The Motivation Myth

I want to thank the Church of St. Paul for having me speak at their Home Education Ministry meeting this morning.  It was gratifying to finally share all the reading I've been doing in the last six months with parents who understand and want to inspire their kids.  What a wonderful group you have!

If you are curious about the talk, there are four parts:  Motivation, Mentoring, Mindset and Methodology.  The gist of the talk is that we can't motivate anyone for the long term.  Extrinsic motivators really don't work.  I think, deep down we all understand that.  Moreover, understanding that human beings, made in God's likeness and image, do not like to be controlled or manipulated.  We do our kids a disservice telling them that they have to do things "because I said so."  That's motivation (extrinsic), and in the long run, it just doesn't work.

Speaking of mindset - For the HEM group:  I spoke about Brainology, which is an online class kids can take to help them move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.  Right now, Brainology is available for $39.95 through homeschoolbuyersco-op.org  which is 50% off the retail cost.  My kids have started it and after just a few classes have seen a difference in themselves.  I have seen the difference, too.

I could have spent another two hours talking about how the book clubs, spelling team, Junior Classical League (Latin Club) and our on-line co-schooling have motivated my kids.  However, I ran out of time!  Just remember that as our kids grow older, they need fellowship (as do we).  That fellowship, working on a common cause (book club, co-op class, etc.) might just be all the motivation our kids need.    Social contagion, the scientific term for people doing things because others are, can be used for good.

I will, over the course of the next few months, feature some of the books that I loved reading regarding this topic.