Parenting Tips Teen Encourage Good Study Habits

 

Teen

Encourage Good Study Habits

As with any habit (good or bad), the sooner good study habits are developed, the better they will stick. It's never too early to introduce your child to positive study habits, which will reward his or her efforts throughout school and life.

Steps:

Be a good role model. If you sometimes bring work home with you or you're taking a course yourself, your child will learn your habits. Make them good!

Help your child organize things. For example, the protractor and compass belong to the math binder, sheet music in the violin case.

Help him or her organize space. The kitchen table is for eating; your child's desk is for studying.

Help your child organize time. Establish a routine for completing schoolwork. It doesn't have to be the minute your child walks in the door; just agree on a set time and stick to it.

Minimize distractions. Thirteen-year-old wisdom notwithstanding, geometric proofs are not better retained when learned concurrently with loud music, "South Park" and a telephone receiver at one ear.

Check your child's work. Every night is unnecessary, but check it often enough that he or she knows you might - and that you care.

Insist that sloppy or careless work be redone, but don't correct errors; teachers need to know what students don't know.

Give praise whenever possible and appropriate. A sincere expression of pride in your child's academic accomplishments can go a long way toward making studying a habit.

Parenting Tips Help a Teen Find a Job

 

Teen

Help a Teen Find a Job

1. Sit down together and assess skills, expectations and requirements, just as you would do for yourself.

2. Discuss options, taking into account your teen's time availability and transportation needs.

3. Think creatively: If your daughter wants to be a tennis star, maybe she can work at the local tennis club. Or your wannabe reporter can call local newspapers and radio stations for an intern position.

4. Help your teen create a résumé, even if this is her first working experience. A teen résumé can include academic and extracurricular information and can mention awards, honors and relevant skills and interests.

5. Role-play with your teen. Listen to her ask for the job and describe her strengths, and coach her on what she should say in response to questions the interviewer may pose.

6. Make a list of possible contacts, including both yours and your child's.

7. Get phone numbers and encourage the teen to call for job possibilities. 8. Once your teen has applied for a job, encourage her to make a follow-up call if the management doesn't respond within a week.

Parenting Tips Motivate Your Child

 

Encouragement

Motivate Your Child

1. Talk with your child about what you're reading: Share interesting newspaper and magazine articles, point out beautiful words from books and introduce new vocabulary. 2. Provide a good selection of books for your child so that he or she can always find one of interest. 3. Have your child pick out books in addition to the ones you choose.

4. Discuss the books with your child as he or she reads them. Ask questions about themes, characters and how the story might relate to real life. 5. Help your child build confidence by allowing him or her to reread a book several times. 6. Reward your child for reading new books.

Prepare your child for the First Day of School

1. Begin preparing your child a few weeks before the big day (sooner, if this is his or her first school experience or a new school). If your household has relaxed bedtime and morning routines over the summer months, start to wake your child a little earlier each morning, and move bedtime up 15 minutes every few nights to re-establish "school hours." 2. Plan a "back-to-school" shopping day with each child individually, and make it a special event. Of course, you'll set (and try to stick to) a general budget, but leave some room for one or two small extravagances (reuse last year's backpack, but buy this year's hottest cartoon-character notebook).

3. Before the big clothes-shopping trip, spend some time with each child sorting through last year's things and decide together what goes into which pile (keeper, hand-me-down or donate). Insist that your child try on every keeper.

4. For a new year in a new school, plan a visit there a week or so before the first day. Walk through the building locating the classrooms, bathrooms and lunchroom.

5. If your child will be riding the bus, find out the route he or she will take and take a drive on it together a few times. If he or she is a walker, plan the route and walk it together both ways.

6. Help your child deal with first-day jitters by focusing on some special advantage of, for example, being a fourth-grader. Perhaps your child is now old enough for his or her own house key, an increase in allowance or some other new privilege.

7. Celebrate the big day. Go out for dinner or plan a special meal the night before, or present your child with a small gift.

Parenting Tips - Primary schooler’s

 

Primary schooler’s

Physical development

• Between the ages of six and 12 children grow in height while their body proportions stay the same. This is different from babyhood and adolescence where dramatic physical development occurs. • Children get their second teeth between five and seven years of age.

• School children need and like lots of physical activities. This is the time they develop organised sport skills. They also enjoy rough and tumble play and group activities such as chasey and ball games. They are lively and loud as they play.

• They are more coordinated and their finger and hand skills develop as they get older. They are now able to learn a musical instrument, do fine hand work such as sewing or model making and enjoy simple dressmaking and cooking.

• Children of this age let off steam by being physical. Make sure there's a balance between play and sport. Some children will need extra support and encouragement.

• Feeling good about their bodies and physical skills is very important for your child's self image. If you are concerned about your child speak to the teacher, a physiotherapist or doctor.

• It's important that the primary schooler has a nutritionally balanced diet so their best physical and motor development can be achieved.

• During the seven years of primary school, children will refine and modify skills such as running, climbing, galloping and hopping. They will learn how to skip, how to throw, catch and kick a ball and catch a ball with more dexterity.

• From middle primary onwards, particularly in girls, early signs of puberty can occur.

Encouragement

Will Power

Perhaps the most important ingredient for success is a strong will power i.e. the power to control ones impulses and actions and not to give up in the face of difficulty. Beethoven turned deaf but he did not surrender to his fate : he struggled and made a resounding success of his life by his indomitable spirit. One is not necessarily born with his spirit ; it is a skill which can be sharpened by practice. People who indulge in vices like excessive drinking, gambling and taking drugs sometimes wish to stop but can not because they lack in will power. It can be built up gradually by resisting temptations. Children can begin by refusing to see a movie or a favorite TV program for a week : they can refrain from indulging in gossip or criticizing somebody for ten days. Setting deadlines for achieving a particular target, say reducing one's weight by 2 Kgs within one month, would help tremendously. Writing your specific goal would go a long way in developing a will power. By saying that, "I am going to study more" would not be of use but deciding to study to study for 2 hours a day is indicative of definiteness.

