“Our son Cody actually graduated last fall! We were so worried he was going to give up his dream of being a lawyer after the trials and tribulations he encountered with his schoolwork. He’s such a bright teen, and we know he wanted to do well, he just got so frustrated. We were afraid to believe that his best effort may only yield a C average. It was hard to determine if the classes were the cause or if he was just a poor learner.”

Many parents share this desperate fear: that their son or daughter is unable to excel in school. A variety of factors can exist when pondering a child’s dissatisfaction with school, but many overlook one crucial question: have they been taught how to learn? The answer seems like an obvious one, and a majority of parents would respond immediately with, “Of course my teen possesses adequate learning skills. How else would they make it to high school?” Those same parents may be shocked to discover that many teens have never been formally taught how to study or prepare for an exam. Teenagers lacking those skills become easily frustrated and never understand how easy learning can be with the proper encouragement.

Just because a teenager lacks learning skills, it does not mean that they lack academic ability. A chess player can only excel at chess when they have a defined set of rules and move list. Similarly, teenagers need to learn the ins and outs of studying. After repeated disappointment, it is possible to lose hope and focus, and develop self-defeating attitudes. They begin to convince themselves that school is just not important anymore. As many parents know, this sort of apathy endangers a teen’s academic future as well as the potential direction of their lives.

Why do teens feel so disconnected from their schoolwork? Motivation may be the key. When a student is unable to relate to what they are learning, a barrier forms between them and comprehension. Teenagers will bore of learning information that they do not see merit in. Unless they find ways to reconnect themselves to the content, they will continue to feel negatively toward learning.

It is a teacher’s goal to impart information clearly, but how a student organizes and retrieves that information for personal use depends on what set of strategies they use for their cache of data. Students process information in a variety of different ways. Realistically, teachers are unable to cater to each individual student’s unique learning style. This complicates matters when considering that some students have a more auditory style of learning, while others may be more visual. Ultimately, it may be up to the student to find ways to transform the information they learn into a usable format.

Many students suffer from the same strange phenomenon: learning ceases to be entertaining and their enthusiasm for it dies. They view school as something merely holding them back from doing what they enjoy. What happened to the bright child who skipped with excitement on their way to the library? Where is that talented artist who illustrated stick figure masterpieces with several crayons and a fierce imagination? Those children aren’t gone, but merely hidden in a shell of indifference and hormones. The creative spark is still hovering in the back of their minds; it needs only to be encouraged to show itself.

One thing that will coax the creative spark from any teenager is changing their view of school. If it is viewed as a forced institution or mandatory responsibility, they will never understand what a place of learning can offer. Rather, school should be depicted as a gateway of opportunity. It is a place that will broaden their horizons and actualize their personal goals and dreams. Academic summer camps help exemplify this image by providing learning and teen life skills in a setting where teenagers feel comfortable. Here, they will gain important traits that will help them in their academic and personal lives, like confidence, self-esteem, and motivation.

Teenagers will learn a wide range of skills at academic summer camps like SuperCamp that will give them a head start on future success. Communication skills, leadership skills, building positive relationships, conflict resolution, creative thinking, setting goals, and problem solving are just some of the things they will develop and master. Conflicts in school and at home will be significantly eased as a result.

The moment a teenager takes ownership for their own learning, is the moment that they uncover an infinitely deep well of potential. Frustration over memorizing, studying, and testing will become a thing of the past.

Kids catch onto the importance of money in life pretty quickly as they watch us use it. The way to show your child the value of a dollar is by teaching them the different ways a dollar is used.

Begin When They’re Young

Begin explaining to your child how money works from a young age. It’s important for kids to know you get money by earning it. Items (or services) in life are given in return for money, and the value or worth of that item varies according to the seller. If you do not have enough money, you can not purchase the item.

