1.
GRIND ON ONE SUBJECT. If you have the flexibility to work on only one class per day, you may just love this idea! I found that when my own teens work on just one self-paced class for weeks at a time, they are more focused, learn the material better, get better grades, and they lose very little time switching to five different subjects each day. For example, my 9th grader is doing Social Studies right now. He finishes a week of Social Studies in one day, which is about four or five hours of work. He does this for four weeks and is then finished with a semester. Try it out if you can.
2.
NO SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM. Wait, huh? Let me explain. You know the kids that skip class to vape in the bathroom? I hope that's not you. If so, stop it right now. You're better than that. The online version of "skipping class to vape in the bathroom" is the YouTube sneak that sucks HOURS of your productive time. It's bad, bad for the brain. You are doing a lot of damage to yourself. Oh, the temptation will be real, like a vortex, sucking you into that hype YouTube channel. This is especially true if your mom walks out of the room. Don't click! To fight it you will need to own your own learning. Decide for yourself to be a learner, grow, and get smart. Save YouTube for when you're done for the day. Repeat after me: I am smart! I am successful! I will not vape in the bathroom....or watch YouTube during school.
GRIND ON ONE SUBJECT. If you have the flexibility to work on only one class per day, you may just love this idea! I found that when my own teens work on just one self-paced class for weeks at a time, they are more focused, learn the material better, get better grades, and they lose very little time switching to five different subjects each day. For example, my 9th grader is doing Social Studies right now. He finishes a week of Social Studies in one day, which is about four or five hours of work. He does this for four weeks and is then finished with a semester. Try it out if you can.
2.
NO SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM. Wait, huh? Let me explain. You know the kids that skip class to vape in the bathroom? I hope that's not you. If so, stop it right now. You're better than that. The online version of "skipping class to vape in the bathroom" is the YouTube sneak that sucks HOURS of your productive time. It's bad, bad for the brain. You are doing a lot of damage to yourself. Oh, the temptation will be real, like a vortex, sucking you into that hype YouTube channel. This is especially true if your mom walks out of the room. Don't click! To fight it you will need to own your own learning. Decide for yourself to be a learner, grow, and get smart. Save YouTube for when you're done for the day. Repeat after me: I am smart! I am successful! I will not vape in the bathroom....or watch YouTube during school.

3.
GET YOUR ZZZZ's! Did you know that super-smart scientists say teenagers need lots of sleep? Just don't sleep on a railroad track like the dude in the picture above. That seems dangerous. And not super comfortable. Some teenagers need to sleep later in the morning, too. Talk to your parents about this to work out a schedule that allows you to get healthy sleep, and be careful of getting too much sleep, which isn't good. This is one of the biggest benefits of online learning--you get to customize a schedule. Also, you may find that you are really productive in the evening hours. I only let one of my three teenage boys work late at night by himself because he has proven himself responsible by getting good grades and meeting deadlines. The other two? Um, no! If you like to work late at night, prove to your parents that you're grown-up enough to be trusted.
4.
SCHEDULE YOUR BREAKS. Back to our smart scientists. They also say that an hour of vigorous exercise helps with focus JUST AS WELL AS ADHD meds. Slay, scientists! Take a break at the intervals you need and think about managing these with a timer. Get up and jump rope for five minutes after you've been sitting and staring at a screen for 45 minutes. Race your brother around the block. You've just exercised your brain. Now go exercise your quads.
5.
WAIT JUST A MINUTE! By break, I didn't say video game break, did I? If you take a break to play video games, your motivation to get back to school will go down to the depths of, well, a bad place. Seriously, use video games to motivate you to finish your work! When you're finished with school, you can relax and enjoy that NHL game, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.
GET YOUR ZZZZ's! Did you know that super-smart scientists say teenagers need lots of sleep? Just don't sleep on a railroad track like the dude in the picture above. That seems dangerous. And not super comfortable. Some teenagers need to sleep later in the morning, too. Talk to your parents about this to work out a schedule that allows you to get healthy sleep, and be careful of getting too much sleep, which isn't good. This is one of the biggest benefits of online learning--you get to customize a schedule. Also, you may find that you are really productive in the evening hours. I only let one of my three teenage boys work late at night by himself because he has proven himself responsible by getting good grades and meeting deadlines. The other two? Um, no! If you like to work late at night, prove to your parents that you're grown-up enough to be trusted.
4.
SCHEDULE YOUR BREAKS. Back to our smart scientists. They also say that an hour of vigorous exercise helps with focus JUST AS WELL AS ADHD meds. Slay, scientists! Take a break at the intervals you need and think about managing these with a timer. Get up and jump rope for five minutes after you've been sitting and staring at a screen for 45 minutes. Race your brother around the block. You've just exercised your brain. Now go exercise your quads.
5.
WAIT JUST A MINUTE! By break, I didn't say video game break, did I? If you take a break to play video games, your motivation to get back to school will go down to the depths of, well, a bad place. Seriously, use video games to motivate you to finish your work! When you're finished with school, you can relax and enjoy that NHL game, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

