Productive Children: How to Motivate Kids Who Say “I Don’t Care”

Everyone wants productive children, but let’s face it most are unmotivated. They say “I don’t care,” even about things they should care about. This episode of Vintage Homeschool Moms is about the planning that goes on behind the scenes to create structure, motivation, and yes, even productivity. Productive Children ~ 590 Why are some children unmotivated, bored, or like they don’t care about anything? They will even answer, “I don’t care,” when asked about something — even something they should care about. Hey friends. Thanks so much for joining me. I believe unmotivated children lead to unproductive children who do not have any goals or ideas about what they want to do, because there is no structure and no “ask” of them. These children are the floaters. They either cause mischief, because they are bored and need entertainment, or they wander aimlessly just because. Thanks so much to our sponsor for helping keep this show on the air. Show Notes Notes: http://vintagehomeschoolmoms.com Keywords: unmotivated homeschool children, productive kids at home, homeschool routine vs schedule, how to motivate homeschoolers, family planning dinner, children who say I don’t care What I Saw at the Conference At a homeschool conference one year I met highly motivated children who had a vision. Some wanted to write books. Others wanted to create or invent. Others? They could not wait to leave the crowded halls and get to the pool. What is a parent to do? One thing is to brainstorm together as a family — but first with your spouse. The Planning Dinner My husband and I would go to dinner that was essentially a planning dinner before every school year. We discussed our children, in a good way, and what areas we hoped to see improvement in. Sometimes this was mid-year or at the end of the year, usually because of some type of problem or mini-crisis. Why does this work? Because, well, dinner out. Enough said. If the budget will not allow it, have dinner after the children are in bed. Or take a mini-retreat into a spare room or a corner for dessert. Make it work. Do not look at the obstacles first. We discussed the good things first — why we were thankful. I often thanked my husband for working so hard. Sure, we owned the construction company, but he worked extremely hard each day. Did I get thanks for being home with the children and homeschooling them? No. But my husband showed his thanks in different ways. Not to minimize being thanked. You and I know we do what we do because of our love for our children and our families — not because of praise. If I only focused on what is not said instead of what I know to be true in my heart, I would have pity parties more often. Gains. Weaknesses. Strengths. Plan. This is analysis with an end goal. It will not finish in one evening. A school year is a good amount of time to work a plan without it overwhelming you.