Help me prepare to support my student as they enter HS

[Anonymous]

My 14-year-old is starting high school this year, and I’d love advice from other parents on how to best support her academically—especially with the increased workload.

Our district didn’t assign homework in elementary or middle school, so this will be a big transition. I want to help her build good habits without constant arguments. Any tips on how to structure homework time and encourage independence and accountability?

Appreciate any advice or strategies that helped your high schoolers succeed—especially those who needed a little extra support along the way.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Do more asking than telling. Your goal isn't to make sure the homework is done; it's to help her build strong executive function skills. So ask her what homework she has and what her plan is to complete it. Even if you think it's a lousy, unrealistic plan, let her run with it -- then check back with her to see how she thinks it went and whether she'd do anything different next time.

[Anonymous]

Mine likes using a paper planner to write down homework, one of the ones with boxes for each subject on each day.

I found that she needed to check in canvas as well to make sure she had caught everything (but not all teachers were good about posting everything.) Then I would sit down with her and we would also cross check her list against missing things in the grade book. She also sometimes struggled on how to prioritize (focus on the 30 point assignment due tomorrow not the 5 point assignment due next week) and how much effort to out into things (a quick summary should not be taking you an hour to 90 minutes).

This was in middle school, and it improved over time, but I’m sure I’ll be doing some of it in 9th grade too. She recently said she needs to learn how to study-so that’s another thing we’ll be working on this year.

[Anonymous]

If she's going to public school, she might not have much or any homework because teachers often let students do it during class.

[Anonymous]

Make sure to check the grade book (assuming there is on an online app) once a week or more. Even for strong students. Follow up with your child on any missing assignments or anything else of concern. Things can get out of hand quickly in HS.

At this age, make it your child’s responsibility to communicate with teachers independently (whether about grades, questions, makeup work for absences etc). No need to involve yourself unless there is an issue your child isn’t resolving on their own.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, tell her not to worry about grades too much, they don't really matter. What matters academic wise is learning some basic material to score high on exit testing and SAT etc.

Tell her to have fun also. For most people HS is some of the best years of their lives and it gets worse after that with all the responsibilities and wageing for a living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure to check the grade book (assuming there is on an online app) once a week or more. Even for strong students. Follow up with your child on any missing assignments or anything else of concern. Things can get out of hand quickly in HS.

At this age, make it your child’s responsibility to communicate with teachers independently (whether about grades, questions, makeup work for absences etc). No need to involve yourself unless there is an issue your child isn’t resolving on their own.

+1. At DD's high school, the teachers use Canvas to assign homework, post grades, etc. Make sure you have a parent account and monitor it weekly or more frequently.

[Anonymous]

I cannot fathom never having homework and expecting to make it through high school and college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, tell her not to worry about grades too much, they don't really matter. What matters academic wise is learning some basic material to score high on exit testing and SAT etc.

Tell her to have fun also. For most people HS is some of the best years of their lives and it gets worse after that with all the responsibilities and wageing for a living.

False!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she's going to public school, she might not have much or any homework because teachers often let students do it during class.

+1 homework doesn’t really ramp up until junior year, in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Parties at night = ALCOHOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I cannot fathom never having homework and expecting to make it through high school and college.

I cannot fathom never having homework in elementary or middle school. Why do parents put up with this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I cannot fathom never having homework and expecting to make it through high school and college.

You can and they will. But also, no one said never.

[Anonymous]

We give our kids homework because the school is failing them.

[Anonymous]

If kids have lots of homework, either they are wasting time in class, or it's just busy work to impress the dumb parents or the lazy parents who want their kids to "be busy with homework so I can watch Oprah in peace!" type of parents.