9 Easy Ways To Prepare Your Child for High School
Are you unsure of how to prepare your child for high school? Your teenager is about to go through lots of transitions and turning points during this phase of their life.
A smooth transition is key to your child’s success, according to Oakes & Waite (2009). There are multiple ways to support them through this change, which will be the first of many in your teen’s life.
Planning ahead mentally, socially, and academically is important. Parents should consider this especially if their kids are at risk of dropping out of school.
Keep reading to discover easy ways to prepare your child for high school—from freshman year to graduation.
At Homeschool Spanish Academy, our high school program provides your child with transferable language credits they can use to compete with other high school students for a spot in their preferred college. TRY US FOR FREE! Sign up for a trial Spanish class. ➡️
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Transition from Middle to High School
- How to Prepare for High School While in Middle School
- How to Prepare for the First Day of High School
- How to Avoid Future Problems in High School
- Try Our High School Spanish Program for Free
Transition From Middle to High School
Students face multiple challenges when transitioning from middle to high school: social adjustment, structural changes, and increased academic rigor.
Many students experience anxiety and depression due to low self-esteem.
These factors affect their performance and conduct.
Having a heavier workload and more homework, as well as maintaining a healthy social life and participating in extracurricular activities puts pressure on freshman.
To help them prepare for high school, check out these nine ideas that support your child during this transition.
Hand-picked for you: 7 Tips for Making the Switch to Homeschooling
Prepare for High School While in Middle School
High school is competitive and impersonal. Anonymity often makes students feel disconnected from their surroundings. However, developing and following a plan boosts your teenager’s confidence.
1. Encourage Your Kids to Apply to Clubs They’re Interested In
By joining clubs or participating in other extra-curricular activities in high school, your teen will meet new friends with similar interests.
See also: High School Spanish Programs
Hear Your Child Speak Spanish! Your Free Trial Class Is Waiting ➡️
2. Teach Them Time-Management Skills
This is a key way to prepare for high school. Students will have more workload, homework, teachers, classes, activities, and freedom. Teach them how to manage everything by writing it down in a calendar or agenda.
Find something easy to carry around, whether a notebook or a tablet. It should have a calendar with a daily, weekly, and monthly view. The course schedule has to be handy—have them keep an extra copy in their locker and car.
Recommended reading: Our Top 9 Favorite Spanish Language Learning Calendars
3. Help Them Get Used to Making Decisions
To help your children prepare for high school, and life in general, they need to get used to making decisions all the time.
Choosing between subjects, schedules, extracurricular classes, even backpacks and hairstyles is good practice.
Recommended reading: The Perfect Preparation for Your Middle School Student
4. Get Them Excited About Their New School
Introducing your kids to counselors, principals, and teachers at their new school over the summer is helpful when preparing for high school.
These professionals offer support, answers, and tours through the facilities to make students feel more confident.
Providing them with symbols and logos on a pen or T-shirt will give them a sense of belonging.
Showing them the school will help them feel that not everything is new on the first day of classes.
5. Prepare for High School With Summer Courses
If teens take courses like pre-algebra during the summer, they’ll not only have a taste of the new curriculum, but also learn to manage their time. This is a superb way of getting ready for a high school workload.
Teenagers must gradually develop time management skills. They’ll have more accountability and a different experience compared to middle school.
How To Prepare for the First Day of High School
Have you listened to the saying “you only get one chance at first impressions”? A good first day can be a game changer in a student’s experience.
6. Plan Ahead
To prepare for high school—and specifically for the first day—students should choose their clothes, hairstyle, and have everything in their backpacks a couple of days ahead of time.
That way they won’t miss anything essential for classes. Making a checklist and reviewing it will make them feel confident on day one. As a freshman, extra preparation can change a student’s life.
According to Cohen and Smerdon (2009), approximately 40% of low-income students drop out during freshman year or right after.
The question here is how to mentally prepare for high school. Failing courses and feeling stuck trigger a series of behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression that can lead to dropping out.
Check out: Depression Symptoms in Teens: Why Today’s Teens Are More Depressed Than Ever
7. Monitor Their Progress
Parent involvement is another essential determinant in your children’s performance when they prepare for high school.
Having contact and monitoring progress, and therefore spotting and correcting areas of weakness, is useful.
8. Set Realistic Expectations
High school is challenging. It involves more work, more exams, and more responsibilities. If you want your kids to be prepared for high school, you shouldn’t sugar coat this truth.
Recommended reading: Education Vocabulary in Spanish: Elementary, and University
How To Avoid Future Problems in High School
Read this information before making any decisions about integrating these ways to prepare for high school into your family’s lives.
- 50% of high school dropouts are not interested in the subjects
- 70% do not feel motivated
- 80% would have liked to learn more real-world skills
See also: 11 Facts About High School Dropout Rates
9. Create a Support System
Of course, preparing for high school doesn’t mean just preparing for the first day of freshman year. You have to constantly support the student’s emotional, mental, and physical health.
Finding a support system for them will nurture your kids’ experiences. They have to be someone they can trust and feel confident when sharing thoughts. Think of relatives, older friends, neighbors, therapists, and yourself.
See also: 8 Amazing Benefits of Homeschool vs Public School
Try Our High School Spanish Program for Free
Expectations around a high schooler are high—socially, academically, and emotionally. They have to cope with many things at the same time, most of them new. If you need an extra boost to prepare your child for high school, enroll your teenager in online Spanish classes at Homeschool Spanish Academy where they can earn high school credit.
Sign up for your free trial class today.
As a Spanish speaker, they will join 580 million speakers around the world and will be able to connect not only to more people but also new and exciting cultures. They will develop more tolerance and acceptance of people with diverse ethnic backgrounds.
What’s more, bilingual individuals are more likely to win competitive scholarships for college and subsequently earn more in their profession.
Start by bringing your high schooler closer to a native Spanish speaker, a true expert. Our certified teachers from Guatemala are available for online, individualized, flexible sessions. Check our affordable pricing and flexible programs. Prepare your teen for high school by signing them up for a free trial class today!
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“HSA offers very affordable, quality, one on one classes with a native speaker. My son has greatly benefited from taking classes. We have seen his confidence increase as well as his pronunciation improve, because he learns from a native Spanish speaker. HSA has quick, personal customer service. Our family has been very pleased with our experience so far!”
– Erica P. Parent of 1
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