Top 5 Reasons Teens Put Off Doing Homework

Why Teens Procrastinate with Their Homework

Why Teens Procrastinate with their Homework

Homework:  it’s rare to find a teen that enjoys it.  What’s not rare?  A teen that is quite skilled at waiting until the last minute to do it, which causes all sorts of problems.  When a teen waits until 9 pm to begin homework, they are setting themselves up for inadequate sleep, higher stress levels, and poor academic performance.  Shedding light on the reasons teens delay starting is the first step to help them prioritize their schedules and develop discipline in their work habits. Here are the top 5 reasons that I see appearing time and again with my teen clients:

Facebook Introduces Messaging App for Kids

Facebook Messenger for Kids - North Texas Kids Magazine

Facebook’s Introduces Messenger Kids, a Chat App for Kids Under Age 13

The social media giant launched a free video chat and messaging app for kids to chat with their parents and with parent-approved friends. The Facebook messaging app for kids is free and aimed at children ages 6-12, who can’t yet have their own accounts under Facebook’s rules (must be 13 to sign up). Messenger Kids allows young users to chat with their friends, make video calls with kid-friendly filters and send age-appropriate GIFs.

Parents use their own accounts to create Messenger profiles for their kids.

How to Help Your Child Handle Peer Pressure

Helping Your Child Deal with Peer Pressure

Tips on Helping Your Child to Deal with Peer Pressure

 

Peer pressure can influence your child’s life in more ways than you may realize. Pressure to conform may have a positive effect if your child’s peers encourage healthy behavior.  But it’s the kind of peer pressure that has a negative influence that we worry about, leading your child to make bad judgment calls or to participate in risky activities.

Help your children make their own decisions and not just follow the crowd for the sake of following the crowd. Your children need to learn to do what’s right – for them and their healthy growth, maturity, and safety.

Family Mealtime is Important

family meal time - north texas kids magazine

How to Get Your Family Back to the Dinner Table for Family Mealtime

It may seem simple, but eating together as a family has been proven to be very beneficial. Studies have found the frequency of family meals to be associated with greater intakes of fruits and vegetables, milk, less fried foods and soft drinks, and higher intakes of several nutrients, including calcium, iron, vitamins, fiber, and less saturated and trans fat intakes.

In addition to the nutritional advantages, family mealtime has been shown to provide opportunities for children to learn vocabulary-building words that help them read well and have been associated with improved school performance. Family mealtime provides an opportunity for families to come together as a group and develop a sense of belonging. Some research even suggests families that eat together have children who experience fewer behavioral problems and reduce the risk that a teen will smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs.

How to Raise a Trustworthy Tween

How to Raise a Trustworthy Tween - North Texas Kids MagazineRaising a Trustworthy Tween

Lecturing your tween may not achieve the results you want. Encouraging him to talk about his behavior honestly without feeling put on the spot may help more. Here are some tips on how you can raise a trustworthy tween.