Long and short-term goal setting are important skills to learn in order to achieve success in school and in your career. Help your teen to set daily, weekly, and semesterly goals to keep them on track with their school work.   For example, a short-term academic goal may be to raise their history grade from a C to an B this grading period. A long-term goal may be to eliminating C’s from their report card or getting a few A’s in their strongest subjects. Have the teenager write them down and evaluate progress as the semester continues. Teenagers are often motivated by incentives. Brainstorm some possible daily, monthly, or semesterly incentives to help them stay on track with their schoolwork.  Pay them for their report cards. Pay a set dollar amount per A on your teenager’s report card. Offer them a weekly allowance for staying on track with their schoolwork. Treat their schoolwork as a real job. If they do their job, they get paid. Consider extending their weekend curfew as a reward for improved grades on their report card. It is hard for teenagers to understand why they need to learn all of the things that they learn in high school. Many of them can not understand how algebra will help them once they graduate from high school or college. Your job is to make the connections between the school work that they do today and their success in the future. Be prepared to answer questions like, “Why do I need to learn algebra? I don’t want to be a math teacher and no one else uses algebra every day.” Give them clear examples of the algebra that you use every day, like when you pay your bills or do your taxes. Praising your teenager’s work and improvements is a natural response as a parent. However, offering them encouragement instead of praise can often motivate them to continue to do a great job. Offer them encouragement on things that went well and things that need improved upon.  Instead of saying, “Great job on your science fair project!” say something like, “Look at that science project! I can tell that you spent a lot of time making it look so great. Doesn’t it feel good to get such a good grade?”

Summary:
Help your teen set goals. Give them incentives. Help your teenager see the bigger picture. Offer them encouragement.