Most young students are taken for something I call the run-around. When I was a kid, I had to attend four different schools over twelve grades, and by the time I got used to one, it was time to move on again. These transitions between schools can be difficult. Here’s how to help ease the stress of the run-around.
Elementary School
Everyone remembers how cozy elementary school was: you have one teacher and 20-25 classmates that you spend all day with, maybe getting a change of scenery to go to your special classes like P.E. and Computers and getting a nice long break for recess and lunch.
Life is juice boxes, Cops & Robbers, and simple arithmetic. The hardest test you’ve ever taken is your yearly state testing.
But all the while, you’re envious of the big kids down the hall or in a different building across town. These kids are only a few years older than you, but their school experience is very different: they get to switch classrooms for each class, they have to wake up earlier, they get no recess, and, in many towns, they ride the bus with the high schoolers. They’re practically adults!
Transitioning to Middle School
The jump from elementary to middle school seems like a massive leap when you’re a kid. Once the excitement of a new school wears off, you find yourself in middle school, and you can’t help but feel like you’re being treated like a little kid again.
In middle school, you still have very little choice over which classes you take. In my school, we had three choices: French or Spanish, which order we take our mandatory Electives in, and what level of Algebra class we take.
Middle school isn’t the same as it used to be. There’s less bullying and clique culture, but middle schoolers experience more stress now, and many have mental health concerns that begin to surface during these years. The shift from elementary to middle school is also the shift from childhood to adolescence, and middle schoolers start to experience their first adult problems.
High School
You also start to hear about the big kids, the high schoolers. They get to carry their backpacks around with them all the time; they get to choose every class that they take; and some of them get to eat snacks in class! They’re practically adults!
Then you get to high school, and you might not know how to feel. You have lots of new independence, but still want more freedom. You don’t have all the responsibilities of a full-fledged adult yet, but don’t get the cozy amenities of elementary school either. You’ll want to be taken seriously and given more responsibilities, but you also long for the days of juice boxes, Cops & Robbers, and simple arithmetic. You’re practically an adult!
How to Adjust to These Transitions
These transitions can be a lot for young students, especially since schools get larger as students move up in grades. Many middle schools combine students from multiple elementary schools, sometimes amounting to a thousand students. How can you prepare for these transitions?
Most middle and high schools offer tours or will let you take a self-guided tour. This can acclimate you to the feeling of the school you’ll be attending and teach you where classes will be located. Having to learn where everything is on the first day of school can be very overwhelming, and learning ahead of time makes that first day easier.
During this tour, make sure you take a good look at the arts, music, and athletic facilities if you’re able. These are bound to be more advanced than they were at your previous school. Touring these can give you an idea of the benefits of your new school and show you what options you have for extracurricular activities.
Getting to Know Your Teachers
You can also talk to your future teachers and faculty. You won’t know which teachers you’ll have until you’re given a class schedule, but you can get an idea of what each class entails. Many schools only have a few teachers for each elective class (my high school of 800 students only had two P.E. teachers), so there’s a good chance you can meet your teachers for electives and foreign languages ahead of time.
Getting to know your teachers as human beings can ease the run-around stress a lot. The biggest help you can give yourself to ease this transition is to prepare yourself for the academic changes, specifically the increase in homework.
Middle and high schoolers have a lot more homework than elementary schoolers. Homework is an almost nightly endeavor for most students, and the adjustment towards doing homework every night can be difficult.
Building Good Habits
Building a routine of good habits will ease the transition to nightly homework. If you’ve never used a planner or a scheduling app, give it a shot before these transitions begin. Take an hour or two out of every afternoon and do something productive: read a book, watch a video essay, or do something creative. This productive time will become homework time when teachers start assigning take-home worksheets, so make sure you stick to it!
The run-around is stressful, but this stress can be reduced by taking tours, asking questions, and preparing yourself for nightly homework. Form good habits and keep them going, and you’ll be a successful student for a long time!
Author: Hastings Davin