There are many challenges parents face when it comes to their child’s education, regardless of what type of school their child attends. Because cyber school parents are at home with their children and are heavily involved in their day-to-day schooling, it’s important to address these challenges and equip parents with the tools and resources to help their child reach their full potential.
As a parent, you may have struggled with motivating students to do their best work, rather than being satisfied with average work. It can be easy for students to be content with mediocre work for many reasons. To help students take full advantage of their educational opportunities and develop higher expectations for themselves, try these suggestions from experienced Learning Coaches at PA Virtual.
1. Set short and long term goals with your student.
Write the goals down so that your student can be held accountable to them. Be sure to include specific steps that will accomplish the goals and make sure the goals have a specific time frame.
Consider focusing the goals on efforts and hard work, rather than on just grades and completion of assignments.
2. Set higher standards as far as grades are concerned.
If your student can achieve average grades with minimal effort, consider using the things that motivate him/her (video games, extracurricular activities, free time, time with friends, special outings, etc.) to only be available if your student achieves the grades you know they are capable of.
3. Review your student’s grades with them and have them identify what they could have done differently on assignments to improve their grades.
Focusing on effort and hard work may help motivate your student, especially if they know that effort is more important to you than an average grade.
4. Communicate with your student’s teachers; see what ideas they have for adjusting the assignments so that your student has to think a little more deeply or creatively.
If their interest is piqued, they may be more motivated to complete their assignments well.
5. Help them create a vision board for motivation.
Vision boards can serve as a reminder of the things they'd like to achieve and keep them on track to reach their goals.
We hope these suggestions will help you motivate your students to put their best foot forward throughout their educational journey. Do you have any suggestions to add to this list? Leave them in the comment section below!
For more advice on helping your child succeed academically, check out our series of "Quick Tips in Education" blog posts here.
If you’d like to learn more about PA Virtual and cyber schooling in PA, you can request more information here.
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