Ten Ways to Help Your Teen Tackle Problems
By Vanessa Van Petten
Learning how to approach a problem or a big project is a life skill that many adults do not ever learn how to do (I am still learning).
Recently, I have been working with a lot of teens on how to approach and get through their big school projects. I realized there was a system to approaching all of their issues, whether it was a science fair project, a history report, and, in one case, planning the school prom.
Here are 10 ideas you can use, and what you can teach your child as they start to deal with bigger issues in their lives.
1) Find a Starting Point
Half of the battle is finding a starting point, so before they worry about the whole project, have them focus on the first step.
2) Break It Into Pieces
Teens and kids especially get overwhelmed–usually to tears, when there is a looming project that feels like mountains of work. I always make the first step to actually break the project into pieces of steps.
3) Write Out a Plan
Writing out each of the parts of the project, as well as how much you plan on doing each day, is very calming and a good way to organize your thoughts.
4) Learn Your Limits
When I teach time management, one of the biggest issues I face is teaching kids how to know their limits. Maybe they want to study and memorize all of chapter one on Saturday…but can they? I ask them to think about waking up on Saturday with that huge slate of work, will they really be able to do it, or is it too intimidating? Sometimes it goes the other way–too little work for a certain day so the last day before the test/project/event they have to pull an all-nighter.
Learning how to approach a problem or a big project is a life skill that many adults do not ever learn how to do (I am still learning).
Recently, I have been working with a lot of teens on how to approach and get through their big school projects. I realized there was a system to approaching all of their issues, whether it was a science fair project, a history report, and, in one case, planning the school prom.
Here are 10 ideas you can use, and what you can teach your child as they start to deal with bigger issues in their lives.
1) Find a Starting Point
Half of the battle is finding a starting point, so before they worry about the whole project, have them focus on the first step.
2) Break It Into Pieces
Teens and kids especially get overwhelmed–usually to tears, when there is a looming project that feels like mountains of work. I always make the first step to actually break the project into pieces of steps.
3) Write Out a Plan
Writing out each of the parts of the project, as well as how much you plan on doing each day, is very calming and a good way to organize your thoughts.
4) Learn Your Limits
When I teach time management, one of the biggest issues I face is teaching kids how to know their limits. Maybe they want to study and memorize all of chapter one on Saturday…but can they? I ask them to think about waking up on Saturday with that huge slate of work, will they really be able to do it, or is it too intimidating? Sometimes it goes the other way–too little work for a certain day so the last day before the test/project/event they have to pull an all-nighter.
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