Gone are the days of cubbies, show and tell, and class holiday parties. You now have a middle schooler. As a parent it is sometimes difficult to navigate the ins and outs of your child’s education, especially as they get into middle and high school. Not only is it difficult for you to keep track of your child’s many teachers, but it’s difficult for those teachers to constantly keep in touch with over 130 students’ parents. Middle school teachers weigh in and tell you some ways to help you tread these new, and sometime treacherous, waters!
- Organize. Create an organizational system that works for your child. While some kids can manage a binder, others find it exhausting to open all three of those prongs to place their papers inside. With your child, talk about organizational options and let them choose which would be best. After you’ve invested time and money into this organizational strategy, sit with them often to re-organize until they get the hang of it.
- Planners/Agendas! Some schools give each child an agenda or planner, but if they don’t, get your child one. If tablets or laptops are used in school and your child is more tech savvy, find a great app to keep them organized. If not, help your child find a planner they like. Yes, let them pick one out. The more ownership they have over this, the more likely they are to use it. Some kids like to have a variety of pens and stickers as well. Trust me, get them the pens if it motivates them to use the planner. Have them write in their extracurricular activities and appointments as well.
- Grades. Most schools have a Parent Portal system that updates a student’s grade as the teacher updates their grade book. You can often see what assignments your child is missing as well as the grade they earned on each assignment and test. Check bi-weekly and a few days after every major test and quiz. If possible, it's great if your child is able to access their grades online as well. They need to keep up with it more than you do and seeing how each assignment impacts their overall grade is important!
- Struggling Students. If your child has any sort of special need (ADD, ADHD, meds, personality tics, dyslexia, home issues, etc.) schedule a conference with your child’s teachers a few weeks AFTER school has started and fill them in on the situation. There are also resource classes available for struggling students, but parents may need to specifically ask for testing. Your child may also qualify for a 504, which isn’t a special ed IEP, but rather a documented way to ensure that your child gets additional support for any diagnosed issue.
- Consequences. Let your child suffer the consequences of failing to study for a test or failing to turn in an assignment. Middle Schoolers need to learn that success must be earned and it may take hard work. This isn’t peewee soccer, no one gets a medal for just for showing up. If you run to the school and start making demands at your child’s teacher, you’re only teaching them that mama/daddy will bail them out when they make a mistake or life doesn’t go their way.
- Monitor Social Media/Electronics. The social aspects of middle school are rough, to say the least. Middle school students are experiencing a new social world and bullying is common at this age. Whether your student is doing the bullying or the one being picked on, you need to know (and you need to deal with it). With student suicide rates at all all time high, be proactive in finding out what is happening with your child socially. There are a number of apps that can monitor your child’s electronics. Additionally, electronics are the number one reason why middle schoolers aren’t sleeping enough at night. Set a time when they turn off or turn in their electronics for the evening. Studies show that at least an hour before bedtime is best.
Bonus #7! (Yep, we do bonuses here!) Buy more pencils. Your child is likely switching classes often and losing pencils along the way. Many teachers report giving away 500+ pencils each semester. Help a teacher out and snag some more pencils when they’re on sale in August!
Weigh In! Leave a comment with your best advice to parents of middle school kids!
#middleschool #parentadvice #teaching
#middleschool #parentadvice #teaching
