As your child begins school, it becomes your obligation as a good and successful parent to equip them with the skills needed to prosper in the academic environment. An important part of that is to ensure that they have the drive to succeed in school and work, through the use of motivation. Most of the time, children who are not often the best or most effective students possess extrinsic motivation, which is the desire to complete tasks and be productive because of external factors, such as detention or good grades (Haskings-Winner, 2011). However, extrinsic motivation does not provide a good drive to do things and be productive, because not only is the child unwilling to do the task out of their own free will and desires, but once that threat or reward is gone, the desire to perform is gone. The better way to succeed is through intrinsic motivation, which stems from a personal satisfaction or desire to do well (Haskings-Winner, 2011). This sort of drive is often much more powerful and effective, which can ultimately result in more inspired and productive work. The way that you, as a parent, can foster that attitude is by helping your child set goals once they start school and providing them the means to value and set goals by themselves (Gross, 2014). By allowing them to experience the personal need for satisfaction or success, it becomes far easier for them to be excited about school as opposed to showing up to mitigate a call home. Work with your child to set short term goals for the school year, whether it may be to get an A on the next math test, or the finish the homework before bedtime and let those become the stepping stones for long term goals that your child can ultimately hope to achieve. Only when your child is truly passionate can he or she have meaningful experiences in school.
