As a parent, one of the top concerns is being a good parent and ensuring your child isn’t left behind. Whether you are worried about how your teen is performing at school or how they are maximizing their free time, today we’re going to discuss some of the parenting basics that any parent can use for effective parenting. Any parent wants their high school student to grow up and have a fulfilling life, so let’s take a look at the daily, weekly, and monthly tasks you can do with your child to ensure they are successful moving forward.
Daily tasks to complete with your teen
Chores
One of the key things to remember about being a good parent is that sometimes this involves forcing your teen to do things they don’t like. If your children aren’t already doing the dishes, cleaning their bedroom, or tidying up around the house, this means that someone is tidying up after them each day. By making your teen do certain chores each day and week and assigning them some more responsibility, you can ensure they are playing their part in looking after your family home. In the future, you’ll find your teen copes better when they head off to college and are more of a team player when they land their first job.
Focus on math skills
Math skills are something that anyone should be confident with from a young age. As they grow up, you may find that their interest in math dwindles, but this is such a critical skill that children of all ages need to work on throughout their lives. Effective parenting skills in this area include helping with their math homework and testing them at random on math questions. Teenagers need to be good at math even if they aren’t planning to study this subject at college as it can help with their finances in the future and ensure they aren’t ever overpaying for anything.
Recognize their efforts
Instead of always focusing on the big achievements in your teen’s life, try to encourage your child on a daily basis for their efforts and hard work. Especially when your high school student comes home from school, make sure you are talking to them about the good and bad aspects of their day. This will help to create more of an opportunity for them to speak to you about any challenges they are facing, so you can ensure they aren’t left behind. By regularly checking in with your teen about their daily activities, you can be sure they aren’t struggling with any aspect of their life.
Act as a good role model
One of the parenting basics that so many people neglect is remembering to be a good role model for your child. Even as your child heads into their teenage years, you should always be trying to show them how to act in every aspect of their life. This can be as simple as getting up on time each day, eating healthy meals, and sticking to a regular exercise routine. Avoid cursing in front of your child and always act in a way that you’d like them to act around you.
Provide a safe home for your teenagers
When your teen comes home from school each day, they need to feel like they are returning to a safe space. With so much change and confusion during their teenage years, they need somewhere where they feel secure and can show their true personality. Make sure your home feels secure and welcoming at all times, and address any issues they may be experiencing in this area straight away. As well as creating a physical space that is safe for your teen, also offer an emotionally safe space that allows them to be their true self and express how they are feeling.
Weekly activities to help you be a more successful parent
Regular Socializing
Most teens love spending time with their closest friends, but it’s good to push them to expand their social circle sometimes. Social skills are something that can be developed over time, and by putting your child into new situations or encouraging them to speak with adults more often, they’ll be much more confident later on in life. These skills are critical for any successful parent to work on with their teenagers, as they will be more likely to enjoy college and land their dream job in the future. Social skills are just as important as academic results when it comes to their adult life, so keep this in mind if your child has a tendency to spend their free time in front of a computer or book.
Think about your childhood
Were there aspects of your childhood that you remember particularly fondly? On the other hand, were there things you would have changed about how you were brought up? No matter how good or bad your childhood was, you can work to offer your own teenagers a loving and positive upbringing by following these parenting basics. In order to apply effective parenting skills, make sure you take the time to reflect on your past and think about the changes you can make to help with being a good parent.
Address conflict in a healthy manner
Conflict is a natural part of life, but when conflicts do arise, it’s important to showcase healthy ways to deal with conflict. If you and your teen are arguing, ensure you never hit them or become unnecessarily angry. These are parenting basics that you need to keep in mind no matter how mad you are with your child, as this will only work to make them an angrier and more volatile person in the future.
Monthly tasks to do with your teen
Discuss your expectations
From time to time, it’s important to check in with your teenager and discuss your expectations and their goals for the future. As parent styles go, you may think this is being a little too pushy, but in fact, it will help them to achieve their goals. It’s been shown that parents who have higher expectations for their teenagers are often the most successful parents. Being a good parent doesn’t mean forcing your child to take a certain career path if they aren’t interested in it, but it does mean encouraging them to be the best they can be in every aspect of their life.
Keep learning about parent styles
There are constantly new studies into parenting taking place, and we recommend that you stay on top of these in order to help your teen and stop them from getting left behind. You could spend time talking to another successful parent or read more articles on being a good parent. It’s never too late to make a change to your parenting style, and you can take on any advice you read in order to help your teen. Life is all about learning, and this is something you should share with your children as well.
Being a good parent means something different to everyone, but by finding your personal parenting style, you’ll be on the right path to being a successful parent. By following these tips listed above and doing these parenting basics with your teen on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you can ensure they aren’t left behind in any aspect of their life moving forward.
