Sometimes, kids just don’t want to learn.
Shocking, right?
Despite your best efforts, your child just isn’t interested in how beneficial it will be for them to keep up with learning. You can’t really blame them, it is their vacation. But, studies have shown that summer vacation can cause a loss in what children have learned and it isn’t often understood by a child until later in life.
But what can we do?
One way to keep children, and adults, motivated and engaged is to provide incentives to them. Summerlearning.org proposes the idea of creating “Mom” or “Dad” dollars that can be rewarded to your child for completing learning exercises.
You can create different “Mom” and “Dad” dollars worth different amounts. Then, create a chart about what rewards these dollars can be exchanged for. There is a multitude of things you can put on the chart and it should cater it specifically to what your child wants. Assign a specific value to each reward and clearly indicate it on the chart.
Ideas for rewards:
- A new toy, video game, book, movie, phone app
- Playtime with friends
- A trip to the movies or amusement park
- Their favorite meal
- sweets
- A “get out of chores for the day/week” pass
This activity can also help your child with
math skills!
If your dollars are values at increments of 1, 2, and 5, for example, and your child wants a new toy, which costs 15 “Mom” or “Dad” dollars, your child will need to figure out how many “Mom” or “Dad” dollars they have and how many they need before they can exchange them for a new toy.
Another way you can do this is to reward stars, stickers, or check-marks every time your child completes a learning activity. Like the “Mom” or “Dad” dollars, after a certain number of checks are earned, a reward is provided.