Education Buzzwords: Helping your Teen Thrive From Middle School to High School

Written by the CultivaTeen Roots Team

11-minute read 

The middle and high school years are critical moments for teens, offering a wide range of opportunities to explore new interests, build essential skills, and cultivate independence. This period of growth can also introduce new challenges, as adolescents are experiencing a series of fast and furious brain changes. For some, this stage might highlight learning differences and developmental hurdles that were not previously present. As a parent or caregiver to a teen, whether your child is developmentally typical or has unique learning needs, being informed about key educational concepts can help you support and advocate for your adolescent.  In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at these principles to help you better understand their impact on your student’s academic and personal development.

Neurodivergence & Embracing Differences: Helping Your Unique Teen Flourish 

The term "neurodivergent" refers to individuals whose brain processes and cognitive functions differ from what is considered typical within society. These differences may be experienced by students with autism, ADHD, mental health disorders, and other cognitive disabling conditions. For neurodivergent students, middle and high school can present distinctive challenges, as traditional schools are often designed to meet the needs of developmentally typical teens. However, with the right support, secondary education can offer neurodivergent students opportunities to develop important social and academic skills. (Resources: Verywell Health and  Verywell Mind)

Neurodivergent Teens & Supporting Their Unique Educational Path

Public schools are increasingly adopting more inclusive practices to support the diverse learning needs of students. Researching your school district’s policies and programs is a good starting point, allowing you to better understand what resources and programs are available. Collaborating with your adolescent, and the educators in their life creates a positive learning environment that celebrates and supports your teen’s unique self. As a caregiver, you play a key role in guiding your teen’s educational choices. 

Here are quick and easy tips that can help you in how to support your teen:

• Celebrate successes: Did your teen remember to turn in their homework? Did they get a good grade on a test they had studied for? Point out these positive behaviors- recognizing small wins can give your teen the big confidence boost they need.
• Encourage self-advocacy. One of the biggest ways you can support your teen’s future success is by encouraging them to communicate their needs. This sets them up to be adults who can confidently navigate academic, professional, and personal challenges. In high school, this may look like emailing teachers when they are out sick, asking for clarification about a confusing topic in class, or seeking out resources on campus. 
• Let them struggle: This may sound counterintuitive because as parents, we want to do everything in our power to protect our children, but allowing them to experience the consequences of small setbacks provides invaluable learning opportunities. Instead of rushing to fix a problem for your teen, help them understand the cause and effect of their actions. This allows them to reflect and develop problem-solving skills for future challenges. 

Unlocking Your Child’s Potential: Understanding Different Learning Styles

All adolescents have their unique way of processing information. One way that parents can support their teen’s individual learning needs is by exploring how their teen learns best. Whether they excel through engaging in hands-on activities, are drawn to visual representations, or respond to verbal instruction, knowing your teens' learning style can help you guide them to a less stressful and more successful academic experience. A quick Google search of “Learning Style Inventory” will pull up many easily accessible quizzes you can have your teen take. This is a fun activity you can do together, finding out more about how each of you learns best! 

Auditory Learners: An auditory learner is someone who absorbs and processes information best through listening. They likely do well in classes that favor lectures, and discussions and use audio books or podcasts. This type of learner can remember all the details from conversations and verbal interactions. 

Here are tips for parents to support their teens if they are auditory learners:

1. Promote Learning through Discussion:  Ask your teen open-ended questions about what they’re learning. Encourage them to engage in class discussions, create a study group with their friends, or study for tests by talking through concepts and ideas. 
2. Listen and Learn:  If your teen processes information best through listening versus reading, help them access audiobooks, podcasts, and other recorded material that may be relevant to what they are learning. You can also encourage them to read books or concepts aloud, which can reinforce their understanding.
   
3. Talk it Out:  Encourage working through problems and ideas out loud with your teen. Maybe you’re solving a scientific theory or reviewing the series of events that led to World War II- communicating their thoughts can help them create long-term meaning around what they are learning.
4. Tap into your Teen’s Memory: One of the benefits of being an auditory learner is having a strong working memory, which helps you to hold onto information in the moment and then use it to solve a problem or understand a concept. Recommend your teen use mnemonic devices, repetition, or record and replay themselves reading notes.
   
   

Visual Learners: Visual learners process information best through visual formats such as images, diagrams, charts, videos, written text, or PowerPoint. This type of mental imagery allows visual learners to recognize patterns, understand spatial relationships, and recall visual information. 

