Studying is usually a chore for your teen. It can also be a chore for you to make your teen study. There are a few ways you can incorporate studying into your family life so that learning might move from being a chore to being fun for your teenager.

Be Interested

The first and simplest way to get your teen interested in learning is to be interested yourself. Try to engage your teen in casual conversation about what they have been learning. Don’t make it seem like you are nagging to get them to study. Instead, show genuine interest in the topics they find interesting. An article from The Study Gurus states, “Try and help them realize the real-world relevance of what they’re learning and why it’s interesting through informal banter. They’ll never be interested in what they’re learning if you’re not.”

Promote Informal Learning

Try to incorporate fun and easy opportunities for learning and conversation around your home. Listen to interesting and fun radio shows or podcasts. Have magazines or newspapers such as National Geographic or the New York Times readily available. Mention fascinating articles you’ve read, programs you’ve watched, or podcasts you’ve heard in conversation with your teenager. Learning together in casual environments is more fun than studying alone.

Parent Challenge

Encourage your teenager to challenge you. When they are trying to stump you, they may be encouraged to learn more and put it to use. Here is a link to instructions for making an SAT vocabulary crossword. They can also challenge you to flashcards or write a quiz on the material they are learning to see how well you do. Teenagers will love to see how you measure up to their learned skills and knowledge and they will be synthesizing and reinforcing material as they do it. A little competition can be a fun way to inspire learning.

Family Game Night

Family game night is another great way to engage the brain and help teenagers learn without knowing it. LearningLiftOff suggests that games that work with words like Scrabble and Balderdash can reinforce vocabulary or promote creative writing. Strategy games such as Settlers of Catan encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Almost any game you can play with your high schooler will promote skills that are necessary for long-term retention of important materials.

Promote Discovery

Help your students engage with things they are interested in. When you discover your teenager’s passion or particular interest help them explore it further. Use the Internet to find more resources, videos and information about the topic. Take weekend trips to investigate places of interest, check out museums, explore and record the natural world while out hiking, find interesting historical sites or go geocaching.

There are also many creative outlets for expressing what your teenager discovered on these excursions. Encourage them to make a podcast, video, journal entry or creative story to help them synthesize and remember the information they learned. Not only will these experiences help your student learn and reinforce material, it may also help them discover a passion and future career path.

Display Interest

When you take an interest in your child’s learning, your teenager will notice. Genuine interest and care is bound to make your teenager get excited about what they are learning and want to share it with you. Making learning fun for your teenager will help them continue to excel throughout life and it will create fun memories for you and your family. Learning is about a lot more than just studying and going to class. It takes engagement with the material to cement it in the brain. If you want learning to be a life long habit, find ways to help your teenager enjoy engaging with the material.

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