A Levels

So we have finally come to the end of exam period. We now will need to live through, and support through, several weeks of waiting for results day and the "do we get the university post or not?" answer. It has been a stressful time for Beth, my beautiful daughter, she has slogged her guts out and we are so proud of her, whatever the out come. She is worried, it was hard and the papers were not kind, but she is pro active, she has NVQ's in beauty she is also working on and is now a Body Shop At Home consultant. She has her fingers in many pies and I know she will succeed with whatever she decides to do. BUT.....If she doesn't get those grades I know she will cry. 2 years work and she's convinced herself she hasn't done well. My job, convince her she can achieve anything she sets her mind to. Make sure she knows that university isn't the be all and end all, give her the confidence to go out into the world of adults and be strong, confident and brave and to be able to conquer her demons. But above all my job is to make sure she knows she is loved and supported, wherever life takes her. Following is an article that I hope will prove useful to those of you who are going through the same.

Beat Exam Stress

AT exam time you really want your mind to work for you, to help you absorb information, remember and work with it to provide great answers to the questions. But for most students it is right at exam time that the mind fails them. It's called EXAM STRESS. Exam stress is caused by worry around exams. You may worry that you don't enough, or that you won't link the information to the question, or that you won't achieve the results you need. But the biggest worry at exam time is the fear that you might "go blank". Stress is not completely bad. You need some of it to make you productive. For example, imagine noticing that you have no food. That would cause you stress - and you would make a plan to find some. But constant stress is not good and doesn't work in your favour - especially when you need your mind to be sharp, focussed and on its best behaviour. The good news is you can do a few things to keep exam stress at bay and ace your exams. Right up front, the best way to beat stress is to know you are well prepared. If you have worked consistently and revised well, you will know that there is really no reason for you to worry. Exams are designed to reward consistent work and good preparation. Those who have not worked or prepared would probably have cause to be concerned, and so they will definitely stress on their way into the exam room - and that would worsen an already bad situation. There is no replacement for academic discipline when it comes to succeeding with exams and staying calm through the process. Work consistently through the year, revise thoroughly, be organised with your preparation such as having a study timetable, get plenty of rest and eat well and you should be fine. However, even the best students have experienced stress before exams. Sometimes the weight of expectation can be heavy. Your expectations of yourself, your family's expectations of you, the school's expectations and the need to do well in order to be accepted to the next level of study are enough to stress anyone. There is also the self-confidence factor. You may wonder, "Am I good enough"? You may doubt your ability even though you have proven it to yourself many times before. You may even doubt whether you deserve academic success. A lack of self- confidence can be crippling. It will add to any stress you have as you prepare for exams. So what can you do to conquer exam stress? Let's assume you have done the required work this year to achieve academic success. To make sure stress doesn't mess up what you have worked so hard for, add a few more skills to your arsenal. First, learn to relax. Your brain must be relaxed in order to function at its best, to take in information, recall it and work with it. So take time to "tune out", push the exams out of your mind and chill. Turn off the music and the cell phone, stay away from your television and your computer, don't get onto the social networks. All these things need your brain to work. You are trying to relax it - it needs time off. Sit down in a comfortable place, close your eyes, think about nothing but your breathing, let any thoughts you have drift away, and give yourself five minutes of brain recovery time. And try using visualisation. It is a powerful way of telling your subconscious mind to get with the programme and work with you. By visualising what you want, you give vivid instructions to your brain to find what you need to succeed. Most people who try this are surprised at just how well the brain guides you to where you have told it to take you. Spend some time with your eyes closed seeing your success. Imagine yourself in the exam room, calm and relaxed, feeling confident and answering the questions well. Imagine your goal, the results you want to achieve. See your report or your certificate showing the results you want. Allow yourself to feel the feelings you will have when you receive your results and you have done well. Perhaps even imagine yourself receiving an award, or telling your friends and family how well you have done. Bring all of your senses into the imagination exercise. See the exam room in your imagination. Smell the smells. Feel the certificate as you hold it and read your brilliant results. Hear the congratulations of your friends. And if there is anything appropriate to taste - go for it! Affirmations are a great way to boost your confidence. It works well with people who lack confidence, but even the most confident students can use a bit more of it. Take time to tell yourself how good you are. Yes, it will feel strange at first, and if you are naturally humble it could feel a bit uncomfortable. But you are a great person, so let yourself know that. Say things to yourself such as: I deserve success I easily understand what I am studying I can recall information clearly I am a successful student. Does it matter if you believe the statements to be true? No. Keep reminding your brain about them, and they will become true. Say the affirmations out loud to yourself as if you really, really believe them (don't do this in the exam room!), repeat each one of them five or six times before moving on to the next, and don't judge them, just accept them. Create your own affirmations, and enjoy using them. Be careful not to allow negative thoughts in when you are doing your relaxing, visualizations or affirmations. In fact don't ever allow negative thoughts in at any time. Your brain will take you wherever you want to go - to failure just as easily as to success. If you keep telling yourself you can't study, if you keep thinking you are going to fail, if you imagine yourself panicking in the exam room - your brain will take you right there. Some exam stress is inevitable. But you can control it. If you are well prepared, have allowed your brain time to relax, spent time imagining your success and have affirmed yourself as a good student, you will have no reason to stress at all. Jonathan Payne is a Hypnotherapist and Mind Management specialist based in Durban, South Africa. He works extensively with stress related conditions as well as assisting clients to overcome limitations by understanding where their minds are tripping them up. He teaches relaxation and centering techniques to help clients focus, get motivated, find purpose and succeed. He is available for talks and seminars to assist organisations with stress, motivation, focus and productivity. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Payne Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7339943

