The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child

Lavoie is a skilled writer who has over thirty years experience working with children in schools and with children with learning disabilities. His depth of caring and his compassion for all children is clear throughout the book as he seeks parents and teachers to do the right thing for children even if it means being less convenient or abandoning a philosophy they thought was `one right way of doing things'.It seemed to me that Lavoie wanted to condense all that he's learned in his career into one volume which led me to feel `information overload' more than once. The book is nearly 400 pages, is not large font and does not have much white space on the page, this is information dense (which can be a good thing, it certainly is a good value for the money but on the other hand it may overwhelm some readers). I read the book cover to cover, slowly, carefully and thoughtfully and it took me two months to get through it. My volume is filled with margin notes and underlines, it's that type of book!Reviewing this is not an easy task to say the least. I say these things not to complain but to give you an indication that this book is a valuable compilation of LOTS of information to digest. It has many ideas and even overlapping into parenting realms of adult/child relations, respect, communication, rules, behavior, discipline and punishment. It also has a few systems and approaches the likes of which other authors have similarly put into smaller individual books with just one system. Again this one volume provides a lot of information to process and put into action and it requires an open-minded reader who might have to admit they've been doing a wrong thing or two and to hear Lavoie's ideas for how they should change (to get the child motivated about learning). The book is overarching and is a work that some other authors might have chosen to chop up to create at least four different books!The book is intended for two main parties: parents of schooled children and school teachers and it has a special interest to parents of children with learning disabilities. I feel that some information provided for parents should be read by the teachers and some provided with practical information only for teachers to use in their classrooms should be read by the parents. In other words I advise that both parents and teachers should read the whole book cover to cover. If you skip some chapters you will miss important nuggets of information.Lavoie provides insight into the minds of children with various learning disabilities and also ADD/ADHD and tells why most suffer with learned helplessness that leads to a lack of motivation. Why children with learning disabilities will not perform well with popular behavioral modification classroom tactics or with rewards programs is fully explained. He often refers to the writings and ideas of MEL LEVINE such as in the book A MIND AT A TIME.In short to create an ideal environment all negative influences should be removed and then more ideal and better practices should be put into place. If the environment is right then the formerly unmotivated child may switch gears to be motivated and have success in school (and in life).The book provides lots of information for parents to understand their children, whether they have a learning disability or not. It tells some inside information usually only known to teachers that may help the parent advocate for their child. It provides information on how to help a child with homework and how to be an active partner with the school but not cross the line to be a problem in the child's school.Another topic touched upon is parenting or dealing with a student who is strong-willed and who is `motivated by power'. Some information about those types of children overlaps with and some provides contradictory advice from what some parenting books on the market about those types of children say. Lavoie is in the camp of a kinder, gentler parenting style. Although he never mentions him I recognized some of the same parenting strategies and communication and praise recommendations as being in line with WILLIAM SEARS M.D., author or THE DISCIPLINE BOOK and THE SUCCESSFUL CHILD (to name just two). Some similarities about teaching, learning, schools and respect are in line with the ideas and books of JOHN HOLT such as in his book HOW CHILDREN FAIL.Teachers may be surprised to learn Lavoie's opinions on some common classroom learning strategies and discipline strategies because he feels they often will produce the opposite effect than they intend to (a shocking notion for some to accept). Lots of discussion about rewards systems is included along with research citations to back up the opinions. The book PUNISHED BY REWARDS is frequently referred to and Lavoie is on the same page as author ALFIE KOHN. Lavoie provides a ton of information to school teachers about topics such as behavior expectations, class rules, punishment methods such as punishing by taking away recess, and the really sick policies some teachers have for restricting use of the restroom. (Much of that information about praise, rewards and behavioral mod systems also applies to parents and systems used in the home.)This book is also very much in line with the issue of learning styles and that each child is unique. Thinking that every child is made from the same mold and that all can be treated in a cookie cutter fashion is something that Lavoie rallies against. It is clear that Lavoie realizes the damage that children can suffer from when treated in a `one size fits all' education model (so often used in public school systems).The bulk of the book focuses on a motivation system for children to get them to like learning, to actually do the school work , to develop an internal motivation, and have them learn the information also. A short checklist of personality traits is given and a parent and teacher can try to figure out where each child fits on the spectrum of what motivates them. This information is useful also to parents and can apply to home life and daily interactions with children having nothing to do with school or doing homework.After figuring out the "eight forces of motivation" Lavoie maps out six types of learning experiences that match up with the eight different motivator forces. The gist is the teacher will provide flexibility in learning experiences within the classroom (while all students work toward the same learning goal) and that the teacher will change the work done in the class to provide each unique child with a unique learning experience that touches upon their main internal motivators. By providing each child with work that `moves them' and by removing other negative influences addressed elsewhere in the book, the student will be internally motivated to do their schoolwork , will enjoy learning and will actually learn what they are supposed to learn (and some in spite of their learning disabilities). I love the idea and as a homeschooling mother I can say this does work but frankly how it can work for a class of twenty or so children, some with learning disabilities and all while trying to jump through hoops of standardized testing for NCLB with good scores I don't know how one teacher can make this happen in real life (the realist in me is talking here, sorry for my cynicism).One criticism I have is regarding the chapter for "the people oriented child". I felt the information in this chapter was weak as it had little to do with teaching the child academics (like all the other sections had) Oddly the chapter had buried within it, mostly information that I feel is foundational and deserves to be its own chapter in and of itself as it applies to ALL children. I am referring to the teacher having respect for children and how all adults should treat children (parents too). It goes into detail about how many teachers treat children poorly and rudely and how some also practice unethical behavior. I feel that the fifteen pages dedicated to telling teachers how to better treat children deserves its own chapter that should be applied to every student. Instead of talking about how academics can be tailored to the people-oriented child, the chapter tells the teacher how to help that type of child make friends. Making friends is fine and well but the information on teaching academics to that category of child is absent.This book is fantastic and I can't recommend it highly enough (despite the criticisms I've noted here). The book covers such large ground that to even comment on all of it is not possible. I love everything that Richard Lavoie says and would love to see America's schools embrace his recommendations that would cause a real education reform to happen. Perhaps that is something that teachers can change one classroom at a time to effect change from the inside without the administration, town, county or state even knowing it was happening.This book should be required reading for all teachers and for parents too. There are many things that readers can learn from the author's thirty-plus years of working with children, teachers and with children with learning disabilities. This is an amazing book, a summary of lots of ideas and philosophies combined into one work.Post Script: Autism is not mentioned in this book. The book refers to ADD/ADHD and seems to deal more with children with other learning disabilities than Autism. I don't recall giftedness ever being mentioned (despite schools considering that 'special education' and it being a huge component of an individualized learning plan).

