Lesson #4: Creating rewards systems for reading and writing is a value-added proposition.
Let’s face it. We, adults, need incentives from time to time; and we especially need some external motivation when it comes to completing challenging or unpleasant tasks. So, wouldn’t the same premise apply to the younger versions of ourselves — our children? And when our children struggle with certain directives, assignments, or tasks, I would imagine that incentives could be the perfect sweetening agents to make those unsavory activities a little more palatable.
Being a parent of a virtually-schooled student (or just a 10-year-old, in general) has definitely taught me a thing or two about a thing or two. One of those teachable moments enlightened me to the fact that children may need some external forces to be those catalysts that help them make the initial strategic move or keep them progressively moving forward toward certain goals.
When doing some deep soul searching as to what my next goal-oriented assignment would be, I decided to focus my concentrated efforts on an initiative that would not only put a helpful process in place on how to incentivize my son to continuously develop his reading and writing skills but to share that process with anyone who would be interested in such information.
After all, I can’t believe that I’m the only parent who has a child that may need some extra motivation when it comes to reading and writing activities.
And the purpose-driven thought that comes to mind with any endeavor I engage in going forward is “am I adding any value to others in what I do”. That very thought is even further reinforced when I keep hearing creative entrepreneurs state that the “creative” must be in the business of creating value — something that’s considered valuable or a benefit to others (not just oneself). Sounds reasonable to me. I mean we have so much information bombarding us at any given moment in our day, so it’s virtually going to take that special “something” of the highest helpful caliber to grab our fleeting attention spans and make us want to siphon off some of our time to give that special “something” a quick look-see at the least.
So, my creative goal-setting initiatives must deliver in the area of hitting constructive chords with others that may be going through similar life situations I’m going through and create a solution to a challenge that may be presenting itself within that situation.
And if you know my intentions with the Degrees of Maternity blog, then you know a lot of my focus in what I do here revolves around my children and children in general. That same focus also has a strong concentration in reading and writing and encouraging child development in those skills sets — mainly because I love reading and writing and mostly because I have a child coming up through the educational ranks who could use some encouragement in both areas.
Therefore, I would like for you to come along on this new journey I’m taking to develop a user-friendly process to help parents (like me) find the most beneficial method(s) for motivating their children to achieve their reading and writing goals.
I do believe my new book writing journey (with purposed focus) has commenced once again. And your presence throughout this journey has been requested.
