Motivation from the Heart: A review of Motivate Your Child

Do you know, one of the biggest struggles I have with my kids is getting them to be self-motivated. In fact, my husband and I have been discussing this recently. Our kids just don’t seem to think about what they need to do and get it done on their own. Now, my oldest kids do a pretty good job. But the rest of the kids I end up hounding and hounding and hounding (or rewarding) — and even then I get mixed results.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, you will want to keep reading.

Between the discussions with my husband and the reading of Motivate Your Child from the National Center for Biblical Parenting, we have come upon a solution that works without the hounding.

Lists.

Each of our children now has a list of the chores they are supposed to get done each day. If they don’t get their chores done, they don’t get their allowance. The list is simple. The consequence is simple. And there is no hounding. Now, I remind my children one time each day, and with rules in place chores are getting done.

One of my children is getting a list of four things he needs to do before his fun Parkour class three days a week. He will either finish the list (breakfast, clothes, math, and reading) or he will not go to parkour. No hounding. It’s no longer about me nagging him. It’s all on him.

Now then, this is just a tiny bit of what you will find in the book Motivate Your Child. It’s all about heart parenting – which Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller are kind of famous for. You’re gonna like the shift in your paradigm!

I’ve created a very simple free printable form you can use to make an eye-catching list for your child. I’m even including an example! But if you really want to understand how making lists with consequences, and parenting to the heart can help your family, you are gonna need to buy the book. I would if I didn’t have a copy in my hand.

–> Click this link to download your free printable form. It will open in a new window and is free for everyone.<–

About the book from the publisher’s point of view:

Learn What Internal Motivation is and How to Develop it in Your Child

You will learn:• How to build a strong conscience to strengthen internal motivation• How faith changes kids in practical, down-to-earth ways• Ways to help self-focused kids think of others• A strategy to help kids who tend to blame, rationalize, or defend •Ways to use consequences for heart change• Specific heart-based strategies to develop responsibility and initiative