7 Easy Ways to Motivate Kids to Learn on Their Own

One of the struggles I often hear from homeschool moms is not knowing how to motivate kids to learn on their own. This makes me think of the saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”. No matter how much time or money we spend, sometimes we have to help motivate our kids to learn and explore on their own.

Sounds a bit complicated right? Don’t worry, I’ve found 7 easy ways to motive my kids and help them love learning. I’m sharing them with you in hopes they help your kids develop a love for learning and will motivate them to stay curious!

Delight-Directed Learning

Delight-directed learning is a great way to help children develop a love for learning. Also called student-led learning, delight-directed learning is the process of allowing the student to choose the topics they study. This type of learning is very popular among homeschoolers because allows the student to lead their education and follow their passions.

Unit studies, thematic units, and project-based learning are all fun ways to implement delight-direct learning in a homeschool setting.

It’s simple to get started with delight-directed learning. Just choose a topic (or actually have your kid choose the topic) that seems to be of interest to them at that moment. It can be pretty much any topic or activity.

Here are some fun examples that we have pursued in our homeschool:

• space
• dinosaurs
• baseball/softball statistics
• penguins
• skateboarding
• zoology
• Asian cuisine
• volcanoes
• fossils

As you can see, these are all over the board as far as the category. However, it’s important to not limit the topic. You will be able to cater your lessons to any topic easily.

Then, utilize things like Teachers Pay Teacher for unit studies, search the web for homeschool bloggers who share lesson plans and resources, seek classes on platforms like Outschool or just head to your local library and dive into some books on the topic!

You can plan all of your subjects – math, ELA, science, history, art – around your topic of choice. Allow your kid to tell you when they are ready to move onto a new topic. Sometimes you’ll be on a topic for a week or so and sometimes you’ll end up studying space for 3 months. Either way, your kiddo will be more engaged and absorb so much more because they are driving their education.

Be A Learner Yourself

Become a learner right alongside your kids. Allow them to see you modeling behaviors like asking questions, being curious about the world around you, reading, and showing a desire to learn. They will pick up quickly on these behaviors.

Even as an adult, I make sure my kids see that I’m always trying new things and learning constantly about many topics. I always print myself the worksheet or get a copy of the book my girls are working on so I can follow along with them as a peer.

Ensure that your kids know learning doesn’t only happen inside a classroom or stop when you reach a specific age. Continue to be a student in your career, in the kitchen, and in your hobbies. Instill the mindset that learning is a lifelong activity.

Set a Non-Performance Based Goal

When you’re held to achieving specific grades or reaching certain benchmarks, it can sometimes be hard to be excited about learning. Tossing the grades out the window and setting non-performance-based goals is important. This gives the student the opportunity to learn without worrying whether they measure up to a standard.

A great way to implement this is by setting task based goals instead of result based goals. Task based goals are set to encourage the student to complete an activity or project without a grade, standard or timeframe involved. These are great challenges to give your homeschooler that are low pressure and don’t hold them to a specific grade or accomplishment.

Examples of Task Based Goals for Kids

Reduce Stress

I’m always trying to check something off a to-do list. Our subjects outside of math and English would pile up quickly so I would try to make sure I got them in each and every day so we didn’t get behind.

So I used to think that stacking up the girl’s work each morning would make it easier for them. I would pile the workbooks high on their desks with the intention of giving them a physical “to do” list. Seeing everything that needs to be completed will surely motivate them to work efficiently and get through all our subjects, right? WRONG!

I found this actually had the opposite effect. It made them feel defeated and way behind schedule before they even began their lessons. I quickly realized that I had to reduce any stress associated with homeschooling and learning.

Using a loop schedule

The flexibility of homeschooling is the main reason we have chosen this way of life so why was I trying to stick to such a rigid schedule? We started working with a loop schedule.

By using a loop schedule, you can easily manage subjects that tend to fall through the cracks like art, science, handwriting, etc. You simply add those additional subjects or electives to a “loop schedule”. You complete these subjects during loop time every day. Some days you might complete 1 item on your loop schedule and other days you might blow through 4 items. The beauty of this type of schedule is that you aren’t skipping or forgetting anything.

Create an Environment to Encourage Learning

Learner environments are so important, especially when homeschooling. Create an environment that’s conducive to curiosity and exploration. Minimize distractions and reduce stress by taking away unnecessary items in your schooling area.

Provide plenty of “free learn” options. Free learn options are things that are available at any time and encourage learning such as books, small hands-on activities, educational games and toys.

I also regularly cycle out the books in our school area and the girls’ bedrooms. This ensures they constantly have a new handful of books to dig through. The forward-facing shelves from Ikea are fantastic for this reason – the girls see the covers and are more apt to pick up and start reading a book on their own.

Understand Learning Styles

Knowing how your child learns is key to making learning fun for them. There are many different learning styles so I suggest taking time to understand your child and their behaviors. You can use a simple learning style quiz to get a better idea of your child’s learning style and start to gear your lessons and activities toward that style.

Some kids learn better with hands-on activities. Others learn better when they hear the information or it’s set to music. My kids learn best when the information is given visually or they read the information out loud.

Presenting the information in a way that complements their learning style will help motivate them to ask more questions and dig deeper into the lesson.

Celebrate Knowledge

I can’t think of a better way to motivate kids to learn than to celebrate their journey as a learner. Throwing parties or fun days when you finish a novel, complete a textbook, or learn about a new country are great ways to incorporate a celebration into your homeschool.

We like to throw themed parties when we learn about a new country. We decorate and dress ourselves according to the culture of that country. A native meal and snacks are prepared together as a family. We listen to music and even watch a movie or documentary from the country.

You can celebrate anything you decide in your homeschool. Just remember to keep it focused on the amazing things you’ve been learning and not on grades or achievements.

Tools to Motivating Kids to Learn on Their Own

100 No and Low Cost Ways to Motivate Kids

Along with these 7 easy tips to motivate kids to learn on their own, I also use Julie Polanco’s book 100 Ways to Motivate Kids. It’s been an amazing tool to have in my “mom bag”. It’s filled with easy, low or no-cost projects and activities. There have been so many “winners” that I’ve pulled from this book. The best part – the girls think it’s a kid’s activity book, not a way to keep them learning!

Free Learn Suggestions

I mentioned that our school area has lots of “free learn” options for the girls. These are things they can pick up, play with, and read on their own. My intention with providing these items is they will follow a rabbit trail that leads us to our next topic of study.

Here are some suggestions for free learn items you can incorporate into your homeschool space.

Best Learning i-Poster My USA Interactive Map

This interactive map shares over 500 facts about the US including weather patterns, capital cities, historical and monumental facts, and more. It’s a great way to get kids interested in learning more about specific regions or US states.

Shifu Orboot Augmented Reality Globe

This globe makes the world come alive – literally! Paired with an app on your device, this globe shares over 1000 facts. Storytelling, scavenger hunts and quizzes are just some of the fun features. My girls have been eyeing this one up for quite some time.