Some Ways to Help Your Student

Parents who have children entering the ninth grade this fall need to pay attention to special problems that they and their children will face in high school.

This is a point when a child’s maturity will be tested, including the ability to assess priorities, make judgments and work independently. High school offers more freedom for students, and many more opportunities for teen-agers to get off track.

Communication between school and parents is especially important. Students can fall through the cracks very quickly. While parents assume teachers will call them if there’s a problem, many teachers tend to rely on report cards to communicate because they have many more students than their elementary level counterparts. By the time parents find out about problems, it may be too late in the semester for recovery.

• Establish rules for homework and a place for it in the family schedule. Let teen-agers know that they have a greater responsibility to do homework independently, but you still hold them to a standard. Check homework when it’s completed.

• Get a schedule of when report cards come out and when parent teacher conferences are held. Don’t let the semester go by before realizing that you’ve never seen one.

• Call teachers if your student is not doing well. Discuss the conversation with your student and your expectations for improvement.

• Take Charge if your student has proven to be irresponsible about doing homework, attending classes, being punctual or behaving in class. Some teen-agers are not mature enough to handle this on their own and they need help. Confer with teachers and request a weekly progress report that your student can take from class to class.

• Pay attention to the absences and tardies recorded on report cards. Class cuts can result in failure. Many students are adept at forging and getting to the mailbox first.

• Let teachers know how they can reach you during the day. Messages left on home answering machines have been known to disappear before parents get home from work.

• Encourage your student to join school clubs and to form social groups at school rather than off campus.

• Be suspicious if your student never has any homework or claims to have done it at school. Missing assignments can lead to failure.

• Encourage your student to talk about what’s happening in class. Look through the textbooks, and ask questions about novels, projects, papers and tests.

• Establish rules and expectations, and be consistent in maintaining them. Adolescents may test the boundaries, but they appreciate structure.