How did you help your kids who were in middle school to stay on track?
May be, there are there professionals who could help parents and kids to get an idea of what is in front of them?
Did you, may be, enroll yourselves or kids into a course which helps to get a feel of the big picture?
I did everything I could to let my kid be a kid for as long as possible.
Nothing, they need to kids!!!
Nothing. I was not even thinking about college at that point.
On track for what? Harvard?
In middle school, we encouraged our kids to do their best academically. We encouraged them to try different things out side of school that THEY enjoyed.
We mostly encouraged them to be pre adolescent kids…and we did nothing at all to get them “on track” for college in middle school.
ETA…we took NO special courses to get our kids on track. But we were active parents in the organizations our kids participated in. In other words…we helped the groups.
What do you really want to know?
Nothing except to keep saving money.
@travelfamily good one, YES, save save save, it’s frighteningly expensive!
Made sure they ate and slept.
Wash hands with soap and water, don’t run with scissors… 
Enjoy their life while they still can.
- Eat healthy
- Got to bed by 9
- Do all their homework and study for tests
- Spend all remaining hours doing fun stuff, including playing with friends, sports they love, and reading!
The big picture is called Life. Don’t fall into the rat race @pavkrisp - it will not make you happy or more successful.
Okay, I did get my oldest bumped ahead a year in math in 6th grade. I knew there was at least one precedent and he was bored, bored, bored. Otherwise nothing. I’d already trained them to do homework without nagging. They were already avid readers. Probably the most important thing I did was buy books they liked and took them to the library often.
Are you asking what folks did to get their kids ready to apply to top 20 colleges…while the kids were in middle school? Is that your question?
Are you also asking of parents here took classes to help,them get kids ready to apply to top 20 colleges? Are you asking that?
Basically we let the kids be kids. Middle school is a time of growth and development so they need to space to do so. The things we did were pretty general. We started saving for college when they were born. Other than that we focused on basic parenting stuff – instilling our values, encouraging good personal and study habits, encouraging them to cultivate existing and new friendships, and to get involved in any activities they enjoyed etc.
@thumper1 - I think OP is asking how to become involved.
Each school district has its own culture, and I am not sure how much strangers on the Internet can help, but unless there is immediate concern about your child on the part of school officials (you would know) -
Familiarize yourself with any tracking systems that are in place as your child moves into the upper grades, and try to get a feel for their flexibility (or rigidity.) In many districts, students are tracked for math in particular beginning in middle school, and the level of math will determine which sciences they will be prepared to take in high school, which in turn could matter if they attempt a STEM major at a “top” school with intro classes geared towards students who have taken rigorous high school STEM classes.
OTOH, some parents have complained that their child became burned out by being pushed too soon into a higher math tack. It might be reassuring to know if there is some flexibility such that a student can move ahead in high school as their interests change, and how this can be managed.
If you suspect that your child’s school performance is impacted by a learning disability, they are not being challenged, or that they are in a track that isn’t “right” for them, get your child evaluated.
Special education law covers a wide range of disabilities, not just students with obvious intellectual disabilities, and your child might benefit immensely from special education services provided by the school, privately, or in combination.
Conversely, sometimes students who have struggled in the early grades begin to hit their stride in middle school or even later, and it is important to make sure that they are adequately challenged.
If, so far, your child has performed well and shows no sign of any learning disabilities and is adequately challenged, it might still be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the types of support systems that are potentially in place if your child encounters a roadblock or a conflict with a teacher, or is bullied by classmates.
Also, sometimes your best resources will be parents of somewhat older students in your district. It can be helpful to be on the “gossip circuit.”
Let them be kids, but instill a sense of responsibility and ethics. Also have them do chores. (Actually start much younger than middle school with all of this). Before middle school, help them develop good study habits and homework habits.
Don’t be insane
My kids were certainly aware of college in middle school, but in a very general way. As in " school matters". As in taking classes that were challenging enough. As for activities they did what interested them at the time.
There is a big difference between a middle schooler thinking " someday I plan to go to college" and a middle schooler thinking about " top colleges".
No one is saying to put your middle school kids in a closet and ignore them.
But these are 12 and 13 year olds. They also need to be 12 and 13 year olds.
They need to have interests which they find and cultivate. They need to develop good social skills. There is plenty of research out there that clearly states that interactive skills are extremely important…and these are often learned in fun, out of school, not academic experiences.
My point is…prepping a student for top colleges at age 12 or 13 is, in my opinion, premature.
We have a HUGE growth in this country of kids with anxiety issues. If I were a betting woman, I would say pushing pushing pushing too soon contributes to this.
12 and 13 year olds also need to be 12 and 13 year olds.
And to the other above poster…I didn’t see anything in the OP to indicate the presence of learning issues. In fact, reading between the lines, I’d say this parent sees his kid as a top student and wants to know what to do NOW to maximize the kid’s chances to get into a tippy top school.
- Saved money
- Made sure they were on the higher tracks academically where there were choices
- Encouraged reading for pleasure
- Let them try different sports/activities to see what they liked best
- Encouraged them to do something interesting in the summer. One liked canoe wilderness trips with a Y camp. One liked Concordia Language Village camps.
I can’t say I was trying to get my child “on track” for anything, but I would say I helped her with time management, something she needed to learn because it didn’t come naturally. By high school she had it down. I also supported whatever extracurriculars interested her, encouraged her to spend lots of time having fun, and used a positive approach to schoolwork so that she would feel motivated to do her best. I don’t think my daughter even fully understood how college worked when she was in middle school. It was some vague concept having to do with older kids!
Please don’t start thinking about college in middle school. Are those quotes above for real? Do people do this?