Have you heard? Parents like you have been worrying a lot about your child’s overall well-being lately.
My team and I often conduct Priority Assessments with parents to help them identify and rank the areas of their child’s learning that are not just ‘urgent’ and ‘important’ — but demonstrate the potential for MAXIMUM LEVERAGE for sustained improvement. Time management and assessment are almost always at the top of that list.
And when we ask the seemingly innocuous question — “So what’s your child like when it comes to an organization or time management…” — I often get the response “, Oh, he/she is just hopeless!!”
This finding is backed by independent research showing that adolescent health has topped the concerns of parents in the past year. A recent 2023 study by Harvard University reveals that about 40% of parents report feeling extremely worried about their teenager’s well-being and stress levels. This, in turn, has impacts on individual parent stress levels and the broader family unit.
And it makes sense, most parents just want their child to be prepared and organised for the brand-new year. Ideally, their work is spread out throughout the term, and there’s no significant backlog as they near the finish line. We all just want to leave the late-night cramming sessions and 11:59 PM trips to Officeworks for a print-out in the past.
At the end of the day, you know your child can only handle so much. But starting a new term and a higher year? There’s just more at stake for these young students: greater workload and more pressure (whether self-imposed or external) to get better results as they approach their final years in high school.
So, how do you help your child navigate these pressures and achieve their goals?
In this article, we will share four tips on how you can help your child become more organised and accomplish more in the new term without losing steam halfway through Term 1.
Tips to Help Students Be More Organised
An assessment tracker is the perfect tool for your child to keep track of incoming assignments and exams so they’re fully prepared to achieve higher marks with less stress. Creating an assessment tracker is super simple and while each child has a unique learning profile that would require specific strategies, but here are some of the most common best practices around an assessment organiser from our education coaches.
Ownership is key.
If you want your child to engage with organisation tools rather than just leaving them to gather dust, it is absolutely essential that your child is active as a participant in the organisation process. In fact, they should be the MAIN actor, even if you have to give them a bit of a nudge or framework to get started.
Some parents like to step in and do things for their children. There’s nothing wrong with wanting ease for your child’s stress or panic, and sometimes it’s necessary. However, if they’re not given the opportunity to develop the skills long-term, they won’t learn and grow. Worse yet, they’ll never be able to do it for themselves and feel incompetent went criticized for it—because they were robbed of the chance to learn or develop the skill in the first place.
We’ve heard many parents say, “But they won’t do it.” What isn’t apparent at first is that allowing them to ‘not do anything’ leads to a lack of adherence. So, nothing gets done even if they already have a nice planner or a to-do list with all their assessments. Always remember that you hold the key to enabling your child when it comes to proactivity and being organised, and be mindful of the line that if you cross—you will then disenable them and set them back for life.
Flip technology from ‘time-waster’ to ‘time-manager’.
If you grew up where technology isn’t as integrated as it is in today’s education system, don’t let that stop you and your child from maximising its benefits. Teenagers are digital natives so they can process information differently.
Open the conversation about project management tools you use at work that may also benefit your child. What are the challenges you face? What’s been handy? Share real-life experiences with your child to increase your connectedness and credibility. That improves uptake and adherence because it’s actual examples — not entirely ‘theoretical.’
Less is more (as in more marks!).
No one wants an over-complicated organiser. One of the most effective base models we’ve seen work for our students is nothing beyond a 5×5 table. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and children can always customise and design their organisers.
Our secret to keeping it simple? It doesn’t have to have everything in the world. But it has enough for students to use it, and come back to it, and iterate with it. Why? Because it simplifies the overwhelm. If you want to take a look at an example of our assessment organiser, click the button at the end of this article. It’s the same template our students used that helped them get a 99 ATAR rank.
Make sure it’s tailored to your child.
If your child is organising their assessments in a way aligned with their strengths and unique learning profile, it will get easier. This goes beyond whether they’re a visual learner, a kinaesthetic learner or have commitments aside from assessments. It also doesn’t end by listing deadlines or other things they tend to get stuck on.
There are still many considerations to factor in that education strategists can lend you a hand with. Your child’s assessment ‘battle plan’ should be able to assure that they will be able to get ahead and come out on top when the assessments come. It’s a bit like writing in Roman numerals — you can probably figure it out, but it sure is a lot harder than using the numeric system you’re used to.
The Power of an Assessment Tracker
An assessment tacker is more than just tracking due dates; it’s about laying down the steps to complete an assessment successfully. It could include breaking down tasks, identifying required resources and books, planning when to review, or having focused sessions. It also encompasses strategies to manage stress, work around distractions, and maintain high motivation levels.
Here are other benefits an assessment tracker can bring:
- Parental engagement and collaboration: Working hand-in-hand with your child and being more aware of their timelines and schedules to provide support.
- Mental health and lifestyle balance: Assessments and projects don’t have to be too hectic because you and your child already have a scheduled, step-by-step plan for them.
- Focused study strategy: An assessment tracker helps align your child’s study strategy and curriculum requirements. With 75% of students using ATAR for successful university admissions, based on the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), this can serve as the ‘ultimate tool.’ It also helps your child to focus on specific topics and individual learning preferences.
Of course, these are just some highlights of using an assessment tracker moulded to your child’s specific learning needs. If you want to know more about maximising this tool as part of your child’s success plan this year, our education coaches can share more tailored tips and ideas for you.
To get access to our tried-and-tested assessment tracker template, click the button below.