A follow-up to this is talking about saving money. A child with a couple dollars could go buy a piece of candy (that’ll be gone in 10 seconds) or an inexpensive toy (that will be broken in 10 minutes or completely forgot about the next day). However, if that child decides to save those dollars, a better item can be purchased that may have more meaning and last longer.

Have A Savings Plan

To develop a savings plan, help them decide on a percentage they can save each time they earn money. Ten percent is a good amount to work with since all they have to do is move the decimal point one place to the left. That will help them to see that for every dollar they earn, ten cents can be saved. You can also show the other examples too.

Make sure that they know that the account is not for the better short-term item, but for a “rainy day”, a car or even their college fund. With the remaining 90% they get the candy or “better item” that you previously told them about. This principle is a good way to teach the about child being discipline and saving for long-term savings; like when they want to buy a house or retirement when they’re grown.

It is a given that a six-year-old will not get the “rainy day” theory, and talking to them about the privilege of driving may not win brownie points; but after saving 10% over the years, they can see how it adds up. This is a valuable teaching for when they get their first job. They will be used to saving that 10% already

You might also set aside a certain percentage for charitable giving, so kids can also learn about this important aspect of managing money.

As Your Child Grows

When your child is more mature, take him or her to the bank with you and open a line of savings in their (and your) name. Once or twice a month, take your child to the bank so they can deposit their money into their account. Let them see the bank statement and watch how their money is growing with the help of interest.

Interest is a large part of spending and saving money. You will either pay more than what the item is worth or you can earn more money. Teenagers need to learn the concept that if you don’t pay the debt owed within 30 days, they will pay more for the item they purchased.

A good way to prove how unfavorable or great interest can be is by role-playing. Find an item your teenager wants to use a credit card to pay for. Create a chart showing how making only the paying the minimum changes what the total debt is, how long it will take to pay the debt off with minimum payments, and how much interest (or money lost), is paid in total.

On that same note, take the number of months it took to pay off the credit card and show how much interest he/she’d be making in a savings account while putting money away to save for that item. The amount of interest isn’t much, but the point to make is if you save money to purchase the item, you will only pay that sum without the additional cost of interest.

The purpose of teaching your child about money is to get them to see the value in proper money management.

Cramming facts into a memory bank is not conducive to easy absorption or future retrieval for the brain. Without organization, learned information can become meaningless, boring, and easily forgotten. It is imperative that students utilize study techniques that will effectively aide the brain in processing and grouping together learned information in a retrievable format. Students with proper study skills will recall facts more quickly and accurately and will subsequently have an easier time taking tests or organizing a paper.

SuperCamp, one of the leading academic summer camps worldwide, provides crucial learning and life skills that will help guide campers ranging from grades 4 through 12 to academic success. For any learner, a significant gap can form between subject matter and student if the learning method isn’t approached intuitively. SuperCamp equips students with a repertoire of valuable study skills and advantageous techniques that work specifically with their individual learning pattern.

A camp favorite at SuperCamp is Mind Mapping, a method developed by Tony Buzan in the 1960′s that promotes active learning through colorful picture and word associations. The goal of Mind Mapping is to get creative! Personalizing the information in a way that employs both sides of the brain is the key to this learning technique. Anyone who needs to organize information easily for absorption can use this technique, whether in preparation for an exam, a book report, planning an event, or tackling a challenging problem.

How does Mind Mapping work? The first step is to turn the page horizontally. This gives you room to spread outwards. Since it is important to always be aware of the big picture, your first addition to the page should be the main idea of the subject at hand. As an example, consider the life cycle of a plant. You could choose to simply write this in the center of the page, but it would be more beneficial to the learning process if a picture is included that will signify the topic, like a quick sketch of a plant. From there, draw branches stemming from the main idea that represent important points: how a seed germinates, where a plant gets its nutrients, the process of photosynthesis, and the pollination of flowers. Each point can be paired with a picture and at least three different colors should be used throughout.

