Helping Your Child Excel at School and Beyond
You will soon know when a child isn’t settling into the new secondary school! Sleepless nights rule. Moodiness, tears, anger and uncharacteristic behaviour take hold of your child. Suddenly your precious child is almost unrecognizable. What on earth has possessed her? Identifying what is going wrong needs to happen as quickly and as sensitively as possible.
If your child hasn’t taken to secondary school like a duck to water, don’t stress too much. There will be many others in the same boat (choppy water). And keep in mind that no transition issue is unsolvable.
Starting secondary school is a big step for most children (and their parents) and even super confident young people can stumble in the first few weeks or months and not settle in as well as expected. While many pick themselves up, others can head down a very unhappy pathway. It’s important that parents know the typical signs that a child may be struggling to settle into the new school and know how to help turn things around.
In many respects, the personal attributes which are so important at the secondary level, are also important during the primary school years. The foundation of these personal attributes are laid during the early years. Happiness and success at secondary school are so much more attainable if students have developed these attributes to a reasonable level before reaching secondary school.
It’s crucial that students get on top of homework as early as possible when they hit the new secondary school. A positive and organised approach will save countless hours of frustration and many headaches down the track. Parents can do so much to help in this important area.
Many of us still vividly remember our first day at secondary school – for good and not so good reasons. Vivid memories of your experiences may have started flooding back as the day approaches when your precious child will walk through the gates of the new secondary school. What should you do and say to be the best safety net possible for your child?
It’s not unusual for students who were excelling in primary school to see a slight dip in their results when they first hit secondary school. And even if this only happens in a subject or two, it can come as quite a shock for students as well as for parents. It’s very important to know how to bounce back and move on positively.
First impressions count. You don’t want your child to have a bad first day at school simply because something was overlooked, misunderstood or forgotten. Children hate standing out from their peers when they first walk into a new school. Fitting in is everything so knowing what they need to take or do is very important.