1. HELPING STD 7 PUPILS SET PRIORITIES

2. Transitional time: leaving childhood behind. Their lives are changing and their bodies are changing.

3. Mostly interested with the present: they live in an immediate, self-involved place. Their behavior can be confusing. It vacillates from being mature to being babyish

4. Its a very exploratory time of life, the child has a lot of interests. They are searching for meaning in their lives and find school assignments void of meaning.

5. May start engaging in risky behaviors such as experimenting with smoking, drugs, etc… and often brag about these things

6. Desire for independence. Need to gain approval from peers rather than adults. Face challenges in organization and motivation.

7. Unguided teens priorities : 1. Enhancing face value among friends Spending time with friends Facebook hanging out/sleep overs physical appearance; hair; etc

8. 2. Special Talents Sports Singing/dancing Playing musical instruments 3. Food 4. Relationships 5. Friendships

9. How can parents assist them set priorities? 1. Use of time Help the boy make and then facilitate a fairly regular timetable Time to leave school What to do when one gets home

10. Weekday time table Weekend timetable (beginning Friday) Holiday timetable

11. Home/school timetable and activities: Where possible, Mid-CAT and CAT weekends should not coincide with family activities e.g. outings, visits, parties etc.

12. SOCIAL LIFE Discuss friends: Cultivate a genuine interest in his friends Time spent with friends; age of friends-advise them avoid older friends

13. Discourage Hanging out (Junction, Mall, etc.) Set a policy on visits, sleepovers, etc. Get to know the parents of the friends

14. MOBILE PHONE Establish policy on phone Type of phone Days of use Internet access Facebook access (friends) Amount of credit

15. Money What are his sources of money? Allowance from you Relatives Business

16. How much has he got? NB: The more liquid the boy is, the more fluid he will be! How does he spend his money?

17. Extracurricular activities: Agree on the number of activities he can engage in. Agree on what marks he should maintain in order to continue with the activity.

18. ACADEMICS Track performance in the year so far in each subject and identify: Strong subjects (above 80%) Average subjects (60-79%) Weak subjects (below 60)

19. For the weak subject(s) find out from the subject teacher(s) why the boy is not performing well: Does not study Does not copy notes Has gaps from earlier years

20. Distracted in class Does not do homework Does not write homework in the diary Takes long to learn concepts

21. Decide with the teacher/tutor: What needs to be done By whom it should be done How you are going to evaluate success

22. Examples: How to ensure that homework is done Revision strategies Remedial classes/tuition (topics to be covered) Supplementary materials Constructing a timetable

23. Set targets for each subject with the boy The mark the boy should work towards What he needs to do to get the mark: small tasks every day/week

24. What help he needs to achieve the targets What he needs to give up to achieve his targets

25. As we help the boy: Dont go for a quick fix Correct with facts not opinions Opinion: You are very lazy these days…. Fact: You woke up at 10 oclock last Saturday and only studied for 20 minutes

26. Dont dwell too much on the future: he may never see it. Deal with the now Be consistent. He has a right to your acting in a predictable manner Invest time on this project! GOOD LUCK!