For many children, secondary school represents a step towards having greater autonomy as they grow up and enter teenagehood — this can, sometimes, be overwhelming for both children and parents alike.
Help Your child Navigate Big Changes With Ease
As your child steps into Secondary 1, he or she will face two key changes: Managing a more challenging curriculum and adapting to a new school environment.
There's no need to worry! As a parent, you can make your child’s transition to Secondary 1 smoother by helping him or her to adjust and settle with ease into secondary school with these tips:
1. A More Challenging Curriculum
At the Secondary 1 level, your child will be introduced to new subjects such as Literature, Geography and more. With more subjects to handle, your child will need to be mentally ready to take on a tougher school rigour.
How can I help my child?
It's the first month of school! As your child begins to settle down in school, it also a good time to encourage a good daily routine for him or her to get into, starting from acitivities at home. For example, bed time should be at a standard time every night and morning routines should also be put in place.
The same kind of routine should also extend to after-school activities. Having a set time and place to do his or her homework as well as a time to do his or her own fun activities will also encourage good time management habits in your child.
You can also watch the video below as Shuli Sudderuddin, Academic Director of Secondary and Junior College Programmes at The Learning Lab, shares important tips to help your child tackle common challenges in lower secondary.
2. New School Environment
Being in a new school, your child will have to adjust to new surroundings, become familiar with new teachers and peers, learn new ways of working and make sense of the new rules and routines that operate in his or her school and classes.
How can I help my child?
What your child needs as he or she adjust to his or her new school enviroment is a strong support system. In dealing with new challenges, your child may also be anxious that his or her concerns will appear trivial to you. Be sure to constantly reassure him or her — let your child know that his or her well-being is important to you and that you take every one of his or her concerns seriously.
As your child steps into Secondary 1 and teenagehood, it is a good time to start giving your teen a little more freedom and independence. Whether it is selecting his or her CCAs or arranging his or her own daily schedule, let your child learn to take responsibility for the choices he or she makes.
Shuli also adds, "socialising can be more difficult as students move into their teenage years. Hence, it's important for them to have avenues to meet different people and to smoothly transition into their Secondary 1 classes because a smooth transition helps with focusing on work and doing well academically."
Remember to also give your child some options to pursue things he or she is passionate in — extra-curriculur activities and enrichment programmes offer your child a chance to develop non-academic skills such as character development, communication and time management skills.
These exercises in independence will help build your child’s intrinsic motivation and self-reliance, both key qualities for managing challenges, even in adulthood.