Acivities For All The Family

Teenage Dating - How Should Parents Respond When Teens Begin Dating?

This is a topic which can raise strong emotions in parents which is completely normal. It is scary to think of your son or daughter starting to date. Of course, our minds often go to the worst case scenarios - they will date someone who is no good, they will start having sex, they will get pregnant, they will shut me out completely as a parent. All of these are obviously legitimate fears, however, most teenage dating does not go this way.

There is no "best" age at which teens should begin dating and there is no "best" way for a parent to support their teenager as they enter into the dating stage. However, there are a few tips to remember which may be of help. First, it is important to remember that generally girls mature faster than boys and therefore teenage girls generally become interested in dating at a younger age than do boys. This also means that often times, teenage girls may date boys who are older than them (note that I said "boys" and not "men"). Second, it is important to remember that dating is a new, exciting and sometimes heartbreaking experience for teenagers. Being open to the process, not overly critical of your child's choice of a boyfriend or girlfriend (unless of course you believe they will cause your teen harm), and supporting them is important so that they are more likely to come to you if they have questions or concerns related to dating. Finally, remember that your teen will likely have many boyfriends or girlfriends and that is okay and normal. During the teenage years they are not picking out their lifelong mate - they are just looking to get to know someone on a new level and engage in a relationship which is emotionally (and sometimes physically) intimate. The dating process will help them discover what it means to be in a more intimate relationship which will benefit them when the time comes to actually look for someone with whom they may be in a long term committed relationship.

One concern I have heard voiced by parents of teens who are beginning to date is how much freedom they should give their teenager and should they allow their teenager and their boyfriend / girlfriend to ever be alone. Both questions are tricky and somewhat specific to each family's situation. Some things to keep in mind when making this decision in your situation are:

- Is my teenager generally responsible?
- Does my teenager generally make healthy decisions?
- Do I know at least a little about my teen's boyfriend or girlfriend?
- Do I think my teenager will let me know if something is wrong?
- Does my teenager generally have good boundaries and decent self esteem?
- What parameters can I put in place to allow my teen a little freedom which can gradually increase as we feel this situation out further?

If your teenager is generally trustworthy with decent self esteem, they will likely be okay with a little freedom. However, if your teenager is generally not where they are supposed to be or does not come in when they are supposed to - it is likely that they will continue with the same pattern when out with their boyfriend / girlfriend. Particularly with teenage girls, self esteem can play an important role in dating behavior. Girls who have very low self esteem are at risk to be taken advantage of by males. They are generally in a position where they just want to feel good about themselves and connect with others and often will let others take advantage of them in an effort to get this connection. Allowing themselves to be used by others can be a devastating experience for teens so it is important, as a parent, to be aware of such situations.

