Recognizing potential in your child (conclusion)

MOTIVATION INTHE early years: Motivation in babies (birth to around 18 months) Babies are becoming familiar with their surroundings and those around them. They seek attention by smiling, cooing, babbling and crying. Much of what infants can do is related to their movement.

They begin with random movements and then move to more purposeful actions such as grasping objects, crawling, pulling themselves up to stand and walking.

They are very curious and like to explore.

What kind of experiences may support babies developing motivation?

Motivation in toddlers (around 18 months to three years) Toddlers are continuing to explore their environment. They are also becoming better at deciding what to do to achieve their goals.

As toddlers get older, they start developing an understanding for self-awareness and self-evaluation and understand that there are a number of steps involved in reaching goals.

Children around three years old are not only interested in completing an activity, they also like doing it well. They are discovering which activities are easier or harder for them. Toddlers feel a lot of pride when they succeed in completing a challenging activity. If a challenging activity doesn’t work out this is a learning opportunity and they don’t feel much shame. However, if they view a task to be easy, they feel greater shame. This is why it is especially important to provide toddlers with support and encouragement after facing a challenging activity and less so after successes.

Giving children opportunities to accomplish tasks on their own encourages motivation. Parents can provide scaffolding for the task if support is required by the child. As children feel more capable of completing activities on their own, parents can reduce their involvement.

What kind of experiences could you provide to motivate toddlers? Motivation in preschoolers (around three to five years) Preschoolers are beginning to direct their own learning as they are becoming more capable of problem solving and working through activities on their own.They are more able to think through how they are going to complete an activity. Many times, we might expect children to work quietly at a task on their own; however, encouraging children to talk with others about what they are doing promotes their learning and development. By being shown how to work through problems with the help of supportive adults, preschoolers are more able to scaffold their own learning.

With this comes a greater sense of control over what they are doing, leading to greater confidence and self-esteem.

Why is having a supportive parent so important for teenagers?

The influence that you have over your child is more dependent on a trusting relationship than it is on how much authority you dish out and how many lectures you give. It may feel like they’re trying to push you away, but they’re actually trying to push themselves away from you to choose a direction in life, and to shape an identity for themselves as a separate, independent person.

Love, support, trust and optimism from their family make them feel safe and secure, and are powerful weapons against peer pressure, life’s challenges and disappointments.

Some parents struggle to adjust to the demands that parenting their child through the teenage years brings. It’s a time that can put even the strongest and most loving relationships to the test.Your child needs you at this time just as much as they have always needed you, but in a different way.

They are looking to you for support through one of the biggest changes in their life, towards adulthood and independence.You’ve been through it so you know how confusing and difficult it can be. Don’t be afraid to share some of your own teenage experiences with your child. Tell them that you understand because it happened to you too.Talk to them about how you handled it (or didn’t handle it) and what you learnt from it. Realizing that everyone goes through the same struggles can be very reassuring to your child, especially if it’s their parent that is telling their stories.

Your child is becoming an independent person.

They need a firm foundation of values and expectations that can guide them now, and carry them into adult life. Decide what’s important to your family and how you’ll share those expectations and values with your child. That way they’ll have the knowledge to help them navigate life on their own and make decisions that fit with what the family values.

There’s no doubt that the teenage years will probably cause you some worry and frustration. There may be times when you feel as if you don’t know your child, or are disappointed by some of their choices. Try to be as loving and supportive as you can through all of their trials, no matter how small they are. If you can do this, they’re more likely to rely on you, share their struggles and come to you when they need help.

Be there for them in the way that you would have wanted your parent to be there for you when you were growing up.