Entering high school can be a daunting adventure. The environment is quite different from elementary and middle school as the buildings are larger, there are more people, and the classes are tougher. With a little motivation and encouragement, you can help to make transitioning to high school a success for your child so that it’s an enjoyable and memorable experience.
Be Involved With Activities
When you’re a parent of a high school student, there aren’t many field trips or holiday parties to help plan and attend. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be involved in sports, school fundraising projects, academic clubs, and other activities that your child might be interested in being a part of in school. While you’re helping at school, encourage your child to join in as well to make new friends and to have something positive to put on college applications and job resumes. Being involved will also help you keep an eye on some of the things that teens might do in high school.
Push Academics
Encourage your child to do well in school. From taking college classes, such as those from the Interactive College Of Technology, to striving to be on the honor roll, this is a time in life when your child wants to do well in order to get into college after graduating. While some colleges look at sports and other activities, there are many that still look at grades, so your child wants to study and even take classes in the summer to get ahead on the educational track. Some community colleges offer fast-track programs that allow high school students to get an associate’s degree and a high school diploma.
Help with the Small Details
When your child gets the first school schedule, look over it together to see if there are any changes that need to be made. Look at a map of the school to find out where classes are located. There are some mistakes that happen with scheduling or teachers, but if you don’t know about them, then they can’t be changed. You also need to focus on the details of homework assignments and projects that are due to help your child stay on track.
Offer a Listening Ear
There will be questions that your child will have about high school. Instead of passing judgment, offer suggestions. Always be available to listen to what your child has to say. If you’re a support system, then you’ll be one of the first people your child turns to with problems that might arise.
It seems like children grow up too fast. They enter kindergarten and then high school in the blink of an eye. This is an important time for your child as it means that college or a career is right around the corner. Offer encouragement and suggestions for classes to take and activities to stay busy and involved with the school.
It is a tough age isn’t it?! They feel all grown up and independant and don’t always want to take your advice. My eldest is in year 8 at high school. This is really great advice.
Yup I belive academics and activities will help the teen grows!
Very educative, thanks for sharing, is not an easy task to manage them when they fail to take your advice.
These are great ways to help 9th grader maximize high school years. It’s a tough time to navigate, great to have parents there to help and listen.
My son is now in the fifth grade, and he’ll be in high school less than two years from now. Time flies really fast!
Nice article. Always important to be there for the kids.
being highschool has the best memories in my life. thankyou fo sharing this blog
I was so nervous when both of mine were going into high school. I didn’t have to worry at all, though. They both went through with very little problems! My daughter was involved in a lot of clubs at school and my son played football. They are 22 and 20 now and are thankful for everything I did while they were in school!
The transition to high school was such a big one! These are all such wonderful suggestions.
High school is such an important phase in any students life! You’ve shared some wonderful tips! It will help many 9th graders to maximize their high school years fullest!
That is great advice especially getting involved in school clubs and activities. I regret not participating more.
My son is actually starting kindergarten this year. I honestly think that your suggestions would work really well for him and my family too!
So many top tips here. The big one is get them involved with all the extra activities for sure xx
High school can either be a total nightmare or the best years of your life. lol These are good tips to make it the latter
I am not sure about pushing academics. This is my personal choice everyone is different and it is not a good idea to push things on you. Let them figure things out and we as parents should just guide them.
We should encourage our kids to take participate in other activities too and you have written fantastic article. This may help our children in focusing but first we should find out in which field they have interest!
I don’t have kids yet but I am sure other parents would love this post! Very informative and an interesting read 🙂
I agree! Encouraging them to get involved can really help them in their future and enjoy their time!
Some really helpful advice and tips here! I don’t have kids yet but will remember this advice for the future x
Love this post! Freshman year is such a crucial year. Really good advice