In general, it is ideal for you as the parent to know the people your teen chooses to date without being overly critical of them. Invite them to the house for dinner, allow them to hang out with your teen and watch movies, play video games, listen to music, etc. as a means of getting to know them without being overbearing and overprotective.

Okay...now for the toughest of them all...what about sex? We all know of situations where teens in high school and sometimes even middle school become pregnant and this is one of a parent's biggest fears. The reality is that there is no way for a parent to stop their child from having sex - if they really want to do it, they will find a way to do it. However, it is possible for a parent to have a thoughtful discussion with their teenager about having sex and to attempt to put some parameters around their dating relationship which may help them see there are other things they can be doing within their dating relationship. For starters, it is always best if parents can have an open conversation about sex with their children. It allows children to see that their parents are not living in the dark ages and that they are not so uncomfortable by the subject that they cannot even talk about it. In addition, it opens the door so that should an issue come up with your teen related to sex, they may be more willing to come to you rather than try to hide it. In addition, giving your teen ideas about how they might want to spend their time while out with their boyfriend / girlfriend can be helpful so that their time is more structured. This helps them to see that they can have fun doing various activities with their boyfriend / girlfriend and that the relationship does not need to be built around physical intimacy.

There are not clear guidelines for teen dating and there are no clear cut answers for how to help your teen navigate the process smoothly and safely. The above suggestions and tips can help calm the waters, however, it is inevitable there will be some waves during the teenage dating years since this experience can be both very exciting and painful for teenagers.

For more information on Life Coaching or coaching for parents please visit http://elite-life-coaching.com or email Karen@elite-life-coahing.com

My name is Karen Vincent. I am a Certified Life Coach as well as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with a Masters Degree from Boston University. I have worked with teenagers / adolescents and their parents for the last 15 years in a variety of settings, including outpatient therapy, specialized schools, and in the home.

I have developed and conducted numerous parenting classes and support workshops specific to parents of teens. I have also created and presented training for professional staff including teachers, therapists and counselors who work with adolescents in Massachusetts, Connecticut and in New York City.

In my work, I partner with parents (usually through phone calls) who are experiencing difficulties in connecting with their teenage children and who are struggling to manage social, emotional or behavioral issues which arise during the teenage years. Through working with me, parents are able to:

• work through any self doubt they are having about their parenting
• develop action plans for addressing their areas of concern
• develop new ways of parenting their teens effectively
• discover new ways of connecting effectively with their teens
• eliminate sleepless nights and worries while Restoring Peace of Mind During the Teenage Years

Please call for a free Coaching Consultation: 774-245-7775

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Vincent

Teenage Parenting - Heard of Imaginary Audience & Personal Fable?

Your child is now a teenager and you wonder why the child you have is so different from what he or she used to be. Teenager is in a transition stage and may display cognitive, emotional and attitudinal changes. These changes sometimes become the source of conflicts for parent and teenagers. So, it is important for parents to understand these developmental changes in teenager and how it affects them.

Here, I would like to discuss two factors that may influence teenager's development, i.e. Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable.

Teenagers' greater self-reflective capacity causes them to become overly conscious. They imagine themselves as always on stage, as the center of everyone else's attention and concern. This is known as imaginary audience. This concept has helped me to understand why my teenager had, at times, alienated herself from her siblings in the train as she felt that her brothers and sisters were too noisy and may attract unwanted stares. She felt embarrassed by their behavior and so preferred to stand far away from them. To help her to deal with the situation, I suggested that she observed the situation and in the train and asked her to take note of how many people were staring at her siblings when they were in the train. She soon realized that it was her being sensitive as her siblings were neither too noisy nor were they attracting unnecessary attention. Over time, she has managed to get over this and has become less sensitive. With the understanding of this concept, it is important to realize that parents should never say negative things or criticize the teenager in public; it must be done in private and definitely not in the ear shot of their younger siblings.

