“It’s infuriating… always on their phone!”
Does that sound familiar?
It’s not just you. When we ask parents what they’re most worried about when it comes to their child’s learning, lack of engagement and proactivity always comes up somewhere near the top of the list. A 2023 report by the South Australian Government confirms that only 43% of students care about their learning tasks. The rest of the 57% majority are left disengaged in school.
There are loads of possible reasons why your child isn’t as engaged as you expect them to be. They might be bored or too distracted to study, having a hard time to say ‘no’ to other things. Or maybe they’re too stressed thinking about assignments, the HSC trials and their ATAR.
What if there was a way to tip your child’s stress levels and use them to improve their academic performance?
It might sound counter-productive but what if they could get better results without so much of the overwhelm?
In this article, we show you how stress can be flipped to your child’s advantage so they achieve better academic results.
The Sweet Spot of Stress
When it comes to high school, most parents instinctively want to shield their children from stress. But in a recent live discussion we had with Dr Amanda Mullin, Doctor of Clinical Psychology and the Founder/Director of Mindworx Psychology, stress can actually play a pivotal role in improving a student’s productivity and engagement in school.
According to Dr Mullin, too little or too much stress can be detrimental to any child. Low stress levels lead to boredom, tiredness, and a lack of motivation. Students with low stress levels tend to look at tasks as distant and non-urgent, which leads to procrastination. Meanwhile, high stress levels push students to irritability and overwhelming anxiety, which can lead to school avoidance. (If you want your child to avoid high stress levels due to work load, check out this free tool to reduce their overwhelm.)
That means finding the ‘sweet spot’ or the optimal level of stress for your child is crucial, because that’s where they feel challenged, but energised to study and accomplish tasks. With the right tools and strategies to tip your child’s stress levels, you can help your child boost their productivity, creativity and engagement in school.
Tara Tipping Stress to Success
Last year, we worked with Tara, a Year 11 student. Tara was a huge procrastinator. She’d leave things too late, and then panic when she realised there wasn’t enough time to do it all.
Tara struggled to finish her exam papers and often left sections incomplete because she didn’t know the content well enough. She was overwhelmed, frustrated and was completely disengaged with school before she finished Term 2.
Tara even started saying she didn’t care about getting into university. But Delia, her mum, saw Tara was scared, stressed out and needed support.
So we worked with Tara to identify her stressors and what made her feel overwhelmed. Straight away, Tara told us she didn’t know how to study properly, and it’s causing her to be anxious about her studies.
We did a strategic review of Tara’s exam readiness and identified the areas that would help her rapidly improve her marks. We also gave her a personalised, structured way to rebuild her confidence and find what energised her to accomplish her schoolwork.
It did not take long to see results.
Tara’s motivation levels stopped dropping almost immediately, and her marks increased. From being unable to finish timed exams and failing Year 11 exams, Tara topped three subjects in her first Year 12 assessment – including 100% in Maths, Modern History and Food Tech. By Term 2, she also ranked Top 5 positions across almost all her subjects.
Help Your Child Reach Optimal Stress Levels
Tara’s unhealthy stress kept her from achieving her highest academic potential. Without Delia’s sharp eye and proactive action to seek and provide further support, Tara wouldn’t have tipped her stress to an optimal level and gotten close to the results she achieved.
If you have a child in high school who’s distant and disengaged with school and learning, help them regulate their stress levels and become more energised for better marks and academic performance. At Kalibrate-Ed, we offer a wide range of resources and tailored strategies made to fit your child’s unique learning profile and needs.
#1. Structured, Personalised Study
If your child is disorganised or doesn’t start things early enough, then they need a STRUCTURED study plan. If they’re procrastinating, distracted or not getting it done then you definitely need a PERSONALISED structured study plan that ensures they get the work done consistently throughout the term and to a high quality.
#2. Assessment Tracker
Eliminate the unnecessary stress as you track deadlines and outcomes your child achieves. With an assessment tracker, you can also reduce the mismatch between your child’s effort and results and remind them of their wins when they accomplish a task.
#3. Procrastination Focaliser
Help your child take a step back from overwhelm and find their focus around distractions. With a procrastination focaliser, you can help your child build their engagement and boost their productivity and proactivity as they learn.
When your child is fully engaged in their learning, academic success happens a lot faster because they’re interested, consistent and getting it done. But if they’re not motivated or energised to push forward, their results is just going to plumet fast. It’s as simple as that.
If you want to tip your child’s stress levels back in a way that’s healthy for them and actually going to help keep them motivated, our education strategists can help you. Schedule a call and let’s brainstorm ideas to create a tailored plan to turn your child’s stress into success.