What parents should know about motivation (before it's too late)

Transform Your Parenting with these game-changing, neuroscience based motivation tactics

Cajoling children to get on with the hard graft of preparing for examinations is difficult. Like any competition, when it comes to demanding examinations, a fraction of it is about learning new and interesting things, and much of it is about practice.

For practice is the difference between understanding a topic, and getting the highest marks in a competitive process. That second part is far less interesting for anyone, let alone a 7 year old.

The challenge for parents is balancing the source of motivation. Neuroscientists cite two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivation is an external reward for effort. It may be sweets or some TV time, after a bout of demanding work.

Intrinsic motivation is the inner motivation that is the result of satisfaction - it is the motivation that comes from effort and satisfaction that effort has been worthwhile.

Stop using sweets and gaming

Parents have a propensity of slipping into some understandably alluring, but ultimately damaging habits.