Education Service Center Region 15
December 2014 • January • February 2015
Parent Pointers
®
Calendar
still make the difference!
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
Tell your teen
how something
you studied in school
has helped you at
work or in your life.
2
Does your teen
forget to bring
home books? Have
her post a take-home
checklist inside her
locker.
3
Don’t use
Let your teen
problems with
overhear you say
homework as an
something good about
excuse to criticize your him to someone else.
teen or argue about
other issues.
4
5
6
7
Invent a recipe
When your teen
Does your teen
with your teen.
tells you something
dawdle during
If it doesn’t work, have important, repeat it to homework time? Have
your teen brainstrom
him to make sure you her set a timer while
ways to fix it.
understand.
working.
8
9
10
Ask your teen:
“Do you think
honesty is always the
best policy? Why or
why not?”
11
Can your teen
study with
music? Some can and
some can’t. Experiment
to figure out which
way works best.
12
Some teenage
holiday parties
involve alcohol. Check
with the host’s parents
before you allow your
teen to attend.
13
14
Set aside some
time to spend
one-on-one with your
teen today.
15
Cut out a
cartoon your
teen will enjoy. Leave
it by his place at
breakfast.
16
Talk with your
teen about a
choice you have made.
Then talk about the
consequences of that
choice.
17
If your teen is
saving for a
special purchase, have
her keep a picture of
it in her wallet for
motivation.
18
Bow out of
power struggles.
Instead, let your
teen experience the
consequences of his
misbehavior.
19
Host a team
or club party.
Seeing your teen’s
peers will give you
new insights into her
character.
20
21
Bake cookies
with your teen.
If you’re doubling a
recipe, have him do
the math.
22
Encourage
your teen to
do a good deed for a
neighbor or teacher.
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Encourage your
teen to draw a
self-portrait.
Think of
synonyms
for words with your
teen. For example, a
synonym for talk is
converse.
Remember that
Ask your teen
Talk to your
teens learn from
to take photos
teen about the
your actions more than during holiday events. importance of writing
your words. Focus
This may build her
thank-you notes for
on setting a good
interest in participating. gifts.
example.
Let your teen
see you reading
often. This teaches
him that reading is
important and fun.
Talk with your
teen about the
best things you can
remember from the
past year.
Watch the news
Have your teen
on TV with your
write a poem
teen. Choose one story about what she thinks
and compare it with
describes and defines
a news article on the
“December.”
same topic.
Talk with your
teen about the
very best present he
ever received. What
made it special?
Before you
make a big
purchase, ask your
teen to research your
options.
Don’t violate
your teen’s
privacy. By providing
privacy, parents
demonstrate respect.
Help your
teen improve
her vocabulary. Do
a crossword puzzle
together today.
December 2014
© 2014 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. May be reproduced only as licensed by Parents Still make the difference! ® High School Edition newsletter. 1-800-756-5525
Parent Pointers
®
Calendar
still make the difference!
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
January 2015
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
Teens need
specific goals.
Help yours set three
or four learning goals
for this year. Write
them down.
2
Set a goal of
spending more
time with your teen.
Be creative. Plan an
activity to do together
this weekend.
3
Encourage healthy
eating. Allow your
teen to choose some
fruits and vegetables at
the grocery store.
4
With your teen,
brainstorm about
something, such as
how your family can
lower the electric or
water bill.
5
Encourage your
teen to read the
newspaper every day
this week. Choose a
cover story to discuss.
6
Tell your teen to
keep a notebook
handy when reading.
He can jot down
unknown words and
look them up later.
7
If your teen wants
a job, limit it to 10
hours a week. Don’t
allow her to work on
school nights.
8
Link your teen’s
responsibilities
to freedom. As he
becomes more
responsible, he’ll
have more freedom.
9
Talk about the
advertisements
when you’re watching
TV with your teen.
How are they trying to
persuade viewers?
10
11
Promote
risk-taking
to boost confidence.
Applaud your teen
when she tackles a
new challenge.
12
Teens need
some space of
their own, even if it
is just a drawer or the
corner of a room.
13
Does your teen
study well with
others? If so, let him
start a study group.
14
Keep a map or
globe visible in
your home. Your teen
will learn by seeing it
regularly.
15
Teach your teen
how to cheer
herself on. Positive
self-talk, such as “I can
do this” will keep her
motivated.
