Teenage is a difficult stage when hormones change, there is a lot of indulgence in social media, and peer pressure is rampant. Whether your teen is enrolled in a public or private school, they could be struggling. Especially now, with many schools going virtual because of the continual struggle with COVID. If a teen is not proud of their school performance, they may not be forthcoming about it. Below are some of the top warning signs to look out for when your teen is struggling in school.
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They evade conversations about school It is common for teenagers to give blunt answers when you ask about school. However, when they become defensive, aggressive, or continuously change the topic about the school, this a warning sign that they are struggling. Also, if your child used to talk about school all the time and suddenly stops, there could be a problem.
Poor grades despite studying If your child scores poorly in an exam, most parents will automatically assume that they did not study enough. Be active in their studying habits, monitor, and offer help whenever they need it. This will help you determine if their low grades result from poor studying behaviors or if they have a learning disorder.
Teens with learning disorders display a lack of interest in schoolwork or become easily frustrated and irritated. Some of the learning disorders are dysgraphia and dyslexia. If you notice that your teenager has a problem with their hearing and it is affecting their grades, consider gettinghearing aids.
You receive concerns from their teachers When teachers express their concerns about your teenager, don’t ignore them. This is a sign that your teen is struggling with school. Teachers spend a big part of the day with your teenager than you do. Therefore, take some time off to speak with the teachers to determine the problem and what you can do to solve it. Indiscipline could mean that there is a deeper-rooted problem.
A sudden change of activities and friends Peer influence is common during adolescence. However, when your teenager starts walking with a different set of friends, it could be an escape from their struggles in school. As a parent, you know the activities that have always interested your teen since childhood. When they no longer want to engage in those activities, and it is accompanied by poor grades, there is a problem that requires sorting out.
Eating and sleeping problems Poor eating and sleeping habits are often a result of anxiety. Low scores in school can cause your teenager to miss meal-time with the family or keep them awake due to anxiety. Also, they could be struggling because of a lack of sleep and poor nutrition. If you notice that your teen is staying up late to play video games or chat with friends or is skipping meals, it could be the reason why they are struggling.
Bottom Line Teenagers go through various changes that can cause them to struggle with school. Take note of warning signs toknow why your child is performing poorly. If you receive concerns from their teachers or notice a change of friends and activities, this could be warning signs. Also, look out for learning disorders, sleeping and eating problems, and evasion of topics concerning school from your teenager.
I wanted to let you know that were will be some changes coming to Bubbling With Elegance and Grace. After eleven years of blogging, YouTubing, and sharing on social media, my hubby and I are reevaluating our brand and looking at ways of fine-tuning what we do.
Last month, we attended the World Summit 2020 meeting with Tony Robbins, Dean Graziosi, and others. More than 8,500 people from around the world met up on Zoom to learn how to make a shift in their strategies during a pandemic and how to market yourself in the online digital world. For three days, for about 10 hours per day, each speaker shared their own experiences with their business and their brand, how they took steps to grow it and how they had to make necessary adjustments when challenges arose. Whether you are someone who was just beginning or someone who was deep in the process, this conference was ideal for anyone who wanted to create their own brand or who wanted to get into the knowledge brokering service.
After three days of nonstop action, my hubby and I had to take some time to assess what we do and how we do it. It meant that we had a lot of homework to do, regarding the planning and execution of what we do. We are taking baby steps to improve the quality of our blog, our YouTube channel, and our other social media platforms. We are narrowing the topics that we talk about and we are altering our delivery methods to improve our reach with our audience. One of the many things that we learned from Tony and Dean is that we do not have to have it all figured out before making the changes. It is those imperfect steps, working towards a bigger goal, that will show us what is working and what is not. It is okay to be wrong and make mistakes. It is those mistakes that improve our focus and where true growth comes from.
