the child evaluates himself in a positive way; with words of encouragement, we recognize your effort.

Praise refers more specifically to triumphs and is often used when children have acted as expected, while encouragement can be offered independent of the child's performance and results, it is more about encouraging the next time to be done best.

5. Learning at home and in the community

Your children should perceive learning as a fun activity and not only as of the obligatory and heavy task of sitting behind a desk. Motivated students see learning anywhere and understand that there are some fun activities that also bring knowledge.

There are several ideas to promote this vision in your child: when you read a classic of children's literature, you can go to see the film version, you can study the different cultures that do not go regularly (if you like football, take him to ballet, for example) or visit museums on topics he is studying.