Here are tips for parents to support their teens if they are visual learners:

1. Put it in Writing: Written instructions are much more effective for visual learners than verbal ones. Encourage them to write down directions, assignments, and reminders to refer back to and cue their memory.
   
2. Seeing is Believing: Find out what kinds of visual tools your teen has available to them. Using charts, graphs, diagrams, and graphic organizers can help your teen turn abstract concepts into concrete ideas.
   
3. Use Color:  Pull out those highlighters and markers! Using different colors can help your teen visually organize information and improve recall.
   
   

Hands-On Learners: Kinesthetic learners process information best through doing. They excel in environments that promote hands-on or project-based experiences, movement, and physical activity. They can retain what they have learned best when they can create connections between information and real-world applications.

Here are  tips for parents to support their teens if they are kinesthetic learners:

1. Create Connection:  Kinesthetic learners can grasp concepts more successfully when they can create meaning and connections to real-life applications. Help your teen find ways to link what they are learning in school with hands-on activities like visiting an art museum to reinforce a history lesson, taking a cooking class to hone their measurement skills, or creating a resume to help them practice writing.
   
2. Movement-Based and Interactive Study Skills: Encourage your teen to take movement breaks while studying or listen to audiobooks on a walk. Have them rewrite notes, make flashcards, trace diagrams, or use sticky notes to identify focus points. All of these strategies help kinesthetic learners retain information more successfully.
   
3. Plan for the Future: Help your teen explore different classes they can take at their high school or local community college that provide hands-on learning opportunities. This can help them explore different career pathways that are well-suited for kinesthetic learners.
   
4. Create Collaborative Learning Opportunities: Multimodal learners often thrive in interactive environments. Encourage study groups, collaborative projects, and discussions where your teen can actively participate and engage with others to reinforce their learning.
   
   

Executive Functioning: Empowering Teens for Educational Independence

Executive functioning refers to a set of essential “brain tools” that support cognitive skills like: planning, prioritizing, time management, organization, and following through on tasks. These kinds of skills are critical for goal setting, problem-solving, and navigating complex tasks that have multiple steps. 

Executive functioning plays a vital role in how teens engage with increased academic pressures and demands, extracurricular activities, and social responsibilities. When teens struggle with executive functioning, the demands of adolescence can feel overwhelming, potentially leading to mental health challenges, frustration, and school-related anxiety. 

Here are 3 common executive functioning difficulties experienced by teens, and practical strategies you can use to help your adolescent overcome them!

1. Organization and Time Management
• Challenge:  Keeping track of assignments, belongings, or time
• Strategies:  Support your teen in creating an organizational system that works for them. You can provide gentle prompts, but they should be in charge of managing the system. And remember, make it simple. Some ideas:  Physical planner, whiteboard, google calendar, phone timers, sticky notes, checklist by the door…
2. Focus and Task Completion
• Challenge:  Has a hard time completing tasks that have multiple steps, easily distracted
• Strategies:  Help your teen create a distraction-free zone at home. Have them set app limits in the settings on their device. Encourage the use of timers- 20 minutes of work, 10 minutes of rest. Include them in home projects and chores that require multiple steps- model what success would look like.
3. Impulse Control and Emotional Regulation
• Challenge:  Difficulty with transitions, making choices without thinking through the potential consequences, and challenges with managing frustration
• Strategies: Model and practice self-regulation tools with your teen (we have a whole section on this in our course Making AdoleSense!) and encourage them to pause before making a choice 

Final Takeaways

In conclusion, having background information on these topics can help you support your teen in navigating those obstacles they will inevitably face during this educational phase. And, it may sound cheesy, but these obstacles are just learning opportunities and really, life-long lessons. 

Our role as caregivers is to be a strong foundational pillar of support, guiding them through their ups and downs; we can support them by equipping them with the love, sometimes tough love, but more, just, love, and confidence to self-advocate all while learning new skills needed for adulthood. 

By understanding these buzzwords you can ensure that you are an active participant in your teen's education. 

Resources:

Schultz, J. (2024, June 1). Neurodivergent Kids Flourish When They're Taught How Their Brains Work. Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/neurodivergent-kids-flourish-when-theyre-taught-how-their-brains-work/

Verywell Health 

Verywell Mind

Cleveland Clinic