Newborn infants are born with a tremendous amount of intrinsic motivation. This motivation is aimed toward having some visible effect on the environment. When infants can actually see the results of their actions as a reward, they are motivated to continue those actions. These attempts toward control are limited within the young child, and include crying, vocalizations, facial expressions and small body movements. Toys that change or make sound as the child moves them are therefore strong motivators.
As infants grow and continue to mature (9-24 months), more voluntary, purposeful movements are possible. This gives them more control of their environment. This wider range of control allows children to feel that they are successful. Success leads to higher self-esteem and feelings of self-worth, which leads to strengthened motivation. As children continue to develop during this time period, they are better able to make decisions and plan what to do to gain control of things around them. They are beginning to set their own goals for activities. This success is not based upon adult standards, but totally upon the child's ability to accomplish the goals that he has set out for himself.
By two years of age, children are developing the ability to execute a sequence of events in order to achieve a goal. They also have an appreciation for standards and begin to evaluate their efforts. By three years of age, children become interested in doing things well, as opposed to just doing them. They have an idea of various levels of competency in performance and judge their success by their own internal standards. Therefore they have much less need for adult feedback about the quality of their efforts.
Preschoolers (age 3-5 years) are beginning to be more involved with verbal problem solving skills. They direct their own learning through speech and use vocal communication to direct their own behavior to solve problems. Young children are often heard talking themselves through a series of actions that lead to the solution of a problem. As children get older, this "talking out loud" will become an internal monologue. This newly developing ability to problem solve is the basis for motivation at this stage. Having the self confidence to know that one can solve a problem motivates the learner to accept other new and challenging situations, which in turn lead to greater learning.
5 Ways to Motivate Your Child
1. Extra Free Time
We have about 90 minutes of free time every day, but occasionally if I need a reward I will give them 30 minutes of extra free time.
2. Rewards Jar
I have a jar filled with index cards of prize ideas. The prizes are anything from “an extra dessert” to “15 minutes of dancing with Mom”
3. Special Toys
My boys love those building bricks that are so popular. So I keep a small stock of them in a box in my closet and they can earn an hour of playing with them.
4. Hero Day
Famous athletes, authors, heroes, anything your family loves….tell them that if they do really well in school Monday through Thursday then on Friday the whole family will dress up like those characters….including you.
5. Candy
Yes, I said it, we use sugar to motivate our children. We don’t eat much candy around here. So when I found a vintage candy dispenser at the flea market I knew it was just the perfect thing to motivate the kids to do their schoolwork.
