The weather is warmer, the days are longer, and the end of the school year is just around the

corner. Whether it is playing sports, working a job after school, or hanging out with friends, it seems

students are busier this time of year. Students can see the end of the school year as summer fever sets in, and it is

more difficult to remain focused on school responsibilities. How do students remain focused on

finishing the school year strong? Here are a few tips on how you can help your child get through the

rest of the school year without missing a step.

Revisit Goals

When your child returned to school after the winter break, you probably discussed goals for the

school year. Maybe your child wanted to get an A in science or improve by a letter grade in English

class. Whatever the goals were, now is the time to remind your child of them.

If you did not set goals, you still have time to have this conversation. Help your child set goals for the

remainder of the year. These goals should come from your child with your guidance. Your child must

have buy-in, so make sure she comes up with the goals. Once the goals are set, begin a plan on

how to reach each one.

Stay Organized

Since this time of year tends to disrupt your regular winter schedule, create a new routine that works

with all of the new springtime activities. Sit down with your child and her planner. Students who are

typically really good about writing down their assignments in their planner tend to stop keeping track

during this time of year. Help them discover their planner again so they can get themselves

organized. Set a time aside each evening to ask about the planner and then check-off all of the

completed tasks. Also, you may want to model this behavior by keeping a family calendar to stay on

top up of all the extra activities.

Get Motivated

Remind your children what they’ve worked for during the school year. Now is not the time to give up

as the end is approaching. Explain to them that this is the time when they must get motivated to

finish strong. You can help them set-up some type of rewards and incentives program. You know

your child and what helps them stay motivated, so assist them with achieving their goals through

incentives. Your children should want to finish strong, so the incentives/rewards should be small

such as serving their favorite dinner or allowing extra time on a video game.

Take Advantage of the Weather

The weather this time of year is beautiful, so encourage your children to go outside and get fresh air.

You can set-up a place for them to do homework outside or use the outdoors for study breaks. After

studying for an hour, there’s no need to stay cooped up. Take a walk. Enjoy the weather, which can

be refreshing and motivating.

Check Your Own Motivation

Your kids aren’t the only ones ready for a break from the hectic school schedule. Make sure you

show your own motivation at the end of the school year. Ask your children if they need help studying.

Show them that you are still interested in their success. You don’t want them to know how excited

you are for the end of the year, at least not yet anyway.

Don’t Over Schedule Activities

The warmer weather seems to encourage a busier schedule, so try to be acutely aware of how many

activities your kids are involved in. Kids don’t want to miss out on the fun, so they tend to say yes to

any offer. If you have a child who is on the soccer travel team, volunteers at church twice each

week, and babysits most weekends, you need to step in and help her set limits and priorities. Each

activity in this list is worthy, but having an over-scheduled child hampers the focus she needs with

ending the school year strong.