Education these days is hard, isn’t it? Between classes, sports, clubs, or home activities, school can be more than just a brain drain. High school grades matter for college and scholarships, so school success is more important than ever. That’s pretty stressful, right? Here are three easy hacks you can use to help improve your high school student’s education.
Tip #1: Teach Valuable Time Management
One of the most important skills to focus on with your child, especially if they’re new to the high school game, is simple time management. Unlike middle school, high school due dates tend to be stricter and less flexible with teachers less willing to give full credit just for turning something in.
Luckily, your child’s phone — often a source of distraction — can be a major help in getting work done. Most phones contain a calendar app and an alarm function. Teach your child to use both of those as reminders. Need to bring the geometry text? Biology project on the cell due next Tuesday? Make an alarm. Having your child select and program their own apps for crucial reminders will involve them in the process.
Tip #2: Understand the Teenage Brain
Just about the time that education grades become serious is about the same moment many teenagers start chafing at parental controls and restrictions. You’ve probably heard your teenage child say some variation on “I’ve got this. It’s my business,” or express frustration when cautious parents don’t seem to get how competent they are.
That clash between feeling competent and sometimes impulsively failing to plan ahead is due to a developing sense of executive function in the adolescent brain. Executive function is responsible for strategy, time management, and planning, and it’s still under construction when those high school years hit.
From an educational perspective, it means that your teenager is going to need a bit of assistance in learning long-term planning and putting off immediate gratification. However, if they’re genuinely struggling with a course and need a highly qualified tutor, a service such as Bee Academic Tutoring can meet with your child in your own home to give them that extra explanation and reinforcement that can make all the difference.
Tip #3: Let Students Figure Out Problems By Themselves
Want to know one of the best ways to help your child learn? Let them figure out their own mistakes. There’s a temptation to intervene with a child’s education and question (or blame) teachers for every missing paper or low test grade. This makes sense when your child is five, but it makes less sense when they’re fifteen, doesn’t it?
Ultimately, your child needs to learn to self-advocate. Help with your child’s education by teaching them to talk to the teacher on their own. Teach your child to email the teacher independently to ask about missing work, clarify directions, or do make-ups. Teachers are often willing to help students who explain that they don’t understand a concept.
