Teaching teens study skills

With school back in session after summer break, many students are thinking about improving their grades with college as a goal. How can parents teach study skills to ensure their children’s success? We all learn through experience, and developing strong study skills is part of that process. Here are a few ideas that may work.

First, let your child experiment and fail in your home rather than at an expensive university. If he likes to study with music on or the TV blaring while answering text messages, let him. Your job is to monitor his test grades and give him feedback.

Set up an agreement that you see every graded assignment he hands in. Anything less than a B means his study atmosphere must be changed. Distracted study doesn’t usually work. So it’s your job to provide that evidence to your teen.

Next, ask your student how he reads a text. If he skims and scans an assignment without taking notes or researching key words, he is probably not focused on the job. Go through a few pages with him and show him how it’s done. If you’re clueless, hire a tutor.

To help organize your student, provide a planner or calendar so he can determine the work that needs to be completed on a daily basis.

Finally, set a date every month or so to sit down with your child and ask these three key questions:

1. What successes did you have in school this month?
2. What failures did you believe you had?
3. What do you think needs to be changed?

During their high school career teens will make mistakes, do poorly on a few tests, or write a miserable paper. Making mistakes in the environment of your home is a safe way for children to learn life lessons and prepare themselves for college and responsible adulthood.

Michael Thal is an educator with two MA degrees in elementary and secondary education.