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Most teens don’t get why school is hard for them. They think they’re ‘bad’ at certain subjects or that they’re not smart enough.
Sometimes they’re convinced they just need to try harder or work more.
Often they think it’s not their fault that they’re not motivated, or that they can’t focus because they have ADD.
Here’s the thing they don’t get: all of these things will be true if they don’t understand how to learn.
Without becoming a learner (instead of just a student), school will always be harder than it should be. Life will always be harder.
If they’re not clear on how to learn, they’ll continue to feel like they’re ‘bad’ at certain things, like they need to try more, like maybe they’re just not smart enough. They’ll blame other people (teachers, classmates, you) and things (learning differences, classes) for the difficulties they experience.
They’ll lean into myths about their victimhood instead of beliefs about their capacity to grow into a more capable, confident version of themselves.
The short of the long: if your child doesn’t learn how to learn, they won’t understand how capable they truly are. Learning and building skills helps solve ALL of the challenges they’re facing.
Showing kids how to learn and build skills is my specialty (it actually became my specialty years ago when I realized that not even 1% of teens actually know how to learn). If you want help setting your child up to feel and do their best in school and life, click here to book a 1:1 Learning Skills Assessment with my team. We do a deep dive into your child’s situation and get them (and you) clear on how exactly to go from where they are right now to where they wish they could be.
To your child’s incredible potential as a learner,
Kelsey
