Tips to Empower Youth to Succeed in School and Life!

How can you help your kids become successful students and lifelong learners?

• Show enthusiasm about school and more importantly learning in general!
  
• Role model your love of learning and how you value your education.
• Get excited, really excited about books, magazines and reading in general.
  Always have appropriate, interesting and fun reading material available.
• Play games that stretch their minds.
• Keep things in perspective when working with children. Nothing academically is the
  end of the world.
• Remember each child comes with a parent/guardian. Always speak respectfully to the parent. Think before you speak, speak thoughtfully, and think about how to provide
  any negative information to the parent in the way that it might best be received.
• Keep your sense of humor!
• Always remember your objective; it’s not only to teach, but to inspire them. It’s not to tyrannize or convince them to hate school and learning!
• Be honest about the drudgery aspects of study, but find ways to tailor it to the way the child learns best.
• Remember, some frustration is good if coupled with support. The child is being stretched and challenged and that is part of the growth process.
• Remember how it felt to be very young and not know how to do something
• Show applications of subjects taught in school. (There really is reason for all this work!)
• Children learn much more when they respect you. Respect them in return.
• Apologize when you should!
• Understand that kids learn in many different ways, but they all learn by example.
• Teach them ways and shortcuts to learn. Teach them study tips.
  (Use your own examples and borrow heavily from what has worked for others.)

• Teach them positive self talk, especially for those that get discouraged or frustrated easily. (Let them know that everybody has areas where they are good at areas that take more effort.)
  For ex: I can learn this; I just need to practice more.
  This is hard for me because it’s new, I’ll get the hang of it with practice.
  This is not my best subject, but I can get a lot better at it if I work hard and ask for help when I need it.
  Everyone has things that are hard for them and things that are easier.

• Understand their lifestyles and the value of education in their homes and culture.
• Acknowledge your biases! Some children are easier to work with for you!
• Children see and hear more than you may want them to. Remember that!
• Children learn about how to solve problems by watching grownups solve problems. Teach them how to do that. Teach them how to think through their decisions.
  

• Let the child be your teacher. They will guide you as to their interests and abilities.
• Teach them that some teachers are easy, some are hard, some are strict and some are incredible. Teach them that they will have all kinds of “teachers” throughout their lives. Their job is to learn from them, even if they aren’t crazy about their teacher.
• Be patient when having to repeat concepts over and over.
• Teach them about their giftedness. Many kids are not told about their talents and unique gifts. Point it out to them. Compliment them on it.
• Teach them how to work hard with subjects or skill areas that do not come easy for them.
• Let them how proud of them you are of them for trying hard, even if the result is not stellar!
• Teach children that school can position them to have the lives and careers they want.
• Encourage them to find friends that like school and share their positive interests.
• Teach them to find activities that they enjoy and find new and challenging ones that make their mind or body stronger.
• Let them know that “failing” is just a teacher who wants to share a lesson!
• Find out what may be causing an apathetic or negative attitude about school. See if you can help. This is not counseling, but teaching them how to tackle the task, how to break it down into smaller parts, how to deal with frustration, how to pace yourself etc. Make it as positive as you can!
• Believe in their ability to learn and master the material.
• Consider yourself honored to help another reach their potential
• Remember, you never know if you may be the only “cheerleader” that child has.

Resources How Children Learn  John Holt Smart Parenting Revolution       Dawna Markova, PhD The Motivation breakthrough    Richard Lavoie The Color Code Dr. Taylor Hartman Produced by Martine Wehr, for Juvenile Consulting Services, LLC 2008