3 Key Takeaways from the Family Guide

By: Texas OnCourse
reading time icon2 min

This week, we released a new edition of our guide for middle school families. You could think of the Texas OnCourse Middle School Family Guide as a way to help bridge the gap between a child’s support systems at school and at home during a pivotal time. Middle school success paves the way for high school success! Since a child’s academic development is a team effort, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of having teachers, counselors, and parents or guardians on the same page. We created the family guide so that:

  • Parents and guardians understand what college and career readiness truly mean and how endorsements and high school personal graduation plans fit into that process
  • Students and parents can discuss skills and passions and how they relate to career paths
  • Families are aware of timelines and best practices to ensure the success of their students

Three of our favorite sections in the updated Family Guide are Life Skills for Your Student, Conversation Starters, and Family Action Steps. Here are key takeaways from each of those areas:

  1. Keeping track of assignments (Life Skills for Your Student, page 42).
    Lack of organization (when things are due, when tests are scheduled, etc.) is the number-one reason many students fall behind. If your student doesn’t have a system in place to stay organized, come up with one together!

  2. Realizing that you are your student’s role model (Conversation Starters, page 44).
    Be the best model you can be. Show respect, really listen to what your student says, keep a positive outlook, work on anger management, and give them the freedom to be who they are.

  3. Attending back-to-school night (Family Action Step, page 49).
    Attending allows you to put faces to names, and teachers frequently provide information about homework expectations, testing, and classroom activities. Teacher recommendations are great for future endeavors, so it’s good to meet them.

The pieces mentioned here are only a small sampling of the Texas OnCourse resources available to middle school students and their families. Encourage your students’ parents and guardians to download our Family Guide today to learn more about ensuring success in middle school and beyond!