The end of summer and going back to school hits hard for those facing the challenge without preparation. Not only will planning help prevent negative feelings, but it will prop up chances of starting the year with academic success.
Help Teens Hone the Right Skills
Transitioning back to the structure of the academic environment is challenging. Preparing for scheduling and academic success sets the right tone for a successful start. This includes beginning to keep a schedule, adjusting to morning and evening routines and preparing for academic success.
First, teenagers should be encouraged to begin to keep a daily calendar or journal. A simple spiral notebook will do the job just fine. Begin by writing the day and date on a separate page of the notebook, beginning at least a week before school. Teens should record the time they awake, when important events occur and when they go to bed. As the start of school approaches, any important dates or events offered by the school should be recorded.
Teens need to pay special attention to the wake and sleep cycle which is likely to have changed during the summer to meet social needs. As social needs take a back seat to academic demands, sticking to a wake time and bed time is essential to achieving success. Amy Wolfson writes in "Sleep Schedules and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents" [Child Development, 1998] that sleep is one the single most important predictors of success. Students should get between seven to nine hours of sleep during the school year.
Waking Up the Brain
Teenagers also tend to slough off academic matters during the summer months while other priorities of work and socialising rise to replace studying. Returning back to academic achievement becomes paramount in teen's daily lives, and they should prepare for this change several days before returning to school.
One way to prepare students for success is to encourage them to read a book from an old reading list and have them give an impromptu summary of the work. Parents need to pay attention to their teenagers language use and encourage them to speak with less slang and more substance.
In addition, students may want to review the previous semester's final math, science and social study assignments. Reworking mathematics or solving science equations can prompt memory of the subject and help prepare them to assimilate new information.
While the end of summer may be a be challenging for teens, some simple preparation a few weeks before school starts can make a difference. With modifications to sleep schedules and revisiting learning from the previous semester, students are readied for the new academic year.
Reece Manley - Reece W. Manley, DD,M.Ed.MPM, works in a number of fields using his extensive experience and educational background in human development, ...