I enjoyed reading the book cover to cover, and took quite a few notes to help me with my ADHD son. Lavoie has a lot of experience and really loves his work, so the book is bound to have plenty of great tips. I did not agree with every idea, and I think its view of human motivation is extremely oversimplified and geared only to the modern culture, and to education as it is practiced in a modern school. But these limitations are acceptable, since the book is intended for teachers in just that environment.Realistically, while it is not acceptable to "give up" on any kid, it also bears mentioning that time and human resources are really limited in a classroom. It is not unreasonable to concentrate educational efforts on those more easily motivated kids who will benefit from them the most, so as to get the most use out of the 1100 or so hours actually available. People who are making their best efforts need to cut themselves some slack if not every kid responds.The book could have been improved by being somewhat shorter, and organized so as to help busy people get those few tips or techniques that would help them the most. Too many ideas, not prioritized, only manage to overwhelm people, or to move them in an unfocused and slapdash manner. Readers should use the book with heavy note taking in mind to get good value from the material.

Rich Lavoie's book, The Motivation Breakthrough, gives specific techniques and strategies for teaching children, especially hard-to-reach children. I chose to read this book so that I could learn more about the psyche of "difficult" children and ways in which I can meet their educational and emotional needs as a special education teacher. I also appreciate the fact that Lavoie is an expert in the field of special education and that the information in his book comes from both educational research and his personal experiences teaching special education.While Lavoie does present many great strategies, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of depth in the book. I ended up skimming many parts of the book to find information that was new to me. I think this book was mainly written with parents in mind and it is a good resource for parents looking for ways to motivate their children. However, if you are already very familiar with the needs of students with LDs you may be slightly disappointed with this book. Overall, I would highly recommend this book for parents and teachers that are looking for ways to motivate their children/students.

President Obama should award.him with some medal for comapssion and understanding. He understands students and offers sound advice on how to help them. There are some paradigm shifting suggestions here that can help teachers struggling with learners who appear reluctant. The first step is to understand that they might want to learn, but have a motivation, for example, not to risk looking stupid, that is stronger than their desire to learn. Once teachers help bridge that, they can help that student thrive. My favorite piece so far is success deprivation, ehich describes that we focus on gold star behavior-only celebrating our best, instead of celebrating all students'personal bests-displaying works that have progression. FAT CITY video is a must watch also by him. It was a humbling experience.

Excellent book for anyone with a serious interest in education theory and practice.

Book in great conditions. I was definitely pleased with my order and outcome.

This book is most effective in sparking the interest and joy of kids. This book describe how important and easy to motivate a child on a regular basis. I recommend it to all teachers and parents.

Saw Mr Lavoie talk awhile back and felt that I needed to hear more about what he was saying. His book is a great tool for those that have difficult classes.