Why am I doing this?

Motivating your child to achieve their best

Why are we doing this? Over my career, it has amazed me how many times children haven't known the answer to this. Motivation is arguably the most important factor for success and the most neglected when it comes to coaching for UK school entry.

Often, preparing for entrance exams is a lengthy process and involves lots of dull and hard work. The reading and brushing up on current affairs is interesting, the hours practicing Non-Verbal Reasoning and memorising vocabulary less so. Your child needs to be motivated to get this crucial work done.

Motivation has two important components. Firstly, overall motivation -- being engaged with the end goal. This will be different for different children. Some engage with the idea of making new friends and meeting new people. Some love the prospective responsibility of being more independent. Some make a particular connection with a school when they visit it. It's so important to have open conversations with children throughout the process to keep them motivated and engaged.

The second aspect is associative motivation. Children may well not understand how learning vocabulary can help them get into a UK school. This means having gentle but direct conversations about current levels of attainment, where the children need to get to and how the particular work they've been asked to do is related to this improvement. This applies both to tuition sessions and to the work they do on their own.

A strong motivation requires a great selection of school options, a study programme with clear goals and tangible actions to reach these goals, as well as frequent contact with the child to explain, reiterate and monitor progress towards these goals. Motivation fluctuates, but must be well founded and maintained for success!