introduction and a question

[MeganP]

Hi! I've been on the WTM boards for years, but have always been over on the General and Curriculum boards. My oldest (13yo) starts public school tomorrow. I've struggled with homeschooling him for years, but finally decided (and got my husband to agree) that for the sake of our other kids, he really needs to try to be out of the house.

I've visited the school and it looks good so we're taking the plunge. Ds is a little excited (because he has some friends at the school) and a little nervous. This will be his first experience ever with public school.

So, any advice on making the transition easier? I've already told him that he just needs to remember 3 things: 1) be respectful to the teachers, 2) be nice to the other kids, and 3) do his best on the schoolwork. I know I'm oversimplifying, but I hope that if he can just remember those things, he'll do all right.

[Katrina J]

Sounds like good advice to me. My kids are still little but I used to be a high school teacher. I would add 4) Don't get too worried if you feel lost or don't know where or what you should be doing now and again. It may seem like a blur at first but will become second nature after a couple of weeks. I hope he enjoys his first day at public school.

And as for you dear mother, I hope you'll be OK too.:) I had to go home and have a bit of a cry the day I first left each of my DC at school. That passes too.

All the best to both of you,

Katrina

[MeganP]

Oh, #4 sounds very good. Thanks.

As for me, I'm doing all right. Ds is older, so I'm not really emotional or anything. A little pitter-patter in my heart is all. Now there may be a different story tomorrow after I drop him off. ;)

[MBM]

Many kids have trouble getting organized and planning ahead for tests and large homework assignments. You might want to help make sure he's doing okay in those areas, at least initially.

Good luck. Sounds like you've given him good advice.

:)

[Sara R]

"How to become a SuperStar Student"--a Teaching Company DVD. I've never seen it, but the high school board recommends it highly for teaching study skills.

[MeganP]

These are great suggestions, MGM and Sara. Thanks.

[Momling]

Though obvious to most of us, you might want to point out to him that the entire grading system is all about 'points'. He'll get points for participating, for turning in assignments, for scoring highly on tests... The more points he earns -- the better his grade.

[Momling]

Ooh -- also, if he's starting jr. high, make sure he knows how to open a locker.

[MeganP]

Good 'point' :001_smile: about the grading system. Oddly enough, though, they don't have lockers at the school. I couldn't believe it. They have to carry everything with them in their backpack all day. Fortunately (for their backs, not their education), the textbooks stay in the classrooms from what I understand. I guess all homework is just on worksheets or something. I'll find out soon enough.

[Laura Corin]

Oddly enough, though, they don't have lockers at the school. I couldn't believe it. They have to carry everything with them in their backpack all day.

When I arrived at senior school in 1974, the home classroom had old-fashioned desks with lids that you lifted to store your books inside. We used to leave some stuff in there, but the system didn't really work any more, because we moved around to different classrooms for different subjects. Newer classrooms just had tables to work at. I think that the previous generation of students had just sat in one place, whilst their teachers came to them, but this system had been destroyed, perhaps by increasing use of equipment (art, music, sciences, etc.) or by crowding the school, so that it was no longer possible to leave the home room empty. Lockers just never happened.

Laura

[MeganP]

I didn't realize that there were never lockers here. I thought they were taken out for safety or something. Oh well.

[Katrina J]

How did the first day of school go?

[MeganP]

It went really well, thanks for asking. He was very nervous this morning, but once we got there and his friends crowded around him chatting he was fine. He seemed happy when he got home, but he also only had 2 really classes, so it was a pretty easy first day. He had math and science. Then the science teacher told him that he was supposed to go to p.e. next. He spent an hour playing golf in the rain. Then he found out that he was supposed to have been in music. His next class was supposed to be French, but has a break instead of French class because the rest of his year group has already taken 2 years of French and they didn't want to put him in with younger students. He's never had French and they don't offer Latin so he'll just get break three times per week. For his last subject he had p.e. actually scheduled, so he got to spend another hour playing golf in the rain. It was an easy first day which was probably a very good thing.

I gave him everyone's advice when I was driving him to school in the morning. Thanks.