Anonymous
08/12/2025 16:09
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
And I thought my OCD was bad!
Lol. My OCD serves my family really well and yes, it is a winning recipe. Kids are super organized, high achievers while being super chilled. As a parent, you have the entire summer available to give your kids a leg up and keep them healthy. You cannot be reading this in mid-August and think that these are a lot of things to go through. Don't fail as a parent. Also, you cannot depend on schools to make sure your kids are getting a good education. You have to have backup plans for when your kid has a long term sub in a key subject, or they have a lousy teacher, or if they fall sick.
You sound insane. And clearly your kids are grown and long gone.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 15:49
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:By the time my kid finished middle school, I felt like his PA, (and he is reasonably on top of things).
All activities go into Google calendar. Most middle schools have a computerised system for keeping track of assignments. Have them check every day. There are teachers who forget to put things into the system. These teachers are often lovely, but they are also your biggest pain in the neck. However, this is where self advocacy skills come in, and by 8th grade, most kids are navigating these issues independently.
Buy school clothes in the current size and next size up. My kid grew 6 inches between the 1st day of 7th and the last day of 8th grade.
The personal growth they experience during this phase is really heartening. They also start to become real team players at home; they can be sent to the store for missing ingredients, bring in packages from the porch before the pirates arrive, and take a frantic text asking them to move the sheets to the dryer when you are stuck in the waiting room at Labcorp.
Thanks for this, I often feel like independent growth in 6th grade was closer 2 steps forwards and 3 steps back quite often.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 15:47
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Check the portal once or twice a week. For the first marking period, bring up anything you see that is concerning with him--missing assignments, late assignments, bad grades that he can re-do. As time goes on, he becomes responsible for checking it himself and taking care of issues, but until he gets into the groove, be sure you are on top of this.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 15:45
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
What are the 8 activities?Anonymous wrote:Tuk24 wrote:I have two kids who do eight activities a week. If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine—these days, people think they can write whatever they want anyway.
I truly appreciate those who took the time to respond. It’s just first-timer anxiety—we’ll be okay.
That’s crazy. Way too over scheduled.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 15:14
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
This poster failed MS science - flu vaccine better by end of October so it doesn't wear off too fast. Airborne? really!?
Plus they aren’t even available until September.
Idiot!
All flu vaccines will start being available in walk-in CVS and Rite Aid by August. Best part - no rush, no chance scarcity etc. Yes, they will probably not be available at your pediatrician in August. But who goes to their doc's office to get a routine vaccination?
https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/get-vaccinated
Anonymous
08/12/2025 15:09
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
And I thought my OCD was bad!
Lol. My OCD serves my family really well and yes, it is a winning recipe. Kids are super organized, high achievers while being super chilled. As a parent, you have the entire summer available to give your kids a leg up and keep them healthy. You cannot be reading this in mid-August and think that these are a lot of things to go through. Don't fail as a parent. Also, you cannot depend on schools to make sure your kids are getting a good education. You have to have backup plans for when your kid has a long term sub in a key subject, or they have a lousy teacher, or if they fall sick.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 15:04
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
This poster failed MS science - flu vaccine better by end of October so it doesn't wear off too fast. Airborne? really!?
Nope. Nope. Mid-August flu vaccine (preferably quadrivalent jab) so that you have built up immunity in the two weeks before school opens.
By Jan 20th - most kids would have already travelled in a herd and fallen ill with flu or other respiratory illness - summer break travelling, school opening, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, NYE travelling. You have no need to worry after that because most kids have fallen ill and recovered, even if they did not get the vaccine. You don't need to get a jab in October and then be covered till March. You need to be covered from Sept to mid-Jan.
Most kids fall sick in September and October. And lo and behold, you have wrecked their first quarter, first semester.
Airborne works well for us, but then we are also vaxxed, wear masks in stores, use hand sanitizer and avoid the school buses that are packed like tins of sardines.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:55
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:Backpack is packed the night before, including charged computer and placed by the door. Outfit is also chosen and laid out the night before.
What kind of school requires a laptop? Yuck.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:54
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
By the time my kid finished middle school, I felt like his PA, (and he is reasonably on top of things).
All activities go into Google calendar. Most middle schools have a computerised system for keeping track of assignments. Have them check every day. There are teachers who forget to put things into the system. These teachers are often lovely, but they are also your biggest pain in the neck. However, this is where self advocacy skills come in, and by 8th grade, most kids are navigating these issues independently.
Buy school clothes in the current size and next size up. My kid grew 6 inches between the 1st day of 7th and the last day of 8th grade.
The personal growth they experience during this phase is really heartening. They also start to become real team players at home; they can be sent to the store for missing ingredients, bring in packages from the porch before the pirates arrive, and take a frantic text asking them to move the sheets to the dryer when you are stuck in the waiting room at Labcorp.
All activities go into Google calendar. Most middle schools have a computerised system for keeping track of assignments. Have them check every day. There are teachers who forget to put things into the system. These teachers are often lovely, but they are also your biggest pain in the neck. However, this is where self advocacy skills come in, and by 8th grade, most kids are navigating these issues independently.
Buy school clothes in the current size and next size up. My kid grew 6 inches between the 1st day of 7th and the last day of 8th grade.
The personal growth they experience during this phase is really heartening. They also start to become real team players at home; they can be sent to the store for missing ingredients, bring in packages from the porch before the pirates arrive, and take a frantic text asking them to move the sheets to the dryer when you are stuck in the waiting room at Labcorp.
Tuk24
08/12/2025 09:23
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Ahh.. Thank u.. They are growing up too fast
Anonymous
08/12/2025 08:24
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
And I thought my OCD was bad!
Anonymous
08/12/2025 08:11
Subject: First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Those mornings are going to suck - no two ways about it. If he’s anything like my kids, he will want more food after practice even if you fed him before. Other than regular shopping and meal planning, there isn’t much you can do. But having easy healthy food at home and avoiding takeout when you can definitely helps. My kids didn’t really have much homework in MS but ymmv.
And he will probably want you to stop calling yourself Mama.
And he will probably want you to stop calling yourself Mama.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 08:05
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
This poster failed MS science - flu vaccine better by end of October so it doesn't wear off too fast. Airborne? really!?
Plus they aren’t even available until September.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 08:03
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
Clearly your kids were in middle school a long time ago.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 07:52
Subject: Re:First-Time Middle School Parent – Seeking Survival Tips
Anonymous wrote:- All flu vaccines for the entire family done by August. 2 weeks before school opens. It messes up your kid's academics
to fall sick in the first quarter.=
- Zinc tabs, airborne tabs, occilococinum tabs, germex and face masks. Kleenex with lotion.
- All physicals finished before school (Birthdays are in August thankfully)
- All dental cleaning, eye exams, derm appointment finished
- Two of everything that my kid could lose and marked them very well - 2 lunch boxes, 2 sets of outerwear, 2 bookbags, 2 sneakers etc.
- Asked for and got the syllabus from the district before school started.
- Bought all the textbooks for all the subjects second hand in Amazon. Even if I did not know exactly which text books were being used. I went by the topics in the syllabus.
- Also bought second hand - all the summer reading list books. Used other schools websites to get multiple lists. Made sure kid read many of these books.
- Hired tutors and made sure that my kids were ahead by at least a quarter in some key subjects.
- At least two weeks of vacation abroad.
- Life skills - some chores and some cooking lessons.
This poster failed MS science - flu vaccine better by end of October so it doesn't wear off too fast. Airborne? really!?