There are a lot of existing articles on Minti which could help you get your child/children motivated which can be found here.

i think i have to differ on this one!  praise doesn't always work with my kids--praising them usually means they start aligning themselves with my opinions, values and point of view and disengage from their own more internal motivations.  my kids anyway will do their best when they are really connected with the activity, and when they desire deeply to give it their all.  the key for me is then finding activities and subjects where this kind of intensity and commitment can come to the fore and be developed further.  this experience then trickles down to the other areas of life where they might not be as enthused, but the habits they formed elsewhere still apply.  it's really tricky but worth the effort to find the things that naturally get them interested in using all their energies to see something interesting happen. 

Hi luvmykids,

PRAISE< PRAISE< PRAISE give your children heaps of praise and tell them what a wonderful job they are doing. this not only build their selfesteem but inspires them to keep on going.

Never put your children down -don't insult, say negative comments etc

Activities, school etc should be fun. if they gave it their best shot then that is the main thing, doesn't matter at all if they came second, came last or  got 2 out of 10 as long as they tried that's all we can ask for.

Let your children live their dreams not the dreams you want them to have or the dreams you missed out on and therefore want them to live them for you.

surround them with positive people and positive experiences.

I hope I have given you some ideas!

Tania