Struggling to get your child to perform better in school. Here are 10 tips on how to help your teenager succeed in high school!
Did you know that the average teenager has higher stress levels than the average adult? Most of that stress derives from high school!
First of all, pat yourself on the back for actively seeking out advice to help your teenager succeed in high school!
You’re already making the first step and that’s important.
Let’s dive into the 10 tips!
Sit Them Down and Talk
Your teen might be shocked by the sudden change of you trying to better monitor their success in their classes.
That’s why you have to sit them down and calmly talk about the following things:
- Changes that are going to happen
- What to expect when they perform well
- How you’re going to help out
- Explain that you’re only there to help
I highly recommend you make yourself a little plan on a piece of paper as to how you’re going to do this after reading through this article.
Make life easier on you and your teen by mapping out the steps that are going to be taken which will eventually lead them to success!
Reward Good Behavior
Rewarding good behavior is probably the best thing you can do to help your teenager succeed in high school!
Positive reinforcement is still the best proven way to develop new healthy habits such as studying harder and getting better grades.
Here are a few ways you can reward good behavior:
- Buy them lunch
- Give them money
- Allow them more time to play video games/ do other hobbies
- Let them have friends over
- Get them a tool that helps with their hobby
- Give them a privilege that they usually don’t have
- Extend a curfew
- Hype them up on their win
Sometimes the smallest forms of encouragement and rewarding is enough to keep them pushing and getting better in their class!
Try to make it something that can be done often without putting a dent in your finances that your teen still really appreciates.
Related Post: 15 Things Teenagers Wish Their Parents Knew
Be Understanding
Teenagers are way more stressed out than you might think, which is why they might be struggling in high school.
If they’ve had a bad day or can’t seem to understand a certain topic, listen to them and ask what you can do to help them.
They just want to know that you’re there for them and not against them. It’s easy for a parent to be disappointed when their child isn’t succeeding.
Now is exactly the time when you should take action by being attentive towards your teenager.
Check in Less Often, But for Longer
If you’re always on top of them, they’ll never feel like they can breathe. Conversely, if you’re never attentive, they’ll feel like you don’t care (which makes them not care).
Check in less often, but when you do check in, sit them down and have a longer conversation about how things are going.
This helps avoid stressing them out and gives them a little more freedom to do what they need to do.
I highly recommend checking in once a week for about 10 minutes to review assignments, upcoming tests, and any help your teenager needs to succeed.
Know Their Classes
Know what classes they’re taking, who the teachers are, and the big assignments that are required for each.
To help your teenager succeed in high school, you have to understand that their success is your success. Be involved and take action!
To ease your conscience, ask your teenager to print you a copy of each syllabus for every class and just keep it by your side.
Again, if you don’t care about your child’s success in school, what makes you think they’ll care about it?
The fact that you’re reading this shows that you do care, now go make sure that your teen knows that too!
Related Post: How to Be a Successful Teenager
Stay Calm
Listen up parents!
If you’re the type to get upset at their teen for not succeeding, you’re doing it wrong. There’s a time and a place for certain punishment, but this is not it.
It’ll only stress them out more if they feel attacked for doing poorly. They’ll start to resent school because they feel like nothing will make you happy.
Don’t judge them for making mistakes and not keeping up with their life in high school.
You’ll see a massive change to how your teenager acts towards you as well. Most of the time, they will match your energy (not the other way around).
Help Out With Food
Not every parent will have the luxury of preparing home cooked meals 24/7 for their kids… I get it.
Do your best to at least get them the right nutritious foods so they can perform better at school.
Making them a healthy breakfast (or preparing one the night before) and quality snacks/meals throughout the day will ensure a level headed brain!
Use any candies, chocolates, and fast food for when they’ve just done well on a test. This will feel like a reward for them that they don’t get often.
Help Them Develop Other Habits
When possible, reward them for things outside of high school and grades. There are many benefits to growing a well-rounded teenager.
Here are a few other habits you can reward your teenager for doing:
- Having a good sleep schedule
- Exercising
- Creating a daily routine
- Setting goals
- Having a social life
- Utilizing a schedule
- Cleaning their room, dishes, etc.
Not only will these habits naturally strengthen because they’re being rewarded, but they will also have a direct positive effect on their grades!
The key to success is not situated in just one thing. It’s about the harmony of multiple good habits that create a healthy whole.
Related Post: Daily Routine for Teenage Guys and Teenage Girls
Give Them Privacy
A teenager’s privacy is like a blanket that keeps them safe. The moment you start to forcefully lift that blanket, the more your teenager will be on edge.
This will cause them to hide things from you (things that may be important for school).
The point is, give them their space when they’re doing what you want them to be doing.
For example, leave them alone when they’re studying or doing homework. Knock on the door when you need something or just shoot them a quick text.
Calling them from across the house will only stress them out more when they’re deeply focused on their tasks. Plus, they’ll want to talk to you less!
Quiz Them
A great way to show your involvement and have a direct effect on their success is by quizzing them when they have upcoming tests.
Certain classes will already have a format that is suitable for quizzing such as History or Geography classes.
If you have their syllabi on hand, you’ll already know when tests and quizzes are coming up, so you can ask your teen if they need help.
They will not only appreciate your effort to help them, but they’ll likely be more encouraged to keep studying!
Conclusion
Understand that it’s not the end of the world if your teenager doesn’t do well in high school.
As long as they develop other great habits along the way, they will always be in better shape than other students.
Habits like working hard, exercising, taking care of themselves will always win in the end. Plus, they technically have a second chance…
Community college is a super cheap and easy way for your teenager to have a second chance at doing well before going to university!
I highly recommend reading through the tips one more time and getting started on a plan for how to help your teenager succeed in high school.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions leave them down below. Thanks for reading!
