TIPS FOR EASING THE TRANSITION » Get involved: Parental involvement decreases significantly once students reach middle school, but there are numerous ways to get involved in the upper grades as well. » Communicate: Always have lines of communication open between you and the teacher, either via email or phone. » Organize: Help your child organize supplies each night, and make sure he is completing his agenda and having it signed by the teacher, if need be. » Talk: Have frequent conversations with your child to determine their stress and anxiety levels. If you have any concerns, contact the school counselor. » Balance: Encourage and help your child balance his/her academic and social life, especially once he/she reaches middle school. » Assess academics: Frequently assess how your child is doing academically. If your child is not telling you, contact her teacher(s). If you have a concern about her academic performance, contact the teacher. » Enforce healthy habits: Students can’t perform well if they’re tired, hungry, or unhealthy. Instill an appropriate bedtime and healthy eating habits. Encourage exercise and limit time with recreational technology. » Encourage study skills: Help your child develop study skills. Also, create a clean, quiet, supplied place at home for him to complete homework. » Take a break: If you child seems stressed about school, take a break and do something she really enjoys. Address the school stressors after she has had a little fun. » Foster independence slowly: Many parents back off almost completely once a child hits middle school. Students must gain school-related independence slowly. All students, even upper level students, need parental assistance in order to achieve success at school.
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Verity and Jinger Kelley had different concerns when Verity moved up to middle school. Jinger worried about reading and testing anxiety. Verity was nervous about switching schools and getting comfortable in a new environment. ALYSSA MURKIN/AMURKIN@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
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bathroom on their own before starting school. Hasskamp attended these meetings at Weaverville Primary, where she learned important and helpful tips. Her experience with kindergarten transition was very positive. “Gabriel is a very social child and was eager to get started in kindergarten,” she said. “His teacher was extremely purposeful and creative in everything that she did. He thrived in that atmosphere.” “It’s very important for all parents to communicate their goals to the teacher,” she added. “Education is really about a partnership between parents and teachers.” It seems that just as a child has finally adjusted to elementary school and knows the ropes, so to speak, it’s time to move on to intermediate school or middle school. At this challenging age, parents have an entirely new set of concerns.
“One main concern is that their child will be lost in the crowd and may become just a number,” said Annett Husson, a guidance counselor at Waynesville Middle School. “Now parents have to meet with a team of teachers instead of one. Parents are also concerned about bullying, fighting and drugs. Incoming sixth-graders are worried about getting lost, older students picking on them and not knowing what their new teachers may expect.” Hendersonville mom Jinger Kelley recently experienced middle school transition with her daughter, Verity, 12, now a rising seventh-grader at Rugby Middle. “Verity has some anxiety with reading and testing,” Kelley said. “The elementary teachers really took care of her as far as that goes. I was worried that the middle school teachers would be stricter and not give her as much time to finish things, but they were awesome.” Verity had different concerns than her mother. She said she was nervous about switching schools and getting comfortable in a new environment. Verity and her friends were used to being the “big men on
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