Help Your Teen Lead
Before Life Demands It

Your teen has big ideas. You want to see them follow through.

You want them to speak up with care, stand by a wise choice, and own their part when something goes wrong. But another reminder does not always teach them how.

Raising Leaders, Not Followers™ is a 12-lesson leadership program for teens ages 13 to 17, with a facilitator system and evidence of growth.

The Student Workbook gives your teen a place to think, choose, rehearse, and act. The Parent & Homeschool Facilitator Guide helps you lead the conversation and notice what changes.

Work through it together at a pace that fits your family. Start with the free sample lesson.

You ask about the task. Your teen says, “I know.” Later, it is still not done.

Or they come home upset after saying yes to a friend when they wanted to say no.

You want to help. You also want them to learn how to handle the next moment on their own.

Those everyday moments give you a place to practice: making a plan, saying what matters, setting a limit, or repairing a missed promise.

Raising Leaders, Not Followers™ turns those moments into guided conversations and small actions your teen can try.

They read a teen’s story, choose a response, and think through what could happen next. Then they rehearse the skill and use it in real life.

You get a clear way to guide the conversation, give support, and notice the next step.

Each lesson gives your teen a skill to practice and a choice to think through.

1. Read the story

Meet a teen facing a real-life choice. The illustrated stories use a different cast in each lesson.

2. Choose a response

Your teen chooses A, B, C, or a fourth option and explains why.

3. Explore what could happen

Compare the possible outcomes. Talk about what each choice solves and what it leaves undone.

4. Ask “My Choice, My Impact”

Who does this affect? What is mine to own? What happens to trust? Will this help us follow through? Where could this choice lead?

5. Learn and rehearse the skill

Use the short teaching section and three practice prompts to try the words and actions.

6. Take it into real life

Choose a small, safe mission at home, at school, or in the community.

7. Bring back the evidence

After three days, talk about what happened, what support helped, and what your teen will try next.

Allow about 40 minutes for the guided lesson. Split it into shorter talks when needed. The mission and follow-up happen after the session.

What Can Change for Your Teen?

Imagine seeing your teen:

• Make a plan and take a step without another reminder.
• Speak up with respect in a hard conversation.
• Think through pressure from a friend.
• Own a missed promise and make a repair.
• Ask for help and still take responsibility.
• Point to a real example of how they have grown.

These are skills to build over time. Each lesson gives your teen another chance to practice.

You Have a Guide for the Conversation

You do not have to find the perfect words for every moment.

The Parent & Homeschool Facilitator Guide gives you a session plan for each lesson, questions to ask, response examples, and ways to help when your teen pushes back.

You will learn how to:

• Listen before you explain.
• Help your teen think through a choice.
• Rehearse a response without taking over.
• Adapt a mission to your home.
• Notice actions, support, and follow-through.
• Talk about a mistake and plan a repair.

Your teen does the choosing and practicing. You give them space to think and support to take the next step.

See Growth in What Your Teen Does

“I feel more confident” is a start. A clear example helps you see what changed.

Your teen completes a self-assessment before Lesson 1, after Lesson 6, and after Lesson 12. You complete separate parent check-ins at the same points.

Then you compare each person’s earlier and later ratings alongside real examples. Your teen shares their view first. You talk about the actions you saw, the support used, and the skills that still need practice.

The leadership portfolio holds mission plans, follow-through, repairs, and reflections. It gives your family a record you can return to.

A higher score alone does not prove growth. The goal is to connect what your teen says with what they are learning to do.

Built for Parents and Homeschool Families

This edition is for parents and guardians raising teens ages 13 to 17.

Use it as part of your homeschool week or as a family practice alongside public, private, or charter school.

Start from where your teen is. They may be ready to speak up, working on follow-through, or learning how to stand by a boundary.

Each teen in your household uses their own workbook and growth record. Choose a pace your family can sustain.

The household license covers your family’s use. School, group, and district use requires a separate license.

Your Family’s Leadership Practice System

Student Workbook

Twelve illustrated lessons with teen scenarios, choice prompts, skill practice, real-life missions, and space to reflect. Includes start, midpoint, and finish self-assessments and a final growth review.

Parent & Homeschool Facilitator Guide

A matching guide for all twelve lessons, with session plans, coaching notes, response examples, mission debriefs, and separate parent growth records.

Evidence of growth

Use mission records, portfolio reflections, and shared review conversations to notice progress and choose what to practice next.

The fillable PDF format lets you type responses or print pages for your family.

Created by Dr. Rhonda L. Simmons, Doctor of Educational Leadership and former school principal. Raising Leaders, Not Followers™ is owned and operated by Rhonda L. Simmons LLC.

Start with One Conversation

Try the free sample lesson with your teen before deciding on the full program.

You will get a teen scenario, choice and impact prompts, skill practice, a real-life mission, and parent guidance.

Let your teen choose a response. Ask why. See what the conversation opens up.

You do not need a perfect answer. You need a place to start.