Making activities relevant to ones needs raises motivation, for example, talk to preschoolers about the here and now.
At best itās a balancing act. Usually the threat of a grade is too remote to influence a childās action now. On the other hand, the fear and anxiety created by tests and grades can energize us.
But then too much fear and anxiety can have an adverse effect in that we may experience a "melt down."
Making things relevant to pupils' or students' needs and interests is a much better way to go, but much more allusive to achieve.
For me, in college chemistry, physics and math were nothing but boring mental exercises like moving stones from here to there and back.
But when someone linked them into the framework of an explanation for the Universe, how it developed, where it came from, and where it is going, these sciences for me become alive and fascinating.
For preschoolers it means talk about the here and now.