Not that anyone cares but I use a very different model with my children. My children are showered with open love and affection. It is human nature to want to return that and the most natural way for children to do that is to try to please their parents. When they come home I go through their back-packs and celebrations with high -fives abound everyday. Less than perfect work is not celebrated as much but is not chastized either.
For the first several years we sit down and do their work together. I dont do it for them, but I guide them and encourage them to ask me questions and think freely. We often end up on Google investigating things together. When they show an interest in something I make it happen for them. As an example, last week my 11 yr old son came home with questions about biology. We went online and learned what we could but his appetite for knowledge exceeded mine. Two days, later he came home to a microscope and I set up an hour of time with a neighbor who is a biochemist to teach and inspire him. Since then we go out hunting for micro-organisms view under his microscope and learn about. He loves to learn and has a passion to do so. He asks questions and has an insatiable thirst to find answers. IMO, the goal should not be to create a drive to be successful but to create a real passion for learning. With that true success and lifelong happiness are far more likely.
As an interesting aside, when my kids are around adults they are openly talkative and social inquisitive also whereas I see most others afraid to speak to the adults. When they find out what people do they get into real conversations with them about real topics. Not just video games and sports. Every day they impress me more and more at the people they are becoming. Watching this all happen from a front row seat is the most rewarding part of my life.
