Reply to MCPS parents, cut the cord!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a school counselor who absolutely would walk my new middle schooler to the bus for orientation day. He has to do middle school on his own, but he will know I’m here to support him. One of the ways I show that is by acknowledging that it’s a milestone and that he might have some nerves, but I know he’s got this. I’m just saying “bon voyage” as he heads on HIS journey. Once he’s out of sight I can then chat with other parents who get that this is a milestone for us too. Now if you start doing their homework etc., then it’s helicoptering...[/quote]
Exactly right!  
In addition to ongoing emotional support there should also be ongoing academic support. The goal should be that they are nearly completely self sufficient (academically) by the time they enter high school. You don’t remove the parental scaffolding all at once. In 6th grade I checked in with my dc everyday to ask if they had homework. In 7th grade I checked in once a week. Since then I mostly just ask “how was your day?”  and don’t ask about school work unless dc brings it up. I used to check edline grades every couple of weeks in 6th grade and now (10th grade) I don’t check it at all although I do remind dc to check for accuracy a week before grades are finalized. 
Until dc gets to college I will continue to get involved periodically when he takes on new challenges. So I will work with him to figure out how he should prepare for the SAT (self study or class), and check on his progress during the college application process. These are new challenges and he will need some guidance even though he will do the work himself. I worked as an academic counselor to college students for many years and now teach college and so I will ask him to confer with us before he picks his classes for the first two semesters as I know from experience that this is when the most painful and expensive mistakes are made. He can pick his own classes of course but he needs to demonstrate that he has done his homework   [/quote] sorry the last sentence should end “demonstrate that he has done his research “ meaning that he is aware of pre reqs, graduation requirements and isn’t taking on too much[/quote]

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