MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS & YOUR CHILD

There is no doubt that peer relationships begin to increase in importance and influence during the early adolescent years of the Middle School student.  Parents must provide their influence as role models and sources of advice for their child during the Middle School experience.  Although students are less likely to admit or acknowledge adult influence, parents must be a valuable source of support to their Middle School student. 


The following suggestions are provided to assist your efforts to be an active TMS parent:
  • Contact your child’s teachers if you have class-related concerns. Open communication between home and school is an important vehicle for solving any problem.

  • Assist your child in making appropriate decisions and to accept responsibility for his/her own actions. A periodic review of the Student’s Agenda is a practical way to assist this effort.

  • Check the Agenda Book daily for important assignments and communications. Provide time and a quiet place at home for homework and study to be completed. Students always have an assignment to write, read or study.

  • If you have family or school issues that may be impacting school performance or are causing you concern, please contact your child’s Guidance Counselor for assistance. Our school counselor will make appropriate suggestions and will work with your child and his/her teachers.

Seven good practices for parents as provided by the U.S. Department of Education:
  1. Take a time inventory, to find the extra time you need so the family can learn together. Commit yourself to learning something with your children.

  2. Commit yourself to high standards and set high expectations for your children and challenge them in every possible way to reach their full potential.

  3. Limit television viewing on a school night to a maximum of one hour even if that means that the remote control may have to disappear on occasion.

  4. Read together. It is the starting point of all learning.

  5. Make sure your children take the tough courses at school and schedule daily time to check homework.

  6. Make sure your child goes to school every day and support community efforts to keep children safe and off the street late at night.

  7. Set a good example and talk directly to your children, especially your teenagers, about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and about the values you want your children to have. Such personal talks, however uncomfortable they make you feel, may save their lives.

Middle Level education is a unique experience for all members of the school community, especially parents. It should effectively serve as a link between elementary and high school, while meeting the diverse needs of our emerging adolescents.