Remote Learning; Tips for Working Parents to Motivate Children
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28 November 2020 10:01 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After a rough 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, parents of children that go to school have been stressed by the physical distancing policies that introduced remote learning. This nationwide school ‘lockdown’ not only adds to the pressure parents have to endure by the economic downturn from their workplaces, but also pressure to keep children motivated to continue school.
Here are 6 tips to motivate children and to release working parents from stress which Bisnis.com had cited from parentingforbrain.com.
1. Manage Your Own Stress
Managing your stress levels is good for health and for children’s mental health. As parents demonstrate positive ways to manage anxiety, the children learn coping skills to deal with stress, promoting their resilience. Taking deep breaths, exercising, meditating, and practicing mindfulness can help us manage our stress.
2. Let Go of Control on Your Kids
Parents often control kids’ behavior because we want to steer them away from mistakes to achieve the best result. But parent's good intention often becomes a source of stress that hurts children's motivation and diminishes their ability to learn.
3. Encourage Learning, Not Doing
Children are born curious and love to learn. If your child refuses to do homework, focus on learning. Going to school shouldn’t be about doing homework or getting good grades. It should be about learning.
Grades are important, but to be intrinsically motivated to study, a child needs to enjoy learning. Encourage them to learn and to use homework to strengthen their knowledge. If they still refuse to do homework, let them face the natural consequences.
4. Focus on Relationship Instead of Homework
A warm, secure relationship in childhood is essential to living a happy, successful life. There is no shortage of stress in a child’s life – teachers, peers, homework, exams, etc.
Many people can stress a child, but only parents can love their child and make them feel safe even when they fail. Become the person your kid wants to come to, not one they want to hide away from.
5. Be Supportive and Teach Stress Awareness
When a child is not motivated to learn, be supportive instead of contemptuous. To motivate is to boost their dopamine to a healthy level. Being accusatory will not accomplish that; being supportive will.
6. Provide a Stress-free Environment
Other ways to eliminate stress include having a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and studying in a relaxed environment. Motivating children to learn better in remote learning is not that hard if parents can let go of their own security and support the kids to flourish in their own ways.
The sooner they learn to be independent and responsible for their own education, the more self-motivated they are.
Read: Remote Learning; Nadiem Reminds Teachers to Maintain Engagement
Bisnis.com | Parentingforbrain