As a parent, have you ever wondered how you can positively influence your child’s mental well-being and motivation to learn? We understand that there are days when your child may not be open to your advice, let alone attending a tutoring session. On this Mental Health Day, we want to share five strategies to help your child find motivation to participate in online tutoring sessions, leading to a sense of focus and engagement in their school work and, ultimately, enhancing their mental well-being.
How can you help your child find motivation? What exactly is learning motivation?
Before we get into the tips, it’s essential to understand how motivation shapes both learning and mental health. Children start to build the foundations of their brain systems from an early age. When they experience joy or satisfaction from an activity, their brain releases serotonin, reinforcing that behavior and encouraging them to repeat it. This creates mental pathways that link certain behaviors to positive experiences. This process is central to developing internal motivation, the most sustainable drive for long-term learning and emotional well-being.
Although a child’s motivation is ideally rooted in internal factors, parents play a fundamental role in guiding and shaping this internal drive. While external rewards or pressure may create short-term results, lasting motivation comes from a child’s understanding and connection to their own experiences. Parents can support this by creating environments that foster curiosity and providing positive feedback that encourages self-reflection. By doing so, parents help their children recognize which behaviors are worth repeating, nurturing a motivation system that is both self-driven and resilient.
5 strategies to Find Motivation
Now that we have a better picture of how motivation works, here are five tips that can help you, as a parent, support your child find learning motivation in their online tutoring sessions:
1. Implement free time into your child’s schedule.
Children need to have some free time between school and after-school online tutoring sessions. Establishing daily, weekly, and monthly routines can provide children with a sense of security, stability, and confidence. Free time and play are essential for children to rest and stay fresh for academic activities, like online private tutoring sessions.
2. Reward their progress, not a specific action.
As mentioned, intrinsic factors play a more significant role in motivation and learning than external factors. Therefore, instead of rewarding your child for demonstrating good behavior during a tutoring session, reward a different positive action they displayed to make the session more successful. For example, if they consistently log in on time without reminders, you can reward this positive behavior with something fun after their tutoring session! Over time, your child will likely repeat these positive behaviors.
3. Make sure your child has a good study environment.
It’s essential that the area for online tutoring sessions is noise-free and that they sit comfortably. Your child should not lie on their bed during tutoring sessions, as this can make them sleepy and decrease learning motivation. Also, consider the size of the device they use for their online tutoring sessions. A larger screen will make typing or drawing easier for a child. If the device’s audio is low, you can provide headphones to help your child stay attentive and motivated throughout the session.
4. Set clear expectations for your child during a tutoring session.
Communicate with your child and ask for their input to make the tutoring session pleasant and engaging. Listening to your child will help them feel more involved, develop a sense of ownership, and increase their motivation for online learning. One idea is to create a board of motivational words and images that is visible during online tutoring sessions; so your child can refer to it whenever they need some extra learning motivation. It would be even better if you made it a project and created it with your child!
5. Listen and ask questions.
Communication plays a vital role in a child’s development, motivation, and learning processes. Simply asking, “How did your tutoring session go?” will make your child feel appreciated. Asking questions will also help you understand how the tutoring is progressing and how you can best support your child. Additionally, rather than making assumptions about your child’s behavior or progress in online tutoring sessions, make sure to talk to them before making significant changes.
As teachers with experience in online teaching, we are confident that following these five strategies can help your child find learning motivation for online tutoring sessions, and develop a deeper sense of well-being and happiness overall. Additionally, as a parent, these strategies you can save yourself a lot of frustration and help you enjoy a healthy relationship with your child!
References:
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child. (2021). Understanding motivation: Building the brain architecture that supports learning, health, and community participation. Harvard University. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/understanding-motivation-building-the-brain-architecture-that-supports-learning-health-and-community-participation/
– Written by Maria Sara Arias, Bilingual Curriculum & Instruction Specialist at Bilingual Bridges