How to Prepare Your Middle Schooler for High School

As children grow and transition from middle school to high school, their world inevitably becomes bigger and more complex. And rightly so! Welcome back to another episode of Sh*t Your Teenagers Won’t Tell You. Today, we're turning our attention to the ‘littles’, our middle schoolers! Join us as we explore how to best prepare your middle schooler for the journey to high school. We dive into how to best prepare your middle schooler for the journey to high school by exploring two of the biggest transitions: academic and social. We also discuss some of the most common issues freshmen struggle with, the evolving role of parents, and how boundaries begin to shift, along with why it's crucial to create a safe space for your kids to have those confusing conversations with you. Don’t miss out as we cover all this and much more about getting your littles ready for high school. Thanks for listening!

Key Points From This Episode:

• [0:00:50] What listeners can expect from today’s episode.
• [0:01:30] Common topics in the transition from middle school to high school.
• [0:03:00] The most noticeable differences to expect from middle school to high school.
• [0:06:00] How the social dynamic also changes.
• [0:07:45] The culture shift for students who change schools (to a new high school).
• [0:08:30] We discuss some of the things freshmen often struggle with.
• [0:09:30] The lack of high school coaching on how students should learn.
• [0:10:45] Why students need to build and adjust good study habits.
• [0:11:30] How students can become proficient in advocating for themselves.
• [0:12:45] The parent role and how they can help their kids with these transitions.
• [0:15:00] The importance of teaching kids how to reflect.
• [0:16:16] Normalizing asking for help.
• [0:16:40] The freshmen social concern.
• [0:20:20] We talk about the shift in grades freshmen often encounter.
• [0:21:40] How the boundaries of what is appropriate for a parent start to shift.
• [0:25:55] Going over the school’s handbook with your child and other school policies.
• [0:27:10] Attending the parent orientation sessions.
• [0:27:50] Getting familiar with the content in content your children will be exposed to.
• [0:30:55] Let’s talk about parties! (And what exactly the word “party” means)
• [0:31:50] Boundaries, parents. Adjust them to be appropriate for your high schoolers.
• [0:32:40] Setting up the stage for your kid to feel safe to have confusing conversations with you.
• [0:34:15] We look at screen time and how that changes as kids enter high school.
• [0:36:30] Keeping the long-term goal (college) in your focus.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sh*t Your Teenagers Won’t Tell You

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