Dear Parent,

Thank you for your question!

It sounds as though your son has the ability to complete his assignments, but lacks the drive to get it done independently. Not every student is self-motivated, but every student should have some degree of self discipline. This is particularly important as your son advances into the older grades, because he should be working at least 80% independently even now. However, motivation is not something that will change overnight and I guarantee that it will take some time and continual practice before you see a change.

In essence there are two different types of motivation. There is external motivation, which comes from outside the student. When a student is motivated to do something to please his parents or to receive some sort of reward (for example: A student is allowed to rent a movie for every A on a test) he is motivated externally. The problem with external motivation is that some sort of reward system must be used each time, so that the student will do his work.

Internal motivation, on the other hand, comes from within the student. When a student is motivated to do something because he wants to, he is internally motivated. Simply put, sometimes students do things because they like to do them. For instance, for the student who likes to draw, the motivation to draw comes from the satisfaction found in drawing. The activity itself creates the motivation without any external reward or encouragement.

The task as the parent/teacher is helping a student transition from external motivation to internal motivation in all subjects. In the beginning, you will need to use some kind of external reward system, or positive reinforcement as a springboard to help teach the internal motivation. There are some positive reinforcement techniques that you can apply each day. For instance, every 'A' that he gets on his assignments that day, he will receive some sort of reward. If he finishes a subject within a reasonable time frame, he can do something that he enjoys for 10 minutes. If he works independently on one assignment, he can do 'X'. Gradually increase the requirements over time, such as he must complete two assignments independently before he is rewarded. You must establish these rules from the beginning with him. It is also important to remain firm about the rules that you set and keep these expectations of him. You and he know what he is capable of accomplishing, so once you have set the guidelines, you expect him to follow these.

It is also important that your son receive plenty of encouragement and positive feedback for the days when he seems particularly motivated. You can use any sort of rewards during these days. On the days when he does not seem motivated, it is important to remind him of what he has done in the past. In the beginning, I would focus on using positive feedback, rewards and encouragements. However, if you still have difficulty with him after a couple days, then I would start applying the negative reinforcement, also known as punishment. At this point you can start taking away rewards and apply negative reinforcement. For instance, for every minute that he dawdles, a minute is taken away from his free time. Or, for every 'C' and below he gets on a paper for carelessness, a reward is taken away, or he has to do an extra chore.

Finally, I would encourage you to make his lessons perhaps a little more challenging. Sometimes boredom comes when the lessons are too simple. For instance, in a subject you know that he likes, you could easily make the assignment a little more challenging for him. If the assignment requires three paragraphs, suggest to him that he could write five paragraphs, instead. Generally when a student successfully completes a challenging task he will become more motivated and will welcome a new challenge, particularly if it is a subject that he enjoys. Give your student some options---some tasks that you know would be easy for him and some tasks that may slightly challenge him. See which assignments he is drawn towards. If he is drawn towards the easier tasks, allow him to do so, but encourage him to try some of the more difficult ones also. Afterwards, talk to him about how he felt when he finished each assignment. Undoubtedly he will feel a greater satisfaction in completing the more difficult tasks. This is a good starting point in discussing and encouraging self-motivation.

I think you will find that by working to develop more self-motivation in your son a lot of your problems with starting the day will begin to solve themselves. An intrinsically motivated child will want to learn with very little coaxing from the teacher.

God bless you and your family!

Laura Nicholson