With Covid-19 and new remote learning, some students are struggling with maintaining their grades this year. Although students are responsible for their grades, support is required from their parents to excel. Encouraging words or rules set by a parent may seem little but goes a long way. 

Here are some suggestions for how parents can help students keep up their grades:  

Cut out distractions: While technology is important in our everyday lives, you may want to set a minimum limit when your teens can spend on social media on their cellular devices. An article about phone usage on Inc.com states, “in the Journal of The Association of Consumer Research describes how, when we are in the presence of our phones but suppressing our desire to check them, we drain our brain’s energy, impairing our ability to learn, problem-solve, and think critically and creatively.” An additional source, How Screen Time Affects Academic Performance, states, “The study found that compared to children who used screens for less than 2 hours per day, kids who spent four to six hours on screens had 49 percent lower rate of always or usually finishing their homework and children with six or more hours of media use were 63 percent less likely to always or usually finish their homework.” 

Monitor student’s mental health: Check up on students about how they are feeling mentally. Schoolwork is important to keep up with, but poor mental health is a key factor in failing grades. The article on Consequences of a Students Mental Health Issues stated, “five percent of students do not finish their education due to psychiatric disorders and estimated that 4.29 million people would have graduated from college had they not been experiencing such disorders.” With Covid-19 being a topic of school, your teens may have a hard time adjusting. The article, How parents can help their children navigate their feelings during school reopenings states, “Starting school or starting a new school year can be stressful at the best of times, let alone during a global pandemic. You can make him feel at ease by having an open conversation about what it is that’s worrying him and letting him know that it’s natural to feel anxious.” 

Ensure students do not cheat: Cheating on assignments may seem good at the time to hand in homework, but your test results won’t be so pleasant when you find out you’re not retaining any knowledge. The article 10 Reason Why Cheat is wrong explains that “If you don’t know the basics, then you will have to continue to cheat, or start over learning the material from scratch. Every time you cheat, you’re not learning skills and lessons that could be important later on.” 

Congratulate students: When students complete an assignment or come home from a long day of school, remember to give them words of encouragement. Students want to know that their parent appreciates their excellent work and that you are proud of them. Understandably.com states, “Praising kids instead for the strategies and processes they develop to solve problems–even when they don’t fully succeed–makes them more likely to try harder and ultimately achieve.” 

Reach out for help: Sometimes, students need an extra push to help them succeed. Going to a tutor or a teacher for extra help could be highly effective in your students’ grades. Oxfordlearning.com explains, “Tutoring can help strengthen subject comprehension, boost confidence, and build important learning skills. Tutoring gives students individualized attention that they don’t get in a crowded classroom.” 

Sources: 

https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus 

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/homework.html 

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/10/homework-help-reluctant-children 

https://www.sprc.org/colleges-universities/consequences 

https://www.verywellfamily.com