How to Motivate Your Teen: Six Strategies for Success
As homeschooling parents, motivating teens can often feel like we’re pushing against the wind. We want to ignite their passions and guide them toward success, but sometimes we’re met with indifference, avoidance, or even anger. However, it doesn’t have to be that way! From my work as an educator of hundreds of homeschooled teenagers, I’ve learned six successful strategies that can help motivate a teen and set them on a path toward self-discovery and achievement.
Strategy 1: Establish Skill Levels
Nothing can shut down a teen faster than feeling overwhelmed by a task that seems beyond their capabilities. To avoid this, it’s crucial to establish their skill levels accurately. But how do you do this beyond the traditional testing of the 3 R’s (reading, writing, and arithmetic)?
Observation is key. Watch how your teen applies their skills to solve everyday problems or tackle new situations. Set up activities that reflect real-world scenarios.
As an example, I’ve asked teens to build a sundial and calculate the angle of the shadow it casts so they can determine the angle of the sun. In doing so, they test their skills of measurement, metric conversion, protractor use, and applying trigonometry. And I gain valuable insights into their skill sets in a non-threatening way.
By understanding their skill levels and providing appropriate challenges, you’ll keep your teens engaged and motivate them to learn and grow.
Strategy 2: Coach to Confidence
Teens often struggle with confidence, especially after a negative experience or feeling pressured beyond their abilities. As a parent, it’s your job to build them up and help them see their own potential. Avoid comparisons to others and focus on their individual strengths and weaknesses. Create a supportive environment where small successes are celebrated, and failures are seen as opportunities for growth.
Imagine a teen who struggles with math. Present them with a challenging yet open-ended problem, (like “How long would it take the oceans to drain if there were a hole at the bottom?”). Then allow them to explore answering it using their math and reasoning skills. Come along as a coach to help, but only when asked. By giving them time and space, you set them up to persevere and succeed on their own terms.
Strategy 3: Go for the Goal
A lack of direction can sap a teen’s energy. Motivate them by helping them set their own goals using the S.M.A.R.T. framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By taking ownership of their goals, they’ll feel more invested in achieving them.
Encourage your teen to set S.M.A.R.T. goals for both academic and personal growth. Whether it’s improving grades, developing organizational skills, or pursuing extracurricular interests, S.M.A.R.T. goals provide a roadmap to success.
Strategy 4: Investigate Interests
Boredom does not motivate. Expand your teen’s horizons by exposing them to a wide variety of subjects and allowing them to explore their interests deeply. Encourage independent projects and model a love for lifelong learning. By following their passions, they’ll stay engaged and motivated to learn.
Teens love to pursue independent projects that align with their interests. Whether it’s building a bird nest box, conducting a science experiment, or volunteering for a meaningful cause, independent projects foster a sense of ownership and enthusiasm.
Strategy 5: Encourage Self-Direction
As teens grow older, they crave independence and autonomy. Honor their desire to be more self-directed in their learning by tailoring your curriculum to their individual learning styles and preferences. This means moving beyond traditional pencil and paper activities. In addition, provide opportunities for hands-on experiences, artistic projects, group work, discussions, and real-world problem-solving. By giving them a say in not only what they learn but HOW they learn, you’ll empower them to be in their sweet spot and increase their desire to take ownership of their education.
Strategy 6: Cultivate Collaboration
Teens thrive on social interaction, so why not harness the power of collaboration in their learning? Encourage group projects that require teamwork because a) the scope of the project is too great to tackle alone or b) because the activity inherently requires interdependence in order to be completed.
For example, I’ve had homeschoolers build a cityscape, light it up, and then devise ways to shield excess and scattered light as part of a light pollution unit. Since the size of the city can be quite large, the project lends itself well for multiple people constructing buildings, stringing lights, etc.
Another example is a classification game where one person creates rules for shell identification using Venn diagrams and the other person has to discover the rules through placement of possible shells in the overlapping circles. In this case, the game can’t be played without two participants.
So motivate your teen by including others in their learning process!
Conclusion
Motivating teens is no easy feat, but by implementing these six strategies, you can empower them to take charge of their own learning journey. Remember to be patient, supportive, and open-minded as you guide them toward success. Together, you can help your teens unlock their full potential.
Interested in a practical resource that incorporates these strategies into the curriculum? Take a look at what we have to offer at The Field Trip Academy. As homeschooler educators of teens, we keep teens in the forefront of our minds as we develop our modules. Click the banner below to learn more.
