A boring lecture or math lesson that is not interesting will not inspire kids to learn and work hard. However, in this podcast, you will discover five key elements to encourage your children to hone their listening skills while learning.

Why would anyone listen to a boring lecture or something that does not interest them? Because it is required and because it is called “school.” What subject did you detest in grade school, middle school (called junior high in my day), and high school? The subject I didn’t like was history. All of these facts and disjointed (in my mind) events had nothing to do with my life. Or, so I thought. As an adult, I realize that not understanding history causes us to make the same mistakes as a nation over and over again. But at the time, I had no idea how important the subject was. I learned more history as a homeschool parent than I did in my time in school.

Thanks to our sponsor, CTCMath.com, this curriculum is available online for grades K-12. Your children receive the lessons and must pass to move on, and you, as the parents, receive the results. It is a win-win for busy homeschool parents.

I am inspired (pun intended) to do a series on inspiring your children. The series will include inspiring kids to listen, learn, succeed, empathize, and encourage self-esteem. This is the second of five episodes.

Five Part Series 

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• Inspire Kids to Listen
  
• Inspire Kids to Learn (this episode)
  
• Inspire Kids to Cooperate
  
• Inspire Kids to Succeed
  
• Inspire Kids to Empathize
  
• Inspire Kids ~ Self Esteem
  

So, that leaves us with the million-dollar question: How do you inspire your children to learn? How do we overcome obstacles? True learning occurs when a child has a question to answer. And the second part of that question is where the child goes to find the answer. Please, please don’t say “Google.”

The saying “Knowledge is Power” is attributed to an unknown author. That statement is true. Without knowledge, we are left to the ideas, beliefs, and thoughts of other people who don’t necessarily have our best interests in mind. Explaining to your children the importance of obtaining knowledge is key! When my children struggled with a difficult subject, I would remind them, “If it’s easy, you know it, and if it is hard, you don’t know it yet.” (Example of handwriting)

Learning never stops this side of death. (Comforting thought?) We are constantly learning as we should.

Learning occurs when your child is curious and inquisitive, sees the world around them as a puzzle to solve or at least find some of the pieces, and when there is an exchange of ideas and thoughts. When my children were younger, I taught them unit studies. I felt this was the best way to incorporate that awe of learning and a dose of mystery. We didn’t have all the answers, but we were going to learn some of them at any rate!

A mystery eventually comes to a conclusion, and the previously unsolved puzzle is answered. If you can approach education with this in mind and encourage your children as well, it puts a touch of excitement into your schooling. You can set the stage at the beginning of the year. Ask the children if they know every answer in their math, history, science, or ________fill-in-the-blank book. The answer is no for now, but yes (or a lot more than I know now) by the end of the year.

Figuring out an answer is like solving a riddle or a problem (that is why they call math problems problems!). There is an answer that you figure out. The same goes for science or history. We learn why there are three forms of water (solid, liquid, and gas). We learn about the explorers who crossed the ocean into what we know now as America or the United States of America.

My homeschooling included fun. You may consider this an unnecessary element, but fun goes a long way toward getting kids to learn and remember what they have learned. I finished lessons with flashcard facts or split the children into groups and asked questions, each side getting the point. Sometimes, I’d pit them against themselves and the previous day’s score if they were in different books or different levels. I tried to teach history and science together in the younger years until upper middle school. This was a fun activity that made me feel better that they were actually learning, and it made them happy to see that they remembered. If not, they tried to do better the next day.

For teens, the struggle to learn may result from the relevance of the learning to their current lives. The question is, “But why do we learn these things, and what does it have to do with my future?”

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• We learn about math to study finances and the value of a dollar. (Keep from getting swindled.)
  
• We learn to read to learn more information. (Sign a contract.)
  
• We learn about history to keep from making the same mistakes. (Wars, etc.)
  
• We learn so that we can have a job someday.
  

Ask your teens what they want to learn about and if they could study anything. Discuss. One of my children studied photography, another oceanography, and another built catapults and fixed machinery. Giving your child the tools they need to help them learn something of interest encourages them to learn what is on the “requirements” for graduation.

Out of my five children, three went to college, and two went into blue-collar jobs. I now wish I had listened to my non-college-track kids about what they wanted to do instead of preparing them for the “if they decide to go to college track.” One of my college-bound children decided too late to go into engineering, and he couldn’t handle the difficult math requirements.  My son still went into an intense engineer-focused college track and graduated with honors. Exploring careers when in middle and early high school is important and will aid in their interest in learning with a possible career in mind.

You can inspire kids to learn with real-life applications. Especially for your teens, and they may actually observe you learning each day as well. We learn whether we listen to or read the news, try to look up a new tax rule, or look for the best insurance rate on our homes and cars. It requires comparison, evaluation, and, ultimately, finding the best deal for our budget. Give your children real-life examples and include them in your search whenever you can. If they have a car or are saving up for one, they can begin to research different insurance policies and coverage and the meaning of each of the terms used in insurance. Practical skills are important for anyone.

The one thing you can’t take away from someone is their knowledge. In today’s world, knowledge is important to make good decisions, face challenges figure out the best outcome, and to keep ourselves moving forward and thinking.