The other factor is Personal Fable. This means that the teenagers' self-focusing leads them to develop an exaggerated view of their own importance. They regard their own thoughts and feelings as special and unique. They also believe that they are invulnerable to dangers all others faces. This could explain why teenagers engage in casual sex, dangerous driving or other risk taking behavior as they would think that the bad consequences may happen to others but would not happen to them. As parents, we would need to help them to deal with this false sense of security by showing them examples or evidence of teenagers getting into trouble, perhaps using newspaper articles or incidents that happened to people that the teenagers know.

These two factors could at times be the source of conflict between parents and teens. With this understanding in mind, parents would be able to help their teen copes with these developmental changes better and in the process, develop a better relationship with their teens.

For more information on teenage parenting, visit www.parenting4workingmother.com [http://www.parenting4workingmother.com]

Sandra Chong is a Career & Life Coach. Her passion lies in empowering individuals to ENJOY WORK & LIFE NOW! As a full time working mother with four children, she believes in creating opportunities for her children to learn to take responsibility for their lives and at the same time helping them to identify their unique talents so that they can live life to the fullest!

Great Ways For Teenagers and Kids to Make Money

As a kid you were probably content with a bit of money or small treats from the local shops now you have grown up there are many other things you need. You know your parents are not going to buy everything you want so you would like to find a way to start earning cash yourself. You will find numerous ways for teenagers and kids to make money and hopefully this article will help.

Child Minding

This is the most simple idea for you to begin making money, you can begin by offering to babysit the children of family. If you are good at Babysitting then word of mouth will spread and you will more than likely have more people seeking your services.

Kid's Party Help

A lot of parents will choose to have children's birthday parties at home in order to reduce the costs and most will do the catering at home, with so many things to think about they will quite often want help. You could make money by learning who in your area is planning a children's party and offer your assistance.

Party Entertainer

Party entertainment can cost a a huge amount of money but it is found at almost all kid's parties. A great idea for teenagers to make extra money is by giving the parents a less expensive option. Kid's love having face paints, get patterns online and have fun! You could also offer to do do fake tattoos.

Home Cleaning

House work is a pain, very few people actually want to do it, but it needs to be done. For older people and those with children it is a never ending chore. A lot of people will be very happy for more help with all of the chores. As with any of the ideas for teenagers and kid's to make money this one is another that will earn you extra work as more people are told about it.

There are many more ways for kid's and teenagers to make money both online and offline, visit MyMakingMoneyIdeas.com to find out more Ways for Teenagers and Kids to Make Money.

Pam Halligan-Sims

Visit Ways for kids to Make Money and find out how to earn more.

How to Deal With Teenage Breakups - What Parents Can Do to Help

One thing that parents of teens always seem to struggle with is how to deal with teenage breakups. There is a great deal of drama and emotion involved in these breakups that your teen is completely unprepared, on an emotional level, to deal with. It's import to keep a few things in mind and take a step back in time yourself in order to properly help your teen get through this trying time.

How to Deal with Teenage Breakups

1) Be patient. Sit back and watch things unfold. Offer your support and a shoulder for your teen to lean on but stand back in the shadows and try not to go out and snap the neck of the person who broke your teen's heart. You never know, they may end up back together again.

2) Be supportive. Listen to what your teen has to say and offer a sympathetic ear. Whatever you do, do not dismiss the emotions as temporary or somehow unimportant. To a teen tasting heartbreak for the first time is monumental. It would be detrimental to your relationship and the speed of recovery to minimize the impact this moment is having on the life of your teen. The best you can do is offer them comfort in the fact that you too were once a heartbroken teen and that in time the feelings will be less intense.

3) Distract your distraught teen. One of the best methods how to deal with teenage breakups when you're the parent is to keep your teen distracted by other things. Go out and do something fun together that will take your teen's mind of his or her current heartache.

4) Give your teens the tools he or she will need to get back together with the person that has broken his or her heart. You'll be surprised how much a little bit of hope can do for your teen. It will also help you enjoy some quality bonding time together while you work on ways to mend the differences your teen is experiencing with the former (and hopefully future) love of his or her life.

Instead of wondering how to deal with teenage breakups it may be a better plan to see what you can do to help your teen get back together with his or her ex. You will find excellent "get your ex back" guides online if you know where to look. When you are ready, watch this free video: http://www.getyourexbacknow.com/just_break_up3.html to get started mending broken hearts today.