A Yearly Perk for Middle Schoolers

A Yearly Perk for Middle Schoolers

by | Jan 18, 2022 | Parenting Adolescents, Trending, Tween Times

 

A super-cool perk of being in middle school is the giant window of opportunity that lies before your child on the elective side of the course selection sheet. These classes provide the perfect chance to explore subjects where little is known, but curiosity is high or to build on already honed skills. Granted, thoughtful decisions for core classes that match your child’s abilities must be made.

But electives are where the action is. Activity-based classes like Art or Animation or performance-orientated courses with music and theater engage students’ brains differently. Getting to move around is a relief and release for many students. Who doesn’t like the cooking lab where future foodies learn to make omelets and operate electric mixers?

As I chatted with students, they felt their elective teachers really cared about them. When asked for a quick story about their favorite elective, these were some responses.

“I took Outdoor Adventures because I hate running and could get PE credit. I’d never been fishing or camping. I ended being good enough to qualify for the school archery team.”

“Did you know a lot goes on in the school office? I love being an office aide. I could be a school principal one day.”

“I was one of the last kids to enroll and ended up in Yearbook. At first, I was nervous because the teacher assigned us interviews. What I wanted to do was take pictures. I ended becoming best friends with the kids in that class.”

“I’m in my second year of Spanish. I’m getting the high school foreign language requirements out of the way. I want to graduate in three years.”

Have fun helping your child select exciting and possibly bold classes that will please and delight them. The two of you can review the elective descriptions online. The investigator might like Forensics, the engineer Robotics, the reader Library Aide, and the Tic-Tok maker Visual Arts. Spend time and choose wisely because making changes later is not always an option.

 

 

©JoAnn Schauf, MS, LLC Your Tween & You  2022 All rights reserved