motivation

My son is in kindergarten. His teachers agree that he is very smart, even above many of his classmates.  My only problem with him is that he is not motivated to do his work.  I don't know if he's just lazy or what.  What can I do to motivate him?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Monica,

Chldren vary greatly re: their motivation around school, just like they vary in all other areas of their functioning. And the amount of motivation they display is often not particularly related to their level of intellectual ability.

Now, I'm not suggesting you adopt a laissez faire approach to motivation. However, there's certainly a limit to which we are able to alter motivation.

If there are obvious reasons for lack of motivation, try of course to eliminate such obstacles. For example, many bright children display learning disabilities that make the challenge of learning difficult and often unsatisfying, in spite of the child's native intelligence.

More often, though, we can't identify specific obstacles to motivation. In such instances, there's a lot to be said for injecting the child's academic pursuits with material that is of high interest. As an example, let's say your son is a baseball fan. You can help him acquire facility at basic number concepts by employing illustrations that are derived from baseball. Similarly, his grasp of phonics might be more energized if he's sounding out words that have to do with baseball. This same principle holds true regardless of the child's age - it's simply a matter of exploiting the youngster's areas of interest.