Hooray! Your child just joined the middle school.
Hold your horses, though; let’s get acquainted with middle school life first. Indubitably, the middle school environment is far different from the elementary one. The buildings are bigger, teachers are less nurturing, your child’s hormones are setting in for adolescence, academic assignments will pile up shortly after entry, and the coziness they used to enjoy in elementary school will slowly fade away.
Simply put, parental involvement gears up to a new level. Parental participation and guidance to help the child get organized are pivotal for their social and academic success throughout their high school life. And a lack of it would be detrimental for the child’s stay in school.
Sounds crazy, right? It’s perfectly doable, though. All you need to do is match up to the three constructs of parent involvement in the middle school, right from your child’s entry, as compiled from research by Association for Middle-Level Education (AMLE). They are communication, supervision and parental expectation, and parenting style.
Communication
Communicating with your child, the teachers, counselors, and other staff within the school during this stage is essential for proper child development. Be proactive. Squeeze sometime within your busy schedules and visit the school premises.
Establish direct contact with the teachers and other staff. While one teacher may be in charge of more than 50 students, they will pay closer attention to children whose parents are directly concerned about their children’s welfare. Be ready to step in whenever there’s a looming conflict between your child and a teacher, staff members, or other children. While school visits may not be as frequent, you may carry on follow-ups using a phone call or send an email to the school.
When your child is at home, it’s now time to get authoritative about their time on television and other leisure activities. Insist on proper school attendance and full completion of homework on time. Your child can only cultivate their interest in learning if you exhibit your interest in schoolwork and always help them when stuck.
Supervision
At this stage, monitoring your child’s progress regularly isn’t an option. Note their performance trend carefully and intervene when the grades decline tremendously. At the same time, allow your child to exercise some independence in making decisions and carrying out their activities.
Instead of directly helping them to do an assignment, ask leading questions that will help them think critically and give autonomously thought answers. Help them make the right priorities and plans to keep in mind that studying needs more time than other activities like sports and leisure activities.
Parental expectations and parenting style
While every parent has unique expectations over their children, it is clear that you want the best for your children. No one knows their child better than the parent. This includes understanding their mental, cognitive, physical, and intellectual capacities. Consequently, remind your child of their potential limits consistently.
Make them outline their goals and develop a micromanaged plan to reach the goals. When the need arises, don’t hesitate to use an authoritative parenting style to control their behavior. Peer pressure is usually influencing at this point, and they may succumb if left alone to deal.
A well-organized and nurtured child finds an easy time in middle school. Their assignments are done in good time, and they display high discipline levels while in and out of school, are rarely overwhelmed by schoolwork, and are highly respected by teachers and fellow students. Is it challenging to help your child exhibit these traits? No. You now have the tips at your fingertips.