The use of color stimulates the imaginative portion of the brain – additionally, it captures and holds the Mind Mapper’s attention. The pictures paired with words will help the brain form associations that can be easily recalled at a later date. The final product should resemble the many branches of a tree surrounding a central idea. The more unique your mind map is, the easier it will be to retain the information!

Laying strong groundwork at an early age is extremely important for a student when developing their study skills. A student able to manipulate content in a mentally stimulating way will be more excited about learning and can consequently set a trend for the rest of their lives. SuperCamp graduate, James Ohnoki, felt Mind Mapping was a major turning point in his academic career. He became a more interactive learner as a result and used the technique many times to help him connect visual elements to learned content. He particularly enjoyed the drawing and coloring aspects of Mind Mapping because it gave him license to be as creative as he wanted.

Just as James Ohnoki discovered, the learning techniques students develop at SuperCamp will transform them into more interactive learners for the rest of their lives. It can effectively bridge the gap between a student and his or her coursework and start them on the road to academic success. Armed with learning techniques like Mind Mapping, students will find this path to success remarkably easier to traverse.

It is often difficult for students to absorb and store information for future retrieval when it is not organized in a meaningful way. Memorizing a collection of dry facts, better known as cramming, does not allow a student to effectively retain information. When proper study techniques are utilized, the brain processes learned information more quickly by grouping it into a usable, retrievable format that can be accessed at a later time. To enhance this process, adding a fun and inventive twist onto a learning technique will help hold a student’s interest and make it ultimately more effective.

Pairing intuitive learning techniques with a student’s natural creativity is just one of the reasons why SuperCamp remains a leader in academic summer camps around the world. Students, ranging from grades 4 through 12, will leave camp armed with a repertoire of critical learning and life skills necessary for success in their academic career. Bridging the gap between course work and student will be remarkably easier when they are equipped with a wide range of study skills and advantageous techniques that cater specifically to their learning style.

A camp favorite at SuperCamp is Mind Mapping, a method developed by Tony Buzan in the 1960′s that promotes active learning through colorful picture and word associations. The goal of Mind Mapping is to get creative! Personalizing the information in a way that employs both sides of the brain is the key to this learning technique. Anyone who needs to organize information easily for absorption can use this technique, whether in preparation for an exam, a book report, planning an event, or tackling a challenging problem.

How does Mind Mapping work? The first step is to turn the page horizontally. This gives you room to spread outwards. Since it is important to always be aware of the big picture, your first addition to the page should be the main idea of the subject at hand. As an example, consider the life cycle of a plant. You could choose to simply write this in the center of the page, but it would be more beneficial to the learning process if a picture is included that will signify the topic, like a quick sketch of a plant. From there, draw branches stemming from the main idea that represent important points: how a seed germinates, where a plant gets its nutrients, the process of photosynthesis, and the pollination of flowers. Each point can be paired with a picture and at least three different colors should be used throughout.

Color in Mind Mapping stimulates the imaginative portion of the brain and captures-and holds-attention. Pairing a word with a corresponding picture helps the brain form associations that can be easily recalled later. Every Mind Map should be unique in shape and construction. Some will include many larger branching points with few details, while other, more complicated topics will fill the page with supporting details surrounding the central idea. The more unique the Mind Map, the easier the information will be to retain!

Laying strong groundwork at an early age is extremely important for a student when developing their study skills. A student able to manipulate content in a mentally stimulating way will be more excited about learning and can consequently set a trend for the rest of their lives. SuperCamp graduate, James Ohnoki, felt Mind Mapping was a major turning point in his academic career. He became a more interactive learner as a result and used the technique many times to help him connect visual elements to learned content. He particularly enjoyed the drawing and coloring aspects of Mind Mapping because it gave him license to be as creative as he wanted.

As James learned at SuperCamp, effective techniques can help a student transform his or her study habits and leap over seemingly insurmountable hurdles once they utilize those learning techniques on a regular basis. The road to academic success does not have to be a difficult one when methods like Mind Mapping are at every student’s disposal.