Lately in my academic coaching practice, my teen clients have been writing their parents emails. This is just an experiment, but I think it’s going well and I wanted to share.

My rationale is that teens are much more likely to accept reminders to do their homework if they actually ASK their parents to remind them. Seems less like nagging that way! So I talk them through what their goals are, what kind of support they’d like from their parents, and how to request it of them.  The kids type the email and then we click send!

Here’s a recent email written by a 16 year old boy (I added a few periods for readability, as well as the clarification in brackets, but otherwise it’s all his):

hi
mom

gretchen and i have made a list of stuff i need to do over break. we figured out it would take like 9 hours to do it all. i really wanna go snowboarding over the second week of break [so I need to get my work done before Christmas].

our plan is to start on monday from after i wake up and eat and stuff. ill start my homework and work on it for like 2 to 3 hours. i would like you to remind me to get started on it and check on me a few times. i was wondering if that would work for you or if your gunna be out buyen me presents? 😉

* monday history corrections
* tuesday geometry chapter 6 hw
* wednesday math corrections
* thursday spanish project

and i was wondering if i could reward myself everyday when i finish my work by going and doing something fun like going and hanging out with my friends?

thanks

simon

Emails such as this are such a recent addition to my coaching, I haven’t actually checked it out with the parents yet. I’m looking forward to finding out if they enjoy receiving them, and if so, how it’s helping support their relationship with their teen at home?

If there are any parents out there reading this, what do you think? As an academic coach potentially working with your teen, how can I best support you communicating with each other around homework and school obligations? I’d love to know!

And teens: can you see yourself making requests like this on your own (without a nosy academic coach interfering?). I’m curious!!