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Fortune Cookie Philosophy: Using Motivation Effectively With Young Children

by Tricia S. Kruse
January/February 2007
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/fortune-cookie-philosophy-using-motivation-effectively-with-young-children/5017344/

I had just finished eating an enormous amount of moo-go-guy-pan and too many pieces of sushi to count when the waitress delivered my check and a fortune cookie. I was used to reading fortunes like, “You cannot prevent the bird of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent it from building nests in your hair.” Surprisingly, the fortune I was holding in my hand actually told the truth. It read:

What we love to do we find time to do.
Lucky #2, 9, 32, 33, 34, 46

And as I sat digesting my food and the meaning of the fortune, I realized, children live by this fortune every day.

Within the field of early childhood it is often said, “Children’s play is their work.” Adults have jobs that they may or may not love to do, but every day millions of children enter early childhood programs diligently engaging in their work, which is exactly what they love to do. A question then arises: How well do we support children in completing their “jobs”? One way to answer this question is by examining what motivates children and how we can use this information in our classrooms.

Motivation

Many researchers and psychologists study motivation, ...

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