How can I help my highschooler get their grades up? She is so smart but she is not applying herself and at this point I dont know what to do?
Talk to her teachers and guidance counselor. Is she bored? Genuinely struggling? Sleepy? Distractable? Sad? Friends who are a bad influence? What do they think might be the problem and what do they think would help?
Get a medical/mental workup to check for sleep problems, depression and/or learning difficulties like dyslexia or ADHD, for example. An IQ test couldn’t hurt to get an idea of the difference between her grades and her abilities.
Hire a tutor or tutoring service like Sylvan Learning Centers or Mathnasium.
Have her work at a menial job for a month at least and ask her if this is what she’d like to do for the rest of her life.
Send her on Take Our Daughters (& Sons) to Work Day with someone to spark her interest beyond school. And see if she can job shadow someone or several people during a teacher workday break or two or three. Clue in the adult/s to talk about what education is needed for all the jobs your daughter will be exposed to.
Have someone she respects talk to her about how important schooling is and what doors good grades can open, at least initially. Offer tips for enjoying classroom time and homework.
Would studying at a library with fewer distractions and a quiet environment help her focus? How about peppy background music to keep her motivated? Setting a timer for 30 minutes of study followed by 10 minutes of something more fun, followed by 30 minutes of study/homework and so on. Make it 20 or 15 minutes with 5 minute breaks if that works better. She can always skip a break if she’s on a roll.
Is the school she’s in a good fit? Do you have other choices? Magnet schools, alternative schools, religious schools, online classes, etc.
Is she involved in school or extracurricular activities? Sometimes having something to look forward to besides classes can help her enjoy school more. My son’s football coach said don’t punish your kids by taking away football because that may be their only motivation for coming to school.
And sometimes the schools are under such scrutiny, regulations, and unreasonable pressure from nasty parents it takes the joy of learning away from both teachers and students. Take her to museums, historic places, art galleries, other places with programs for kids for active and hands-on learning. See plays, concerts, dances and literary, historic, or biographical movies—especially if she’s learning about the stories in classes. Schools and community theaters put on very affordable shows, and many are surprisingly professional!
Good luck!
Do Bingo cards for each class and have her listen for specific words or phrases the teacher is liable to say, either because it’s something they’re studying (“gerund”, “World War II,” “titrate”) or her/his catch phrases (“listen up!” “Settle down!” “Ope” or “…and that’s the way it is”). It’ll get her listening more closely and make her giggle when she can check one off.
Talk to the school, teachers, counselor s. Are there things going on that she is not applying herself? Have you sat your teen down and talked to her?
The only person who can get her to apply herself is her. If there are no reasons such as bullying or depression then sometimes it’s just that kids don’t have the desire to be academic. What you can do is try and light the flame of inspiration. What does she want to do when she leaves school? What does she need to do to achieve that? I’ve found telling students that will only a bit of effort they could go up a grade often inspires them to work harder. But there are those who are just happy to scrape by. (And I’ve written a Paper on motivation in students as well as being a parent so I’m not just giving up here!)