Middle School:
A World of Challenges
§ Don’t wait for the first day of school to help your child get ready for the intimidating independence of middle school.
Changing classes and changing clothes for PE. Making new friends and fitting in.
For most students, middle school is a whole new world, and an intimidating one at that. While many welcome the freedom and independence that moving up from elementary school grants them, others are anxious about the changes a new style of school will bring to their lives.
How will they change classes in just a few minutes? How will they juggle six classes, six teachers and six homework assignments?
And most of all, when they walk into a new school and a new pecking order, how will they find a friend or group of kids they like? They worry. They worry about seemingly simple things like the hallways, getting lost and peer pressure. After being BIG at elementary school, they’re suddenly small, and very vulnerable.
As if that were not enough, experts say, middle schoolers also cope with huge physical and hormonal changes, the biggest since infancy. They’ll feel emotions that they have never felt before. Girls who look like they’re 11 going on 35 show up with dolls stashed in their bookbags. Boys who outgrow their parents still have the sensibilities of Little Leaguers.
Friendship changes, independence from parents grows, peer groups become the biggest influence. It’s a very exciting time for kids, but there are many new issues and temptations.
With all that, middle schoolers also starts to clam up. Kids give one-word answers to their parents, then spend hours on the phone or the computer, instant-messaging their friends.
Get ready, teachers say: It’s a roller coaster! But it’s one an entering middle schooler and his parents can start preparing for before school starts. If you’re ready for a few dips and curves, you’ll survive with an emerging, intact high schooler…someday.
Experts offer these suggestions:
§ BEGIN TO ALLOW MORE FREEDOMS
In a safety-conscious world, it’s hard to let go, but as middle school approaches, it’s time. Allow your children a bit more freedom around the neighborhood, with friends and in the store when you are shopping. Help them develop confidence in setting parameters while maintaining personal safety. Our goals for our children include helping them make good decisions. Give them the opportunity to do so within boundaries
§ GIVE THEM TOOLS
Get ready for more long-term assignments and projects. Post a dry-erase calendar so your child can mark due dates for assignments where you can both see them. Give them a place where they can keep supplies. Help them get organized. It’s easier to complete big weekly assignments if they do 20 minutes of work on each one every night.