The Unmotivated Student

Emotions are a big part of our education.  There are all different emotional “states”:  fear/ threat, joy/pleasure, sadness/disappointment, and anticipation/curiosity.  We all experience different types of states throughout our days. We experience our states; we are not our states.  There is no such thing as an unmotivated student, but there are students in unmotivated states.  So if you have a child in this “state”, try to move him along to a different emotion.  Anyone in a particular state for too long, too often runs the risk of stabilizing in the nervous system.  The longer it persists, the more familiar and comfortable that states becomes to his system.  It becomes “home”, and the student will seek that state out of comfort.  Do not allow negative student states to persist.  They only get harder to change over time.  How do you move your child’s emotional state along?

• Encourage them to volunteer their time! The feeling of giving of themselves is rewarding and addicting!
• Make their experiences relevant. Connect their learning to life situations.
• Engineer a new emotion. Create rituals in your home using songs, celebrations and even debates. 
• Give them a time for reflection in a personal journal.

Good learning engages feeling!  It is important that our children know that they will have different emotions, but they don’t have to control us.  If we have a personal relationship with our Lord, our ultimate, deep joy and stability comes from Him alone.  Not our circumstances.  Allow your child to engage in appropriate emotions.  They are an integral and invaluable part of every child’s education.