• Children should be allowed to succumb to peer pressure : They should follow their own beliefs. Let them tell themselves that they are good. Self esteem and positive feeling about oneself spur people to excel. So a child's concept of self should never be trampled upon. Let boys and girls feel that they belong to a respectable family, a good community, a good school and a great country. it gives them the will power to overcome their moments of weakness.

Communication

Kids ought to know that we communicate in many ways : orally, in writing, through body language, not doing something which is expected, silence, tone, pitch, eye contact and so on. The way we sit, stand, walk or talk, all speak of our personality, confidence and character. Children should fully grasp that clear and precise speaking presupposes clear thinking crystallized ideas. Therefore children should be made to practice communication skills in all possible ways.

Training In Childhood

Encourage your ward to take on responsibility in early days. Whatever position is offered to your child ( say Monitor of the class, a perfect, Captain of a team, secretary of a club or society, participation in debates, dances, comparing a program, taking parts in dramas etc.) should be voluntarily accepted by children for getting trained, besides assisting them in developing and sharpening their talents. There are thousands of situations where responsibility can be undertaken and the qualities needed for a successful life honed. At home parents can provide an opportunity to their children to express their views fearlessly in family matters. They could be asked to initiate discussion. They can be given the responsibility of soliciting the opinion of other family members and then either take a decision or bring about a consensus. Inspiring stories of great men to their progeny: tell them how they achieved greatness. Inspiring stories quotations, parables, anecdotes, examples of tenacious, adventurous people go a long way in instilling the spirit of success. Great players, musicians, artists, inventors, and authors have all climbed the ladder of success by constant practice.

Hard Work

This brings us to the fact that rarely do we achieve something without hard work and sacrifice. Spectacular achievers can be distinguished from low achievers because they focused more on what they wanted to achieve and worked towards it with full commitment and enthusiasm. They applied their energies to their strengths with total dedication and relentlessness.

Enthusiasm

Let children be enthusiastic about what they are doing. They should think, talk and dream about it. Enthusiasm helps one to do a great deal of work without fatigue. Those who achieve success are always full of fired . The spark is there in most of the youths : we as parents have only to ignite it. The process may be slow but surely it is possible. So allow your child to dream the impossible, for if there is no dream there will be nothing for him to achieve! Remember the winner's podium is for those who seek it and try for it.

Parenting Tips - Primary schooler’s

 

Primary schooler’s

Learning difficulties

• Children achieve in many ways.

• Some children:

• speak well • can tell you about their thoughts and feelings • imagine well • solve problems

• think things through • are very aware of other people and can work well in groups.

• Sometimes children seem very bright and can talk well but are not very good with numbers and logical thinking. Or they may read badly but be very good at sports. Try to focus on things children do well.

• Underachieving means a child isn't doing well in something they are normally good at.

• Below are some of the reasons children don't do well:

• They're stressed because everyone expects them to do well. • They want to show they can make their own decisions. • They want to show they are different from their brothers or sisters.

• They want to be accepted by friends. • They want to show they are like their friends. • They don't want to be teased.

• They are distracted by family problems, friendships or another interest.

• They find a new task difficult when usually they have found learning easy. It's hard for a child who is good at learning to suddenly have trouble with it.

• They don't check their work. • The health and wellbeing of the child may be affected. • Feeling useless in some areas often makes them feel they are not good at anything.

Primary schooler’s

Sports and games

• Physical play and games help children improve their coordination and balance. • Children develop healthy habits by being physically active everyday. This also helps their future health.

• Young children gain confidence through sport and physical activity.

• Physical games are different to organised sport. Organised sport usually requires training and practice. There are rules, teamwork, commitment, competition, winning and losing.

• Some children don't like organized sport but there are other things they can enjoy such as:

• bike riding • playing in the waves at the beach • bush and nature walks • hopscotch

• bouncing on a trampoline • swinging • climbing trees • digging in the garden

• made up games with friends • picnic cricket, rounder.

• Play should be fun. • Appreciate all children's efforts when trying something new.

• Be honest with yourself about the child's level of skill, maturity and ability. • Never compare your child with a friend or sibling.

Parenting Tips - Primary schooler’s

 

Primary schooler’s

Friends

• School can be a bewildering and lonely place for a child.

• Each child likes to belong to a social group. Friends are very important because they provide support and encouragement during school.

• Encourage your children to invite friends home.

• Making and keeping friends is a skill children usually learn during their preschool years. They know how to introduce themselves, enjoy playing, can join groups, take turns in talking, share and seek out friends. They'll also have some skills in solving problems.

• Younger primary school children base their friendships on helping and sharing.

• Older children develop longer lasting friendships which are based on trust and loyalty.

• Children will have short and longer friendships.

• School friendships can be very strong because children see each other daily for several years.

• Some families may move frequently or live a long distance from the school and this can make it difficult for children to have friendships.

• You can help your children's friendships grow and endure by:

• actively listening to your child without trying to solve their problems • helping them with practical things like transport, phone calls and making visiting arrangements

• taking an interest in your child's friends and getting to know them • spending time with your child and their friends

• giving them safe spaces to do things on their own • finding out interesting things for them to do and experience and suggesting different ways to think about problems

• remaining non judgmental.