5 Steps to Spark Your Child’s Interest in Learning

Learning is a lifelong journey, and it begins well before we step into the classroom on the first day of school. Research tells us that the best thing you can do for your child in those pre-kindy years is to get them interested in learning before they start their formal education.

Remember: with the right motivation, any kid can become a good learner. Childhood is a period of constant discovery, and there are so many ways to harness that energy and structure the process. So what are the best ways to stimulate motivation?


1. Create the right learning environment

Studies show that an ‘atmosphere of reading’ is hugely beneficial for your child. Read to them aloud on a regular basis, and have them read to you – think of having family reading for 30 minutes a day. It helps to have a wide range of reading materials available: books, newspapers and magazines. Reading is a fantastic way to enrich kids’ vocabulary, improve their communication skills and introduce them to story structures.


2. Lead by example

Model your own learning by sharing your interests, whether it’s sports, art or cooking. When it comes to your kids’ learning, know your role: don’t micromanage them, and know when to back off so they can figure things out for themselves. Focus on the process of learning – making mistakes and learning from them; weighing up options – rather than the result.


3. Listen to your child

Each one of us learns differently. Some of us are visual learners: we need to see something written down, or represented in an image or diagram. Others need to listen to things, or act them out physically. Most kids will experiment with all of these learning styles at different points, and it’s our job to figure out what’s working for them. Then there’s the matter of what your child’s interested in: are they going through a horse phase? Do they love outer space? Fairytales? Dinosaurs? Ask them what they want to learn about.


4. Mix it up

So, it’s key to be flexible and respond to your child’s needs and tastes. This is where an educational model like Schooling Online can be so helpful: a smorgasbord of offerings, or to use another metaphor, a choose-your-own-adventure game. One minute your child will be learning useful life skills, like what to do when they’re lost in public places. (And they’ll remember through the use of a mnemonic device: ‘Stick to Mum like Bubble Gum!’) Then they’ll be following the adventures of Bella Bloom as she learns basic life skills: from tying her shoelaces and brushing her teeth, to more complex conundrums that involve decision-making and problem-solving.


5. Make it fun!

Before they get to school, most kids won’t even know they’ve been learning. Schooling Online videos are a mixture of games, stories and songs, which are a remarkably effective way to ‘sneak’ in everyday lessons. (Think of how many kids have learnt their nursery rhymes and numbers from The Wiggles alone!) In fact, it’s all about good storytelling: if a kid’s hooked, they won’t even know they’re learning. Those stories can be as simple as our Fun Phonics Series, which teaches the letters of the alphabet, to more complex stories like our history lessons about family and culture in History for Kids.


The common denominator for sparking your child’s interest in learning: be flexible and gently encouraging, and be open-minded. And if you need a great place to start, why not try Schooling Online?