7 Ways to Connect with Your Teen

1. One of the most effective ways to motivate your teen is to communicate that you respect them. Respect is important to teens. Tell them you understand that they don't want to be treated like children; they want to be treated like young adults. But on the flip side, they must behave like young adults to earn the respect they desire. Teens hate it when adults treat them like children. They hate it when you act like their opinion doesn't matter and you act like since you're the boss, their input is not important.

2. Choose your battles carefully. Be willing to compromise on clothes, hair, music, and friends (within reason, of course).

3. Tell them if they want you out of their "business," then they need to take care of their business.

4. Show interest in the things they're interested in, even if you're not. Ask them about the latest music group or celebrity they're into. Don't express judgmental opinions; rather, ask questions that perhaps lead them to think about the culture they are immersed in.

5. Get them involved in a dynamic church youth group or charity. Teens these days need a dose of reality that they experience little of on TV or in movies. When they help change the quality of somebody's life, they find more contentment in their own.

6. Sit and talk to them without any prejudices, opinionated comments, or negative body language.

7. Educate yourself about the things they're interested in. They'll appreciate your interest.

10 Powerful Test-Taking Strategies for Finals Season

This is finals crunch time, and while some people are naturally good at test-taking, everyone can benefit from these practical and proven strategies:

1. Think positively! Athletes would never win a game if in the locker room before the game they said, "We're doomed. We're not good at playing football." The mind tends to believe what it hears. That's why athletes "psyche" themselves up by saying things like "We're going to destroy them! Let's go!"

You don't have to say "I'm going to get an A." You can simply say, "I am going to do better on this test." Say it often. Really mean it. You'll be surprised at the powerful effect positive words and thoughts can have.

2. Take as much time as you are allotted. Don't feel like there's something wrong with you if you aren't turning the test in at the same time everyone else is. In my experience, the last ones to turn in the test on average do much better than the rest.

3. Reread the questions if time allows. Oftentimes, especially in math, the question has more than one part. Test-takers will see the answer to the first part of the solution as one of the choices and forget that the question goes beyond that preliminary answer.

For example, finding the third number in a group of three consecutive numbers is a typical question in Algebra. Usually, the first solution arrived at is the first number in the group, and there is additional computation necessary to find the third number. When the test-taker arrives at the first number and sees it as one of the choices, they choose it and move on. Be careful! If you reread the question, you won't get tricked!

4. When taking a math test, make sure your scratch paper is neat, not chicken scratch. That way when you check your work, you can read it and identify any errors. In addition, beware of reading through the errors. If time allows, rework the problems and if there are discrepancies, you won't tend to miss them as you would if you simply check over your work.

5. Take deep breaths, exhaling slowly too. This allows your brain to get more oxygen. When taking a test, breathing can become shallow and rapid due to the stress of taking a test.

6. Eat a good breakfast high in protein and avoid sugar.

7. Get a good night's sleep.

8. Try not to cram. Study a little every day. When studying for math tests, spend time working additional problems. You can even rework the examples in the book and the ones in your notes, because if you're wrong, you can compare it to the steps shown in the book or in your notes.

9. Close your eyes and think back to what your teacher said. Put yourself back in that place where you studied or learned the concept and picture what your teacher said. It's in your head. Try to recall that moment.

10. Put the "Don't Forgets" at the top of your scratch paper instead of trying to keep it all in your head, like formulas and other helpful information. For example, if you always forget to distribute the negative in an Algebra problem, write "Don't forget to distribute the negative." Then when you go back to check your answers, you should read the "Don't Forgets" at the top of the page to help you check your common errors.

Summer school? Or do kids need a break?

Parents sometimes want to give their kids a break in the summer. But studies have shown that students take a considerable step back if they don't engage in some kind of practice during the summer.

Here are five good reasons to get your child into a summer program this summer that keeps them thinking...

1. Studies show kids lose one to three months of learning during the summer.

2. The decline is more detrimental in math during the summer months.

3. Students can review important skills from the previous school year.

4. Students can get a head start on the next school year.

5. Students will stay engaged and have fun while learning.

City parks and recreation programs, tutoring centers, and some schools offer excellent options for helping your child maintain important skills that will keep them on their toes when school starts again.