When your teen is reading assignments, have him use a four-step process that will help him look for and understand key ideas:

1. Preview. Look over the assignment. Identify key ideas. Look at pictures. Read chapter headings and words in bold type.
2. Ask questions. Write questions he thinks may be answered. Turn to the end of the chapter and look for review questions.
3. Read. Now read the assignment carefully. As he finds answers to questions, he can check them off his list. If he has not found answers to all his questions, go back to reread.
4. Summarize. Restate, in his own words, what he has just read. If he can, he is finished. If he can't, he needs to go back through each of the steps again.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2010 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (High School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2010 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Rona Flippo, Texts and Tests: Teaching Study Skills Across Content Areas, ISBN: 0-325-00491-9 (Heinemann, www.heinemann.com).