I think most of parents agree that the cause of their children's underachievement in school is often simply a lack of motivation. What can parents do to motivate their teens? Here are some ideas I want to share with you.
1. Be your teenager's supporter
Teenagers are different with young kids. A teenager wants to be treated like an "adult". I think "respecting your teenager "is the key to build a trust relationship between parents and your teens. Parents should give your teenagers as much support as you can, not control but guide your teens.
Motivate
2. Expose your teenager to various ideas and areas
Sometimes a teenager lacks motivation because he or she hasn't yet been exposed to what might be a life passion. Look for different programs, give your teen a chance to try them, and keep an open mind, to help your teen to find his or her interests and passion.
3. Help your teenager make connection between schoolwork and his interests
Sometimes children lack motivation because they do not see a connection between the work they are being asked to do and their interests and goals. A teenager who wants to be a doctor should know that math and science is important in those jobs. Parents may give examples how these courses help.
4. Teach your teenager responsibility
Parents should try to make your teenager understand that freedom and power brings along some responsibilities. If your teen wants to make his or her decisions, the teen will have to take the responsibility for them.
5. Guide your teenager to find his or her goals
Individuals who have goals are highly motivated because they know what they want and work hard towards the goals. For most of teenagers, they do not know what they want to be yet, they are exploring and trying to find their values and believes and their future paths. They are usually driven by the sheer joy of participating in something they love now, and do not consider them in a long run. Parents should talk to your teens about things they enjoy right now and guide them to find what they believe about their life and set up their goals as soon as they can.
6. Set high expectations
High standards lead to high performance. If parents set clear goals and expectations for their teens and support them to achieve their goals, the teenagers become successful. This success motivates teens to feel fulfillment and do even better.
7. Use short-term goals and rewards
Sometimes a teenager gets overwhelmed by a large task and gives up before he or she even begins. Help your teen separate the task into a series of smaller tasks. Make each small task a goal and try to setting an age-appropriate reward for that goal may help.
8. Help your teenager learn to manage time
When they start school, some children usually had few problems keeping up with school work because they could learn quickly and easily, so they did not get chance to learn to manage their time in order to get work done. After they become teenagers, they face more challenge tasks, they may feel overwhelmed by the work they need to complete and do not know how to set time aside to complete their tasks. Teaching your teenager how to create and use a time-management schedule will be helpful.
These are 8 Ways to motivate teenagers. As parents, we should be good models as well. Think positively, learn and make progress constantly lifelong. Keep ourselves motivated, then we can motivate our children more effectively.
8 Ways to Motivate Teenagers to Achieve
Cana has a PhD and passion on education. She believes that Kids Are our Future, she is focusing on cross-culture parenting and education. The motivation for her is to learn and explore some parenting and educational issues in order to help children to achieve in the global society.
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