Making the transition from primary to secondary school easier for your child
The transition to high school is an important step for your teen. Daily life, workload, relationships – everything changes! They experience many new things, which can be exciting for some, but stressful for others. Here are three tips to help your child navigate this transition smoothly.
To remember
👉 Help your teen become more autonomous for high school. Give them tools to organize themselves and manage their work. Talk about their fears and find solutions together.
👉 High school is also a change for parents! Adapt your role and your support.
Tip #1: Prepare for their arrival at high school
It's possible that during the last school year, their teacher may have already started some preparation for the transition.
Why not talk to your child to learn a little more and help them recall useful information?
Tip #2: Strengthen their autonomy
Upon entering high school, your child should be more autonomous, which can be intimidating for them. The important thing is to give them the tools they need to face these new challenges, while adapting to their new pace. This will allow them to take on more responsibility while feeling supported.
If, for your child, the idea of going to high school has been a source of great concern for a while, it's possible to try to identify their fears and assess with them whether they are well-founded.
If they are, it's easier to find ways to face them together. Your teen might question very concrete aspects of their new reality, such as the multiple trips within a larger school, how to deal with older students, or even worry about their future workload and their relationships with their new teachers.
Don't hesitate to ask them what they could do to make these unknown areas less intimidating and encourage them in their efforts.
Tip #3: Question your own expectations
It's useful to question our expectations, our role, and our responsibility, as these three components will change. It's perfectly normal for this transition to also be a significant period of adaptation for you as a parent.
If you need help or support to reflect on this, you can speak to a counselor from Tel-jeunes Parents.
