Teaching My Child Valuable Skills

Posted on: 6 January 2021

If you're considering pivoting your child from a traditional school program to an online middle school program, finding a curriculum that prepares them for advanced high school classes should be a primary concern. Once you find the right program, providing them with the academic support and skills they need are sure to challenge you.

Here are some of the strategies you can use to help your child succeed in a rigorous online middle school curriculum.

Self-Advocacy

Middle school is designed to provide a transition between elementary school and high school. During middle school, it's crucial for students to have an active role in their learning.

• Email: Proactively communicating directly with teachers, administrators, coaches, and peers empower students to take an active stake in their learning. If you have previously emailed teachers on behalf of your child, consider doing so in only extreme cases. Before expecting your child to start using email for self-advocacy, spend a few moments teaching them the basics. For instance, show them how to CC or BCC people on an email. Also, consider spending a few moments reviewing email decorum. If you can explain why an email isn't a text message and why it's so important in an academic setting, you're more likely to give your student confidence and help them feel supported.
• Scheduling: As students grow, they begin to have more control over their schedules, but also have more demands placed on their time. Sitting down with your student to help them schedule out a day can be a revelatory experience. When scheduling their day, be sure to help them build time for productivity and also time for relaxation. The more cognizant they are of their time, the more likely they'll be to use it efficiently.

Defining Success

The tests, quizzes, and summative assignments your student will take in an online middle school program will be different than elementary school. Helping define what success looks like and feels like can help them persevere through challenging times.

• Failure: Your student will fail and that's okay. In fact, pushing your student to learn new concepts and skills must involve failure to help them figure out what they know and don't know. If you know that your student tends to struggle with a core subject, encourage your student to schedule a meeting with their teacher. This proactive meeting can lay the groundwork for communicating when times get tough in the class. The more comfortable your student feels, the more likely they'll be to see success as a process, not a goal.

For more information, contact an online middle school program.