The first few weeks of middle school can be overwhelming for children. Your son's behavior, as the counselor says, is fairly typical. You may feel better about all the changes in the relationship with your son if you talk to the parents of his friends and learn how they and their children are handling the transition from elementary school to middle school.
While most children adjust to middle school within a few months, there are things that parents can do to ease the process:
- Be supportive of your son and listen to what he has to say.
- Provide a quiet place for homework.
- Choose with him a time for homework. And insist that he use this time before any TV, video, or computer time. If he says that he has no homework, he can read during the homework time.
- Be sure he is equipped with a binder or some kind of folder system to organize the work from his different classes.
- Encourage him to use an assignment pad and calendar to organize his work.
- Support his participation in extracurricular activities.
- Make his friends welcome in your home.