With over 16 years of experience, we have spoken to many parents who express concerns regarding their child’s willingness to learn. Whether they have heard this from teachers at school, or noticed a lack of enthusiasm for learning at home, it is really important to remember that any child who receives the right motivation can become a great learner.
Across our KSOL 11+ tuition centres and online learning tools we are constantly coming up with new and innovative ways to guide children through the learning process. In light of recent school closures and millions of parents now attempting to teach from home, our expert tutors share their top tips to motivating your child to learn…
1) Identify their Learning Style
Distinguish the most effective way to get information across to your child in a way that best suits them.
At KSOL, we understand that each child is unique and has a different way of absorbing and retaining information. For example, some children are auditory learners, retaining information best when speaking and listening, whilst others are visual learners who prefer learning with colours or images.
Sped the time to identify which type of learning style your child responds to and try and tailor their revision accordingly.
KSOL’s online 11+ programmes are personalised to suit the individual needs of each child. With a unique combination of daily timed tests, interactive video lessons and direct tutor support, our courses are designed to engage both auditory and visual senses. Your child will be revising, without even realising!
2) Create an inspiring workplace
The space that we choose to work in matters. If we are in a calm and clean workspace, this helps to set the tone for a positive session.
Why not encourage your child to design their own workspace? Create a designated area for them to express their creativity. They can fill this space with their own artwork, stationery or short story writing, and this will in turn create a positive and enjoyable working atmosphere.
3) Shift the Power
During the average school day children experience control. Their timetable is scheduled, subjects decided, and seating arranged. When a child feels controlled, it is not unusual for them to withdraw from the learning process. This can be especially true for children who struggle to concentrate for long periods of time.
When inspiring your child to learn at home, you may achieve more success by shifting the power over to them. Whether that may be encouraging them to choose which 11+ subject/topic they’d like to revise, or which book they’d like to read, the idea is that they have options which involve them in the decision-making process.
4) Play games!
Spending lots of time at home can be challenging when inspiring regular revision. However, studying can be made fun for the whole family with game-based learning.
Put the pens and pencils away and set-up a board game! Word board games, for example, expose your child to regular word pattern recognition, vocabulary and spelling; ensuring subtle English revision is maintained throughout their time off school.
Have you seen our 11+ Revision Flashcards? These brightly colour-coordinated revision cards are the perfect way to cover the core skills for the 11plus, without the fuss!
5) Share the enthusiasm
Many of us (if we’re lucky enough) will have a fond memory of a school teacher who made a particular subject enjoyable and engaging with their passion and enthusiasm.
Learning is a lot more enjoyable if the person teaching is enthusiastic and understanding. Try and come up with various modes of revision to increase concentration and enhance their engagement e.g. online resources, activity packs or game-based learning.
Why not turn the tables and encourage your child to teach you? The learning-by-teaching method is not only enjoyable for your child, but also extremely effective at helping children to better understand and retain information. You never know, you may even learn something!
We hope you have found the above information helpful. Keep your child’s learning going at home with an Award-Winning 11+ online course! We provide personalised online tests for children in Year 3, 4 or 5, as well as expert tutor support.
If you would like some more information regarding 11+ options for your child, please call our friendly team on 0121 733 6558. We are happy to help.
