PCL 84: How to Raise Motivated Kids

Dan Scott, a children’s ministry speaker, coach, and large group director for 252 Basics at the reThink Group, shares with host, Kristen Ivy, his ideas on how to foster the growth of motivation in kids in today’s episode of the Parent Cue Live podcast.

The post PCL 84: How to Raise Motivated Kids appeared first on Parent Cue.

YOUR CUE

Communicate your family’s values. Your kids can begin to shift from extrinsic motivators to intrinsic ones when you, as a parent, communicate why the task or behavior is important to the family as a whole. When a kid understands they’re a part of something bigger than themselves, your family’s value system becomes their personal value system.

Get to know your kids. One of your kids may be extrinsically motivated while the other naturally leans toward intrinsic motivation. Know who your kids are at their core, and it’ll help you tailor how you approach this whole motivation thing. One of your kids may be motivated by things, while the other is motivated by fun and quality time. Notice the differences and act accordingly.

Focus on the season you’re in and prioritize accordingly. Ask yourself, “Why am I hyper-focused on my child completing this particular task I’m asking them to do?” Sometimes, we’ll find our requests are selfishly motivated. Take a step back and away from perfection and focus on one thing you can do this week or month to help nurture motivation in your kids.

EPISODE RECAP

As parents, we all want to raise motivated kids who will one day grow up to be adults with great work ethics and values. Sometimes, however, we do things that undermine the ultimate goal of having motivated kids by focusing on short-term outcomes.

On today’s episode, we hear from Dan Scott, a father of four, ranging from high schoolers to an elementary-aged child. Together with our podcast host, Kristen Ivy, the two share their personal stories on what it’s like to motivate kids in the preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school phases. They also discuss how to encourage healthy habits in kids (and discourage unhealthy ones), and how parents should be aware that our hyper-focused requests for that loaded dishwasher or cleaned bedroom to be done perfectly may actually be detrimental to our kids’ motivation growth.

Even more, they answer questions such as:

How do I help my kids move from extrinsic motivation (money and other reward-based prizes) to becoming more intrinsically motivated?
How do I fairly motivate kids who have different personality types?
What are the types of motivators and how can I use them to help my kid grow?

We can’t wait for you to dive into this subject with us. If you found after listening to the podcast that you’ve got another question about parenting, we want to hear it! Click here to ask your question and you might hear it answered on the podcast.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Dan Scott

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“Parents, ask yourselves, “Am I motivating my child in the moment for my own sake? Or do I have a long-range perspective?” —@kristen_ivy
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“Fun is a motivator for all kids.” —@danscott77 
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“Parents, ask yourselves, “What’s the one thing I want my kids to be motivated to do in this season?” —@kristen_ivy
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The post PCL 84: How to Raise Motivated Kids appeared first on Parent Cue.