How to Motivate Teenagers to Do Their Homework

Providing Structure

Create the right environment. Designate a consistent location that homework will be done. This environment should be free from distractions, so their bedroom may not be the best choice. Make sure that all electronics are turned off or put on silent. Also, be sure that any family members, including younger siblings, give the teenager the quiet time that they need. Doing homework at the kitchen table or a desk in the office or living room will provide them with enough space to complete their work.

Set a consistent homework time. Children thrive when they have a routine. Pick a time each day that your teenager does homework. You might consider including your teenager in this decision. Estimate the amount of time that they need to complete their homework. Be sure to consider regularly scheduled activities like ball practice or church functions. For example, your teen has baseball practice immediately following school. He doesn’t get home until 5:00. Your family eats dinner at 6:00. So, the best time for him to complete his homework is at 7:00.

Give them tools to stay organized. If your teenager has trouble remembering everything that they need to do, make sure that they have the tools that they need to help them remember all of their tasks and assignments. Provide them with a planner, post-it notes, highlighters, or other organizational tools. These tools will also help them manage their time to ensure that they complete their tasks on time.

Find a tutor. Parents often help their children with their homework. However, as your child gets older you may find that they need help with a subject that surpasses your knowledge. If you feel uncomfortable or incapable of providing your teen with assistance on a particular subject, consider hiring a tutor. A tutor can provide your teen extra, one-on-one assistance in a subject to increase their knowledge and help them achieve a good grade. A tutor may also help your child comprehend a subject by teaching them a number of techniques that the teacher has not covered. Ask your child’s teacher for recommendations on a good tutor in your area.

Make studying fun. Get involved in helping your child study and complete their homework. Try to come up with new ways to make learning fun and enjoyable. Learning a variety of ways will often make a new concept “stick” For example, if your teenager is having a hard time understanding geometry but understands basketball, consider taking a geometry lesson to the basketball court. Help your teenager understand different triangles by using your bodies and the basketball hoop to represent the different corners of a triangle. What happens to the triangle if one of you step further away from the basketball hoop? Watch an interesting historical movie or documentary about a topic that your child is learning in history class.

Be a Presence at School

Make a presence at their school. Introduce yourself to your teenager’s teachers and school administration. Make it clear that they can get in touch with you if they have any questions or concerns involving your child’s education. Volunteer at the school or make an appearance at school functions. Your teenager might be more motivated to stay on top of their schoolwork if they know that you are active in their school community. Schedule a parent/teacher conference. If your job or schedule doesn’t allow you to actively participate, be sure to attend at least one conference yearly and stay up to date with the school newsletter.

Collaborate with your teen. Instead of fighting and creating a tense environment regarding school work and performance, consider working with them to develop a plan. Offer your advice and allow them the space to develop a work plan that works for them. Instead of arguing about the results, provide constructive criticism to see if they can solve the problem themselves. This will make the teen feel more grown up and respected. For example, your teenager just received their midterm grade in math and they have a D. They have three weeks to bring their grade up before their next report card. Have a conversation with your teen by asking them what they need to do to bring their grade up. If they say that they need to study more, suggest that they bring home their math book each day and spend at least 30 minutes studying what they went over in class that day. Ask your teenager if they have any missed assignments or tests.

Provide reminders. Teenagers often need prompted or reminded to do something, especially things that they don’t want to do. Try to remember that you are the adult and they are still a child. Teenagers do not need to be prompted as regularly as an elementary student, but they do still need to be reminded to stay on track from time to time. Consider using technology to set reminders for your teenager. Set calendar reminders on your phone and sync it to their phone. There are also several family management apps that may help.

Achieving Goals

Help your teen set goals. Long and short-term goal setting are important skills to learn in order to achieve success in school and in your career. Help your teen to set daily, weekly, and semesterly goals to keep them on track with their school work. For example, a short-term academic goal may be to raise their history grade from a C to an B this grading period. A long-term goal may be to eliminating C’s from their report card or getting a few A’s in their strongest subjects. Have the teenager write them down and evaluate progress as the semester continues.

Give them incentives. Teenagers are often motivated by incentives. Brainstorm some possible daily, monthly, or semesterly incentives to help them stay on track with their schoolwork. Pay them for their report cards. Pay a set dollar amount per A on your teenager’s report card. Offer them a weekly allowance for staying on track with their schoolwork. Treat their schoolwork as a real job. If they do their job, they get paid. Consider extending their weekend curfew as a reward for improved grades on their report card.

Help your teenager see the bigger picture. It is hard for teenagers to understand why they need to learn all of the things that they learn in high school. Many of them can not understand how algebra will help them once they graduate from high school or college. Your job is to make the connections between the school work that they do today and their success in the future. Be prepared to answer questions like, “Why do I need to learn algebra? I don’t want to be a math teacher and no one else uses algebra every day.” Give them clear examples of the algebra that you use every day, like when you pay your bills or do your taxes.

Offer them encouragement. Praising your teenager’s work and improvements is a natural response as a parent. However, offering them encouragement instead of praise can often motivate them to continue to do a great job. Offer them encouragement on things that went well and things that need improved upon. Instead of saying, “Great job on your science fair project!” say something like, “Look at that science project! I can tell that you spent a lot of time making it look so great. Doesn’t it feel good to get such a good grade?”