Summer Ideas to Keep Your Adolescent Busy, Updated 5/14/12

Summer Ideas to Keep Your Adolescent Busy, Updated 5/14/12

Updated and posted 5/16/13

Summer Ideas to keep your adolescent busy, updated 5/14/12

6/2/09, updated on 5/26/11, updated on 5/14/12

PAISANO PARENTS,

Some of the following information is from experience as a parent of teens and some of it as a middle school teacher for 25 years now. Use it if you wish. Many of you already have a summer plan in place.If this is your first summer with a soon-to-be 8th grader, some if this may prove to be helpful in the weeks to come.

These are not in any particular order of importance.

  • Have your teen read regularly during the summer, even if it's only 15 or 20 minutes a few times a week and have them spend a few minutes discussing what they have read with you.
  • Have established chores for your teen and show them you expect the chores to be done correctly and regularly.
  • If they're able to acquire a summertime job that has your approval, encourage this as well.
  • Set a night time curfew for your teen. Research shows that young adults, who have a curfew and have to check in regularly with their parents, have fewer run-ins with legal authorities.
  • Pick out a day camp or overnight camp that offers interesting and outdoors and/or recreational type activities.
  • Have your adolescent stay active, physically, by riding their bike, taking a walk, skating, or shooting baskets.
  • Print and post in an obvious place in your house the Freedom Contract, which has been in the left hand sidebar of this site since before school started. It's on my website in the right hand side pull down menu.
  • Read the 10 most Common Lies that Adolescents tell in the right hand sidebar and file them away for future use.
  • Go on the website called The topics on this site can bring up some interesting discussion topics with you and your teen. There’s a section for parents as well.
  • Visit the Partnership for Drug-free America website. It offers very helpful information as well.
  • Reward your teen when they do chores or something extra around the house without you having to ask them. Teens tend to think that adults only speak with them when they've done something wrong.
  • Read a book that your adolescent is reading so you can discuss it with them.
  • Have your teen participate in some community service or volunteer work of some kind.
  • Read the Questions for teen parties that a PTA parent shared with me years ago, posted in the right hand sidebar under articles for parents.
  • Have a quick and easy to remember kind of statement to say to your teen as they leave to go places, especially places without you. My sister-in-law and brother tell their four teens "Make good choices" every time they leave the house to go out.
  • Have a plan in place, which I call "No questions asked" so that your teen knows someone to call or contact if they cannot reach you and they need to get out of an uncomfortable or possibly dangerous situation. This sets you up for when they're driving....it's something they're already familiar with.
  • Read a book from my Suggested Reading List for Parents of Teens in the right hand sidebar, under important info or another book on parenting teens. Local bookstores are full of books for parents of teens.
  • Have your teen do some manual labor, especially if they didn't apply themselves so well this year, hopefully enabling them to see that doing well in school is more fun than hard, manual labor for the rest of their life. (Nothing wrong with manual labor but I'm guessing you catch my drift, parents.)
  • A few weeks before school starts, sit down with your adolescent and go over a studying and homework plan for them for their 8th grade year. Print it up and post it in a place in your home where they can easily see it.
  • Visit the AISD website for summer activities that may be posted there.
  • Visit There’s a section for parents, teens, kids.
  • Have your student do some volunteer work, such as the capital area food bank or a local business that you feel would benefit from their help.
  • Have a check-in plan with your adolescent so that you know what they are doing, who they are with, and what they are up to while you are at work. This is a great tool for when they get their drivers license in another couple of years.
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