Some of the immediate changes we have made is setting a goal of one new video on YouTube every Wednesday morning at 10am. Before we would post a video as time permitted within our schedule. But after talking it through, we decided that in order to maintain a community we had to have new content on a consistent basis. We picked Wednesday morning because that time works best within our schedule. The video below is our most recent video that was uploaded this week.
Within our social media platforms, we will be sharing five main topics. We are still looking at what those five topics will be and determining how we share those topics. This is a sample post from our Instagram page
Many of us do our best to stay healthy in life. We eat a balanced and nutritious diet, limit our intake of alcohol, and exercise regularly. However, in the hectic busy world, we live, it’s all too easy to forget or put off seemingly routine health checks. However, having access to regular health monitoring is one of the most important weapons on the front line of staying fit and healthy well into old age. With that in mind, finding out what types of health checks are vital you attend below and why.
Hearing It is so important to regularly attend checks for our hearing because hearing loss is such a prevalent issue as we get older. Unfortunately, we don’t always notice it happening, as it occurs so gradually. Sadly, many people see hearing loss as an unavoidable part of getting older, but that isn’t the case as there is so much that can be done to help improve hearing—all of this starting with getting checked and assessed.
Eye exams You may be under the impression that you have a 20/20 vision, but our sight tends to change throughout our lives. As we age, most people tend to become more long-sighted, although several factors can impact vision, including broader health issues, overuse of screens, and high blood pressure.
The good news is that even if you are found to have issues with your sight by attending an eye exam, there are many solutions on offer. There are glasses, but there are also contact lenses and laser surgery. The latter being ideal for people that want to permanently remove any sight difficulties without the need to wear glasses or the hassle of putting in and taking out contact lenses.
Cancer screenings Not many people like talking about the ‘C’ word. However, the thing about cancer is that it is much easier to treat and recover from when found early. Of course, that means if you feel a lump or notice something unusual, it’s always best to see your doctor.
It also means that if you are given the opportunity to attend a screening program such as a smear test, prostate exam, or mammogram, it’s a very smart idea indeed to go.
Dental cleanings Dental cleanings are hugely important for several reasons. The first is that they are usually combined with a general mouth health check that can be used to spot any potential cavities or issues such as gum disease.
Additionally, by having your teeth cleaned professionally at regular intervals, you will get two vital benefits. The first is that they will be healthier because the plaque that attacks them will be cleaned away, something that can help to minimize your risk of other oral health issues.
Secondly, your smile will be brighter, and your breath better too, which I’m sure you can agree can make all the difference both cosmetically and to the confidence of the individual involved. Therefore it is crucial to attend dental cleanings along with the other checks mentioned above if you want to take care of your health, long term.
It’s a dreary cold fall day and a great time to think about house decorating and organization. If you are like me and don’t have a basement you really have to be creative and be hardcore with space and make areas in my home appear bigger, even if the rooms are not huge. The number one way to have open areas and free-flowing floor plans is by looking at your space. One of my dream on my vision board is to have a house that has space for me to design and call my own. On my hubby’s birthday, we looked at a McKelvey floorplan for inspiration and I envisioned Christmas garlands with red bows going down the sides of the rails of the staircase. I can see myself with a staircase like this in my dream home.
This is a stretch for me because people will shoot down your dreams, saying you don’t need that or this. I am careful about what I say and who I say it to. I have heard mentors say share your dreams and others say be careful because everyone is not for you. This is an inspiration staircase and I actually would like a staircase to be more open.
Do you tell people your dreams with no reservation? If so, what’s their response?
McKelvey Home Floor plan staircase to the second floor
My other dream is to have a closet that I could actually see all my clothes, shoes, purses, and other accessories. Right now, I have a fight with my closet, if I want a specific handbag I may have to take out five or other bags to get to it. And after I get the handbag I have to reorganize all the bags that I have taken out of the closet.
Do you have to fight with your closet or are you good friends?
