High school can be a bucket load of stress for your teen, so they need all the study help they can get to succeed in school. Even though teens want independence, they still require support in their studies to attain success. A school is a place where kids from different backgrounds come together to learn, and for your child to stand out, you need to put in serious effort to assist their learning process.
It might be a little difficult to render school assistance to your teen because, let’s face it, it’s been a while since you left school, and you might not remember everything, but helping your kids through school requires conscious sacrifices that only a great parent can make.
Endeavor to make school less about report cards and more about what kids have learned. Here are several methods by which you can help their teens succeed in school:
Attend Meetings and Conferences
Although it might seem like too much work, attending academic meetings and conferences can assist in your child’s achievement. This is because, in such meetings, you have the liberty of personally discussing your teen’s academics with their teachers. You can ask questions and dig for information about their participation in extracurricular activities.
Due to certain constraints, it might be hard to show up for these meetings, but the benefits are too good to pass up. Developing a closer relationship with your children’s teachers would make it easier for them to contact you to discuss any problems later.
Arrange a Distraction-Free Zone
A distraction-free zone is a location that is clear of any diversion or interference and is highly suitable for students to work during homework time. “Teenagers are easily distracted,” says Crystal Maust, a writer at PapersOwl that specializes in the educational process. “To ensure their study environment is suitable for their schooling process, parents have to take charge and clear out all distracting content for a little while.”
The home should be a safe place for them, and the moment they are about to get their homework done, all interference should be put on hold. TVs off, smartphones down, and attention focused on getting the job done.
Help Them Prepare in The Morning
It takes a lot of mental strength for teens to get up and prepare in the morning. So many teenagers are frustrated with school and find it an absolute bore. As parents, it is vital to create a simple and effective morning routine to help them get started.
A nutritious breakfast is great, but there’s nothing better than positive affirmations. Encourage your children every morning, and let them know how proud you are of them. Building a routine based on encouragement like this is infallible and beneficial. It fortifies them mentally and provides the strength to face each class.
Render Academic Help
Teenagers might exude an air of independence so acute, parents might feel the need to take several steps back. This is very common amongst kids their age, but leaving them alone is not in their best interests. They are often confused with certain homework and are just too proud to come to ask for help.
As guardians, you should always be ready to help with assignments. Ask if they need assistance, and render it to them. In cases where they were given essays, math, or other subjects that you have no clue about, you can always get them outside assistance for ease of stress. Several online platforms are available to provide this to them, and students should do well to take advantage of it.
Remain Engaged
For a parent, as easy as it might be to give your teenagers independence, it is usually not to their benefit. It is not uncommon to see guardians leave their teenagers all to themselves because they are already in high school. This behavior is detrimental to both parties.
Stay engaged in your children’s lives, from kindergarten, to middle school, up until college. The moment you start to withdraw from their lives, they relax, and their educational life starts to take a blow. Be intentional about your engagement. Ask crucial questions about their education, and put in efforts to be involved. Check their tests and aptitudes. Read their essays. This would keep them on their toes, and they would always strive to be their best because they know you would notice their effort or lack thereof.
Be Serious with Attendance
As an educational organization, schools take attendance very seriously, and so should you as a parent. Attendance takes up a section of their overall scores, and whether they are serious with it or not, it would appear on their final reports.
If your kid is sick and would not go to school, contact a teacher or the principal. It is also crucial to let your teenagers know the importance of attendance because some skip classes without their guardians’ knowledge. Also, alarms should always be set to avoid them being late.
Instill Habit Discipline
You might not be around your teenager at all times, so it is necessary to instill behavioral discipline in them. Teach them to separate playtime from homework time. Without parental guidance, teenagers are content to while away during the day and then rush through their assignments in the night or early morning.
Educate them on how to limit TV and social media time to entertain other educational exercises. Give them books to read, and also organizational tips for effective planning. Once they have grasped these skills and inculcated them into their daily lives, the rest is easy.
Effort Over Results
Whether deliberately or unintentionally, so many parents worship grades over effort. They do these in subtle ways like pasting good results on the walls for everyone to see and punishing the child who had bad scores. As much as this might seem like an effective training method, it is a slow slide that would lead to failure.
Recognize efforts as a family, and praise them. As long as there is effort, the results will surely come. It might be slow, as Rome was not built in a day, but it will come. Record a progress report each week, so you can see how these efforts are gradually paying off, and talk to your teenager politely if you notice any faults.
Conclusion
Do not be dogmatic about assisting your kid. Use subtle methods to offer assistance, and always remember to talk positively. Encouraging your child would work better than aggressive policing. Also, remember to engage them in discussions about their educational lives too. Once they know their parents are interested in their academics, they tend to take things more seriously.
