The Final Push: Ending the School Year on a Positive Note

Warmer weather may be signaling to your child that the school year is winding down, often stirring up a mix of emotions. These feelings can be tough to navigate—and sometimes, they impact students’ engagement and motivation as the year draws to a close. It’s important to understand the factors that may influence your child’s ability to persevere through the final stretch of the school year:

• Many classrooms prioritize state assessments during this time. After completing these cognitively demanding tasks, students may feel mentally drained or unmotivated to continue learning through the end of the year.

• Some students may feel overwhelmed by the idea that they won’t reach their academic goals, while others who have already met theirs may begin to disengage.

• Academic pressure, final exams, increased workload, social stressors, upcoming transitions, and lack of support can all disrupt a student’s ability to stay focused and consistent during the fourth quarter.

• A common misconception is that the last part of the school year is simply review and less valuable than previous quarters. In reality, this final stretch is crucial—it helps solidify key knowledge, prepares students for the next grade level, and provides an opportunity to reflect and grow through a season of transition.

Despite the natural dip in motivation, students can avoid the end of the year burnout and finish strong when equipped with the right strategies.

Reignite Focus with Goal Setting

Setting clear, achievable goals can be a powerful motivator—especially for students who’ve already accomplished earlier benchmarks or feel discouraged by unmet ones.

Whether adjusting original goals to make them more attainable or creating new short-term objectives, having a visual and specific target helps students stay focused through the final weeks.

✨ Incentives can also play a motivating role. Rewards might include:

• Extra electronics time

• A special meal or treat

• A sticker chart or small prize

The key is to connect the reward to effort and follow-through, rather than just outcomes.

Celebrate & Reflect

As the year wraps up, creating space to honor progress and reflect on growth is essential. Many schools host academic, social, or athletic celebrations—but meaningful recognition can also happen at home.

Encourage your child to reflect on:

• A challenge they worked through

• Something they’re proud of

• What they’re looking forward to next

Reflection gives kids the opportunity to process their feelings and recognize how far they’ve come.

Support Their Emotional Wellbeing

Students of all ages face unique end-of-year stressors—especially those transitioning to new schools or grade levels.

Older students may benefit from:

• Checklists

• Deadline reminders

• Extra grace as they navigate change

Younger students often need:

• Reassurance

• Routines

• Emotional check-ins

No matter the age, now is a good time to reaffirm expectations, maintain routines, and prioritize mindfulness and connection at home. These small actions can help your child put forth their best effort and finish the year feeling confident and supported.

Written by Ami Z.

When Motivation is Low: Finding the 'Want' to Persevere

The word motivation is often used to describe one's desire to complete various tasks. Typically, when someone is unmotivated, words such as “lazy” or “apathetic” are used to describe them. However, the National Library of Medicine views motivation as the “process whereby goal‐directed activities are initiated and sustained” (Cook & Artino, 2016). Adding the word “process” to the definition provides more clarity that motivation can be a learned behavior and may look different for each individual. For most people, it’s a lot easier to get motivated to do something you enjoy. So, how can you increase the sustainability of task completion when motivation is low?

Checklists

Most school homework assignments and projects require multiple steps for full completion. It can be overwhelming, especially for younger students, to focus their attention for an extended period without knowing the smaller steps required to complete the task in its entirety. By helping your child create a checklist and outlining the specific steps needed to complete each task, they will see the big picture while also understanding how much attention they will need to complete each individual step. It may be helpful to include a range of tasks (i.e. personal, educational, chore-based) with varying amounts of effort required to complete them. Often, the tasks seem more manageable and less scary when they are broken down into steps.

Must Do/May Do list

Tasks can be broken down into Must Do and May Do lists for your child to complete based on what absolutely must be completed in a particular day and what can wait. Oftentimes providing choices for the May Do’s will support your child’s task initiation. Your child might be motivated with the agreement that they can choose what they will work on next. Must Do/May Do lists can include a variety of topics - from household chores to homework to after school activities - based on your family’s schedule.

Reinforcement

Reinforcement, from oneself or others, can be a powerful tool to increase productivity levels. Rewards can be used in different capacities based on your child’s desire to complete specific tasks or assignments. For example, if they REALLY do not want to complete a task, you may choose a reward system that emphasizes positive reinforcement after each smaller step complete is completed. For example, if they are completing a homework assignment with ten questions, you could give them the option to earn a minute of free time for each question they complete. This will reward them more frequently to encourage them to persevere. They may also choose to be rewarded after a larger task is completed, like an entire assignment or chore, for a larger reward. 

Environmental Factors

Sometimes low motivation is developed based on environmental factors and distractions. You can try to enhance your child’s motivation by having them work in a clean space, using noise canceling headphones, utilizing comfortable seating, or selecting a new workspace. If they seem to be unmotivated, encourage them to change their scenery, limit distractions, or remove unnecessary clutter.

Low motivation can develop for several reasons: long tasks, disinterest in the topic or activity, previous experiences, lack of self-confidence, environmental factors, desire to be doing something else, and many others. Most tasks have a deadline which can cause even more pressure to get the task done. There are many ways to increase motivation to persevere during these difficult internal struggles. If motivation is something your child struggles with, have them try journaling and reflecting on the root cause and suggest new ways of persevering until they find something that works for them!

Written by Ami Z.