McKelvey Homes floor plan main bedroom walk in closet
My hubby took this picture of me (with my museum nerd mask upside down) in the McKelvey House of the Main Bedroom and I honestly think it’s not big enough because I want an island in the middle for accessories and custom jewelry. I do like the spaciousness because I cannot put a walk-in closet in my current house right now because every wall has a purpose. No tearing down a wall here.
This was a good inspiration tour for my hubby and me so we will be having more conversations about a new home and that’s the fun part. Remember to never settle for second best. Keep reaching because the sky is not the limit.
You can still be thankful for what you have and have dreams and aspirations for more in life. God wants us to grow and dream big. I’m a lifelong learner and the only way to do that is by growing. Have you dreamed beyond your wildest dreams? This is one of my dreams but I know God has so much more in store for me and we just have to allow Him to lead and guide us.
Working at home for the past seven months with limited opportunities to get out and go places has allowed my hubby and I spend some extra time looking through our photos and remember our travels of years past. When I see a photo from a favorite vacation place or a special dinner at a restaurant, I think, “My goodness these memories warm my heart, make me smile, and look forward to when we can travel again.” Together with my hubby, we will be sharing some favorite memories and offer some travel tips. We have been road-tripping for years, long before COVID made it cool and the preferred way. My hubby enjoys mapping out our journeys and even putting in some surprises.
So for today’s travel memories, let us head out west to Moab, Utah.
For our 17th wedding anniversary, Jay planned a trip to Colorado and Utah through the mountains and rock formations that paint the western landscape. We overnighted in Denver before experiencing the amazing views of the Colorado National Monument. We arrived in Moab for three days of hiking and off-roading adventures. On our actual anniversary date, we secured a Jeep tour that traveled through Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. We will be sharing more about the time we spent in Moab, but for today we are focusing on our journey up Shafer Trail. Safer Canyon is located in the Island of the Skys area of Canyonlands National Park. To leave the canyon, you can drive on Shafer Trail. The road is not for the faint of heart or inexperienced driver. The photo before shows how steep and how narrow the road actually is. From this point, we still had to go further up to leave the canyon.
We were riding in a super modified Jeep Wrangler with our tour guide, Chip, and a couple from Arizona. They were touring America in an RV since they recently retired. I will never forget when I said people say it’s not that hot in Arizona because it’s a dry heat. The man, who I will call P, said that’s Bulls$$$t! He immediately apologized and said that’s not true. Actually, they were very nice. We spent the whole day with them and the tour guide and enjoyed our tour together.
Traveling up Shafer Trail was at the end of our tour. I guess you could call it the climax with twists and turns and not sure what to expect next. ln the Jeep, Jay sat in the front seat with Chip. I sat in the back with our companions. P sat on the left side where he could look out the window and down the canyon. Out of the blue, he said “Stop, I see a sheep!” We were surprised to hear that because sheep are not common in the Park. Chip quickly stopped the Jeep, allowing everyone a chance to get out for a closer look. On the side of the canyon, we saw a Desert Big Horn Sheep looking at us looking at him. His facial expression is saying, “Hi! How are you doing?”
Here is a close up of another one eating grass. Jay slowly walked closer and was able to get an excellent up-close photo. We think that they may have been a couple.
Being in awe that we had already seen two big horn sheep, we searched up and down the canyon wall and along the rocks to see if we could spot any more. And there near the base of the canyon, we spotted three younger sheep standing together. We stayed around for a while to observe our new friends. We believe that they could have been a family and lived close by. After continuing our journey up Shafer Trail and making it back to the visitor’s center, we shared our experience with the park rangers. They were surprised that we had seen so many of them because they are quite rare in the park. Observing them in their natural environment made me feel like I was a park ranger.
If you have a similar experience while on vacation, please let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear your story.
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
We stayed around for a while to observe our new friends. We believe that they could have been a family and lived close by. After continuing our journey up Shafer Trail and making it back to the visitor’s center, we shared our experience with the park rangers. They were surprised that we had seen so many of them because they are quite rare in the park. Observing them in their natural environment made me feel like I was a park ranger.
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