How to Prepare Your Teen To Really Learn at School

 Parents need to talk to their kids about classroom behavior beyond the usual don’t sleep in class and clown around. When children reach higher grades they will also be graded on classroom participation. This is more than students responding rote to the teacher’s questions. It is the process of them showing the teacher they have to some degree intellectually internalized the subject matter they are using and come up with their own questions, ideas, and conclusions based on their learning experience.

Teachers look for students as they progress through to higher grade to demonstrate their ability to think critically. Your student can not fake it. They need to have listened in class and asked questions through out the school year. Older students sometimes put aside their natural curiosity that they  normally have in younger grades; to social pressure in higher grades to appear “cool: If your teen has serious career goals beyond high school they need to develop a way of interacting in the class room that shows the instructor they really comprehend and have dealt intellectually with the material. If they do not understand the material they must develop the communication skills needed to convey specifically what they do not understand in the material covered.

These will be vital academic skills in a university classroom. They develop these skills by staying intentionally engaged in the class room in high school. If your student pays attention, ask questions, and discuss the subject matter in a manner that is appropriate then the skills of critical thinking will develop on their own.  Most teachers who teach topics in the humanities design their lectures, essay tests, and graded class projects with the goal of getting the student to really interact and think about the subject on a more adult level. Your teens desire not to appear ‘nerdy “and to keep a low profile in the class room will hinder this goal.

 You need to make your expectation that your student intentionally go into a class room in the upper grenades with the goal of learning the material beyond rote. Teacher knows which students engage in the process or learning and which one’s are simply going through the motions.  The teacher is there to see your son or daughter develop a mature way of dealing with the material presented. Even if it is a weak subject for your child you will likely get the teacher to help them pass the course if your child is seen as being engaged in learning and not just being a warm body in the chair hoping to get credits to graduate.

Stress to your young teen that this is not a process of them becoming a teachers pet and feigning a lack of understanding to get the teachers attention. This is a real process they must try to master even if they do not like the subject matter the teacher is lecturing on. Sincere inquiry will lead to the kind of answers that will spark at least a low level interest in the subject matter being taught to your child.

The Eddie Haskell approach to class room participation will only get your child seen as not sincere and they will find themselves being ignored by the teacher. Sincere inquiry and having an attitude geared towards learning to think critically will help them get the most for a specific teacher and subject.  Many students depend on recommendation letters from teachers as part of the application process to get into a college or university. They will most likely be a able to get a glowing recommendation for a teacher ,even if there grades were not up to par, if they show the teacher they are truly listening.,

Parents of younger students can encourage them to adopt a life long proper attitude towards learning by stressing that they show up to class on time, bring the materials expected, and turn of all the electronic distractions (bipods, cell phones, and hand held games). Elementary aged children need to have their parents see their desks at least weekly when they pick them up or drop them off at school to be sure they are staying organized. Poor organizational skills are harder to over come as the child ages. If your middle schooled can not get his books out of his locker and get to class on time encourage him to only carry the essentials for all his classes in his backpack and to leave the excess in his locker. This will cut down on the number of times a day he will have to stop and use his locker.