How To Help Your Adolescent Earn Better Grades. Wow, I guess it pays to study.

Transcription

1 How To Help Your Adolescent Earn Better Grades Wow, I guess it pays to study.

2 A Place To Study Set-up a study area that has few distractions. Quiet with little traffic through the room Study away from the computer unless they are using it for an assignment.

3 Turn off the cell phone and television. Okay to listen to music but preferably without words. Desk or table to spread out

4 Supplies Make sure there are plenty of supplies on-hand at home because you know your child will only tell you that they need something for an assignment when it is due the next day. Poster board, notebook paper, graph paper, calculator, ruler, protractor, compass, pens, pencils, whiteout, erasers, color markers, color pencils, glue, computer paper, disks, ink cartridges, 3-ring notebooks Buy a supply of these items at the beginning of the year and store them.

5 How Long To Study This varies but a general guideline is 10 minutes per grade level each night. Most high school students study and complete homework for 2 to 3 hours each evening. Try to encourage a regular homework timeknow your child - some need a break right after school.

6 Know how long your child is capable of concentrating and encourage them to take short breaks. Most teenagers are only able to concentrate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Caution your child against working for completion rather than accuracy.

7 Encouragement and Rewards General advice from professionals is that parents should not pay for good grades. But for some students this works. Remind them that what they do now affects their future. Reward with privileges and family outings/celebrations.

8 How much help is too much? I got detention today because I refused to reveal Dad as my confidential homework source.

9 Teachers know when parents have helped too much!!!

10 Its okay to do the following: Give them suggestions about how to get started. Help them break-up large projects into smaller steps. Help them set priorities. Quiz them.

11 Explain concepts that are confusing. Show them how to work a problem or two. Check their homework. Proofread or edit their papers (if you read the paper out loud to them they will catch many of the mistakes themselves).

12 Time Management Model the importance of using the agenda by pointing out your use of a daily planner. Students should record study time needed as well as homework. Only about 1/3 of what is written in the agenda should be actual homework assignments. The remainder should be planned study and review. Encourage them to get in the habit of pulling out their agendas when they get home to check what they need to do that evening.

13 Leave the agenda out until all work is completed. Help them to get into the habit of using a large calendar for projects and tests. Use the large calendar to break-up projects into steps. Encourage them to prioritize work and set goals.

14 Textbook Use Teachers are finding that students are reading their textbooks less frequently. This is a major reason for failure in college. When students complete their homework they are scanning for answers rather than taking the time to read thoroughly.

15 Encourage your child to read from their textbooks every night. If they have difficulty staying focused on what they are reading encourage them to take notes on the main ideas, key concepts, important people and vocabulary. When reading novels and short stories encourage them to develop a list of characters as they are introduced and their role in the story.

16 Test Preparation Boy, what rotten luck. The guy in front of me didn t study for the test either.

17 Usually 90% of test questions come from homework. If a student is not completing their homework for accuracy they probably will not do well on their tests. Study guides should be completed on separate sheets of paper and they should include all important information about each item. Break up study time over several days.

18 Study Cards Encourage your child to develop study cards from their homework assignments, handouts, notes, and textbooks. Cards should include key concepts, vocabulary, important people, etc. When studying the cards students should only attempt to learn 3 or 4 at a time.

19 When they have learned the first group, add 3 or 4 more cards. This is a good time to help them by quizzing them with the cards. Reviewing study cards the last 10 min. before they go to sleep will help them to remember the information.

20 Organization I lost my homework in my backpack.

21 Usually students need a notebook for each class. Check the teacher s syllabus for individual notebook requirements. In general a 3-ring binder for each class with appropriate dividers.

22 Having a 3-hole punch at home will help them to stay organized. Encourage your child to date all notes, assignments, and handouts so that they can keep their notebook in chronological order.

23 Encourage your child to use a locker so that they don t have to carry so many books and notebooks. If notebooks become burdensome then develop a file system at home for each subject. Do not allow students to discard old handouts, assignments, tests, etc.

24 Maintaining all information in an organized manner is important for end of course tests and final exams. These exams count for 15% of the total grade. Students should try to have at least a 75 class average going into these tests or they may fail.

25 Memory Skills It takes 10 or more repetitions of information to remember it for a test. Encourage the use of mnemonics such as acronyms, acrostics, and rhymes. Many students have difficulty developing this skill or don t want to take the time to think of mnemonic. Parents can help by making up a mnemonic for them the sillier the better.

26 Note Taking Teachers will not always tell students when to take notes. They expect them to know when it is necessary. Students should spend about half of their time listening and the other half writing down key ideas, connections, examples, people, dates, etc.

27 If notes are messy or unclear they should be recopied. Creating a concept map from notes is another good way to prepare for tests.

28 Concept Map

29 Problems When there is a problem your child should first try to solve the problem without your help. When that is not successful then parents should get involved by either calling or e- mailing the teacher. If that is not successful then request a teacher conference.

30 When your child is having problems in more than one class, contact the counselor to set-up a conference with all the teachers. Teachers are generally available before or after school for individual help.

31 Some teachers have web sites that provide information on homework, projects, tests, etc. Private tutoring may be beneficial Debbie Bassett (suite 1320) has a list of tutors available. Check Parent Connect.

32 QUESTIONS????