Potential Magazine august 2013 | Page 30

GO A L FOR IT! The beginning of a new school year is a great time to set some year-end goals. Try these ideas: Find the time to sit down with your teen and make a list of things that you’d both like to see them accomplish in the coming months. Write each goal on its own page in a notebook, and break large things into manageable increments to take some of the pressure off. You may want to set a reward for major achievements to help motivate your teen. Don’t forget to keep track of your teen’s progress throughout the year, making notes as they hit important milestones and detailing how they overcame challenges and hurdles. TEENS GOALS GET ORGANIZED GO SOLO ON PROJECTS PARENTS Losing work, scrambling to find supplies, forgetting test dates — They all lead to frustration and will affect grades. Provide some organizing systems with a place for study aids and an area that they keep items going to school. tive to ique perspec ct. Use your un to any proje eativity add some cr Review the final draft for helpful suggestions but refrain from doing or re-doing the work. Avoid looking up the assignments on the teacher website. Monitor progress and discipline for incomplete and shoddy work. DO THE WORK Be responsible for homework assignments. CHOOSE FRIENDS WISELY Avoid “guilty by association.” Define what you want in a friend. FILL IN THE GAPS Set out to fill in weak or missing areas on your resume. Help your teen fill out their teen resume. Scan this QR code to get an example at PotentialMagazine.com. Resolve to succeed in the tough course and survive a tough teacher. Coach your teen on ways to handle different situations and how to resolve issues or conflict. HANG TOUGH KEEP A CALENDAR TAKE GOOD NOTES BE ALERT & CONCENTRATE READ, READ & READ SOME MORE 30 Give them guidance and bou ndaries — This is a large “derailing” issu e for teens. activities, especially Keep a calendar of s like studying, unstructured activitie th friends. time wi working out and No one can write as fast as the teacher can talk (and boy can they talk!), but writing key facts to keep you on track when studying is an important skill to master. Learn to learn. Commit to outside reading whether books or newspapers, as long as it is interesting! www.potentialmagazine.com Coordinate with teens and have them communicate their time commitments to you. Avoid the tendency to schedule their time for them. Have them tell you about the lecture based on their notes. Give them accountability until you feel like they have made it a habit. Encourage teens to ask questions silently to themselves about wh at they are hearing and writing do wn. If they are confused, remind them to ask it out loud. Learning to read and comprehend the written word is valuable for standardized tests and schoolwork.