16
Is your teen’s
room messy?
Set a timer for a
15-minute pick-up
blitz before he gets
together with friends.
17
18
Social media
makes it easy
to hurt someone. Tell
your teen not to post
anything she wouldn’t
say to someone’s face.
19
Learn about
special events
at your teen’s school.
Make plans to attend
at least one.
20
At your teen’s
next checkup,
let him spend some
time alone with the
doctor.
21
Have your teen
make an audio
recording of key ideas
from a chapter she’s
reading and play them
back to study.
22
Encourage
your teen to
use self-stick notes to
write down things he
needs to remember.
23
Know where
your teen is
and who she’s with.
Knowing friends can
head off trouble before
it starts.
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Teens often tell
you as much
through behavior
as through words.
“Listen” to your teen’s
body language.
Make a
television
viewing schedule for
the week. Help each
other stick to it.
Ask your teen
Look over
what she would
your teen’s
do if a friend of hers
homework. Give
stole something from
compliments and
a store.
constructive criticism.
Encourage your
teen to ask at
least one question in
each of his classes.
Plan a weekend
family activity.
Let your teen invite a
friend.
Make library
trips a regular
part of your family
schedule. Check out
a book about careers
with your teen.
List 10 of your
teen’s successes
last week. List 10 of
your own. Post the
lists where you can
both see them.
Have your
teen pick three
places within driving
distance he’d like to
visit. Make plans to do
so together.
Teach your
teen to trust
her gut. If she thinks a
situation may get out
of hand, she should
avoid it.
© 2014 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. May be reproduced only as licensed by Parents Still make the difference! ® High School Edition newsletter. 1-800-756-5525
Parent Pointers
®
Calendar
still make the difference!
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
Figure out
the average of
something with your
teen, such as family
members’ height in
inches.
2
Challenge family
members to learn
and use three new
words a day. That’s
over 1,000 words a
year!
3
Today, have your
teen teach you
something he needs to
learn for homework.
It’s a great way to
reinforce learning.
4
Talk to your teen
about bullying. Has
she ever been bullied
at school? Has she
every bullied another
student?
5
Discuss the
importance of
laws with your teen.
What if there were
none? What if they
were ignored?
6
Remind your
teen that using
inappropriate
language will lower
others’ opinions of
him.
7
8
Give your teen
Ask your teen to
Encourage your
a camera or a
imagine life 150
teen to make
notepad and ask her
years ago. How about decisions. Involve
to record “A day in the 150 years in the future? him with decisions
life of our family.”
on allowance, curfews
or other rules.
9
10
11
Avoid criticizing
Index cards
your teen
are great for
unnecessarily.
studying. Using them
forces students to
choose only the most
important points.
12
13
Before your
teen buys
something, encourage
her to compare prices
and review return
policies.
14
15
Find quotations
that will
motivate your teen.
Post a favorite one
on the mirror your
teen uses.
16
Call out some
words from
the dictionary during
breakfast. See who
can spell them.
17
Tell your teen
Watch the
that you believe
news with your
he can succeed. This
teen. Locate one place
will make him more
mentioned on a world
likely to do so.
map.
18
19
Girls who
participate in
sports tend to have
higher self-esteem
and perform better
academically.
20
Be aware of
graduation
requirements. Is your
teen on track to graduate? If you are unsure,
contact his counselor.
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Do you have a
One night this
Ask your teen,
Ask your
home improveweek, sit down
“What do you
teen to draw a
ment project to do? Let and watch your teen’s wish we did differently diagram of something
your teen help.
favorite TV show with at home?” Be open to he is learning in
him. Then talk about it her suggestions.
school.
together.
Teens know
What’s the best
their shortcomway to prepare
ings. They need you to for college entrance
remind them of their
tests? Turn off the TV
strengths.
and read every day.
Take your teen
out for breakfast,
or serve a favorite
breakfast at home.
Make this a regular
habit.
At dinner, have
each family
member say something
nice about every
person at the table.
Be sure your
teen knows that
your rules apply when
she’s at a friend’s
house, not just at
home.
Enjoy some
physical activity
with your teen. You’ll
both get exercise—and
it may lead to some
great conversation.
February 2015
© 2014 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. May be reproduced only as licensed by Parents Still make the difference! ® High School Edition newsletter. 1-800-756-5525