[ad_1]
As soon as the New Year has begun, the return to school for our young people has also begun.
Whether they were preparing for exams in person or continuing online, teens and their parents have had to quickly readjust to education and learning.
While our system places an extreme focus on results and outcomes, it is essential that young people feel curious.
Curiosity is the desire to know more, to be able to understand things and apply ideas.
Curious teens are generally more determined and relate to people and their environment more intentionally.
It goes beyond learning to learn, but rather to seek to understand.
The Adolescent Brain During adolescent development, young people naturally question everything.
Parents quickly realize that preadolescents and teens not just accept instructions or rules as they are, but add their ideas, rebel, or re-create their own.
These attributes, while challenging for parents, are really helpful.
They represent an important stage of critical thinking. Ultimately, we want young people to have the ability to reason and make rational and productive decisions.
The process of acquiring these skills is testing the family context and can be supported by parenting approaches.
Allowing preadolescents and teens to be curious, ask questions, and express their opinions is critical to this process.
Patience Parents who ask many questions and look for answers create children who are inclined to do the same.
That said, it can be frustrating and tiring for parents when their teens are simply questioning or opposing everything.
This is a common challenge identified by parents of teens. However, at this time parents need to be reminded and comforted that not only is this behavior expected, but if managed well, it leads to positive development.
Be calm, attentive and patient when your child seems to be missing out on something, but take advantage of these opportunities to turn around and ask for ideas and solutions.
Reformulates potential conflict times in teaching moments. Reimagining Education While the goal of all parents is to support the academic success of their teens, it is important to remember that academia and success are extremely broad concepts that extend far beyond exams. and certificates.
Emotional intelligence, creativity, innovation, communication skills, volunteering, and leadership are just some of the holistic skills that all teens should develop.
Many naturally curious and creative teens are denied the opportunity to explore natural skills, and instead are overburdened with classes and extra classes.
While it is important for all young people to receive a basic education and adapt to their abilities and potentials, parents are advised to allow preadolescents and adolescents to intuitively explore other interests that may lead them to work. emotional or even to a future.
Find Your Ideas and Allow Your Mistakes One of the most important communication tools between parents and teens is to give them a voice and an opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts.
Even when parents can literally see the likely outcome of a decision directly, young people need to make decisions and learn from them.
We all learn through life experiences both those that are immediately positive and those that cause us discomfort.
As this new year and school term continue, take active steps to engage your youth and open lines of communication.
Support them in making decisions and allow them to play. When things are not going well, support but do not punish and when the results are good, praise and reward them.
Curious teens develop holistically, which is the ultimate goal of raising teens.