by Tahlia Mandie, Direction Exploring

Below are some tips on what can parents do to help their kids during the difficult and challenging time of exam preparation.

1. Encourage breaks

We all know that we cannot focus on one thing for too long. Teens are the same! Breaks are critical to regenerate the mind. Staying focused on the same maths problem for 45 minutes not only increases stress and anxiety but also drains energy and confidence. If you encourage your teen to go back to the problem after a 15 minute break, he/she will discover new ideas and no doubt be able to solve that problem!

2. Plan Plan Plan!!!!

Create a Timetable with your son/daughter, including all after school extra curricular activities and weekend social activities. Include when assignments are due for the week. Divide the timetable up into one hour blocks to be sure to include time for every subject. Include breaks and dinnertime. Plan to STOP at a reasonable hour each night.

3. Set goals for the week

This may include finishing an assignment or reading a book. Having a goal increases motivation and direction and empowers your teen to achieve this goal and work towards it.

4. Encourage a clean and peaceful study environment

We all hate messy desks or a messy living room. If it is not the bedroom, give your teen a quite place to study with all the materials they need.

5. Communicate with them about their emotions

Communication is essential! Realising that your teen is probably stressed may be the first step in understanding what they are going through and helping them understand themselves.

Teens have a lot going on, both emotionally and physically!  They have pressures from all different angles, including teachers, sports coaches and friends, let alone their own pressures. They have growth spurts, hormone changes, other physical changes, while meanwhile trying to keep up with their friends and peers.  Communicating with them about their feelings, their challenges, their emotions will not only help to improve their sense of self, but help you understand their world.

6. Understand that teens do not think the same way as adults.

Research shows that brain “maturation does not stop at age 10, but continues into the teen years and even into the 20’s” (ACT for Youth, 2002).

The adolescent mind works differently than ours…their brains are physiologically undeveloped in the areas that control impulses, foresee consequences and temper emotions… (The American Medical Association). Does this explain why they always have a different answer to everything?

References:
1. ACT for Youth, 2002. Available at: http://www.actforyouth.net/documents/may02factsheetadolbraindev.pdf
2. The American Medical Association, Available at: http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/juvenile-justice/factsheets/braindev.pdf

Image: freedigitalphotos.net

About the author:

Tahlia Mandie is a psychotherapist, family counsellor and mum who runs her own private practice, Direction Exploring and now runs her own blog, The Parenting Files - because families matter. Discussing all things parenting and family matters to the serious stuff to the not so serious stuff, the parenting files is spoken with a little witt, quirk and humour. Tahlia also writes regular columns and articles for magazines, newspapers and other online forums.

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