As parents, we will need to help to get our kids interested in something which they find completely boring. Whilst most of want our kids to be engaged in everything that they do, there are many things that are necessary for them to learn about, which they simply do not find interesting. This could be a school subject such as history for example or even when you are teaching the about the value of money. In order for you to help you child overcome the boredom which they feel towards various subjects, the responsibility is on you to get them to engage, and here are some tips on how to do so. After all, it’s crucial to motivate your teenager.
Carrot and Stick
The carrot and the stick approach is a great way of getting kids to focus on what you are trying to show them. The idea of this is to give them inspiration and a reward at the end of their learning. This concept is based on the idea of sitting on a horse with a carrot hanging from a stick, the horse will run towards the carrot, but never catch it. The difference here is that once your child has finished ‘running’ you should reward them with the carrot of your choice.
Root Cause
You may often find that the reason your child is not interested in a particular topic or subject, is because they do not understand it and so it is easier for them to feign disinterest rather than look foolish. It is important that you speak to you child about why they do not like something or why the perceive it to be boring. Once you have dug deep enough to get to the bottom of the issue, you can start to plan how you will change things or move forward to ensure that your child can engage with whatever it is that they are learning.
Get Creative
The key to getting your kids to engage with something that you are trying to teach them is to be creative in terms of the style which you use. It is vital that you find some common ground and use it to show your child why they should show interest in a particular subject. For example, my eldest used to despise maths and no matter what I tried, I could not get him interested in it. My son was a big football fan and so we devised a way to use football teams and scores, to explain mathematics. I wouldn’t say that he then fell in love with maths, but he is engaged enough to pay attention to it now which is all that we were after. If you want your child to get interested, find a way of making it relevant.
Sometimes you have to put your foot down as a parent and force your children to be interested in things, this however should only be as a last resort and you should try out whatever you need to, in order to get them interested on their own.