Back To School Is MORE Than Just Buying Clothes and Supplies - It's A New Mindset for Success
Laurean D. Robinson, MA
August 15, 2018 6:58 AM EST
If you are a parent who lives in Miami-Dade and Broward counties of South Florida, you are deep into the Back To School season for the start of elementary, middle, high schools and college.
Today, Broward County Schools have started their first day of school for the Fall 2018-2019 School Year.
As an educator of both Secondary and Higher Education for 15 years, I can only empathize with the expansive To Do List of the season - School supply lists, Summer Reading Books your kid needs to read before the first day of school, Tax-Free Weekend promotions, school and Physical Education uniforms.
And now your favorite summer shows and TV movies are getting interrupted by these seductive commercials and radio advertisements, reminding you once again how much shopping needs to be done.
After all, my kid DOES need a new school wardrobe and ALL those binders, pencils, pens, notebook paper, dividers that the school emailed me last week and SNACKS with their portable juices to put in their convenient lunchbox containers.
And then there are the immunizations, doctors' appointments, eye exams, pre-season conditioning/practice, and uniforms.
It's only normal to embrace its frenzy, completing every task with single-minded determination.
But what is your kid doing to prepare for the First Day of School this Fall?
Too often, well-meaning parents and caregivers drown their kids in a wave of high expectations and sometimes, unrequited academic ambition that they hope insures their children's success in the classroom.
But it is only a one-way transmission - without their own emotional investment, kids enter school directionless not because they don't have a support system at home but because they personally haven't invested in the family plan of academic excellence.
How could that be, you ask?
Because their educational goals are NOT their own; they are NOT invested in seeing their goals accomplished. Their parents are.
That is a SERIOUS PROBLEM.
Buying STUFF does not guarantee that your child will CARE about reaching any goal you are implicitly setting with your money. It may only do the opposite.
With the current rollbacks of Obama Era Affirmative Action initiatives in Secondary and Higher Education, access to magnet middle and high schools with Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement classes will only be that much more difficult. Application requirements will be more competitive (i.e. harder to meet for black and brown applicants). Internships with Miami's start-up company elites will also be reserved for more affluent school districts.
Understanding the gravity of these setbacks must be emphasized to your rising middle/high school student and even college freshman so that they can anticipate what the school year has to offer.
There will probably be Summer Reading exams at the first week of elementary, middle and high school.
There will be standardized or placement testing that uses boring reading material to test reading comprehension, writing and math skills which will dictate what courses you will be taking in the Fall Semester as a First Semester college student.
Your school will incorporate a test prep curriculum that may have NOTHING to do with the grade-level assignments you have been working on with your teachers at the beginning of the school year.
Or as a new college student, you register for a full-load of courses based on your major and class availability during the Drop/Add period of the Fall Semester. And syncing the arrival of your Financial Aid to buying your meal plan packages and renting your textbooks will be VERY DIFFICULT.
Ultimately, getting a proper education is the responsibility of the student. He/she needs to know WHY all that STUFF you're buying is so necessary, like putting all the small puzzle pieces together to reveal their ultimate purpose.
Do your kids have GOALS for the new school year?
What do they want to be when they grow up/graduate?
What kinds of books do they like to read?
What interests and talents have they exhibited away from school?
What are they excited/concerned about going back to school?
If you have trouble answering these questions, this is an indication that there is a disconnect.
So as you prepare your kids (and you) for the First Day of School, remember to include your kids in the process by seeing the experience through their eyes.
August 15, 2018 6:58 AM EST
If you are a parent who lives in Miami-Dade and Broward counties of South Florida, you are deep into the Back To School season for the start of elementary, middle, high schools and college.
Today, Broward County Schools have started their first day of school for the Fall 2018-2019 School Year.
As an educator of both Secondary and Higher Education for 15 years, I can only empathize with the expansive To Do List of the season - School supply lists, Summer Reading Books your kid needs to read before the first day of school, Tax-Free Weekend promotions, school and Physical Education uniforms.
And now your favorite summer shows and TV movies are getting interrupted by these seductive commercials and radio advertisements, reminding you once again how much shopping needs to be done.
After all, my kid DOES need a new school wardrobe and ALL those binders, pencils, pens, notebook paper, dividers that the school emailed me last week and SNACKS with their portable juices to put in their convenient lunchbox containers.
And then there are the immunizations, doctors' appointments, eye exams, pre-season conditioning/practice, and uniforms.
It's only normal to embrace its frenzy, completing every task with single-minded determination.
But what is your kid doing to prepare for the First Day of School this Fall?
Too often, well-meaning parents and caregivers drown their kids in a wave of high expectations and sometimes, unrequited academic ambition that they hope insures their children's success in the classroom.
But it is only a one-way transmission - without their own emotional investment, kids enter school directionless not because they don't have a support system at home but because they personally haven't invested in the family plan of academic excellence.
How could that be, you ask?
Because their educational goals are NOT their own; they are NOT invested in seeing their goals accomplished. Their parents are.
That is a SERIOUS PROBLEM.
Buying STUFF does not guarantee that your child will CARE about reaching any goal you are implicitly setting with your money. It may only do the opposite.
With the current rollbacks of Obama Era Affirmative Action initiatives in Secondary and Higher Education, access to magnet middle and high schools with Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement classes will only be that much more difficult. Application requirements will be more competitive (i.e. harder to meet for black and brown applicants). Internships with Miami's start-up company elites will also be reserved for more affluent school districts.
Understanding the gravity of these setbacks must be emphasized to your rising middle/high school student and even college freshman so that they can anticipate what the school year has to offer.
There will probably be Summer Reading exams at the first week of elementary, middle and high school.
There will be standardized or placement testing that uses boring reading material to test reading comprehension, writing and math skills which will dictate what courses you will be taking in the Fall Semester as a First Semester college student.
Your school will incorporate a test prep curriculum that may have NOTHING to do with the grade-level assignments you have been working on with your teachers at the beginning of the school year.
Or as a new college student, you register for a full-load of courses based on your major and class availability during the Drop/Add period of the Fall Semester. And syncing the arrival of your Financial Aid to buying your meal plan packages and renting your textbooks will be VERY DIFFICULT.
Ultimately, getting a proper education is the responsibility of the student. He/she needs to know WHY all that STUFF you're buying is so necessary, like putting all the small puzzle pieces together to reveal their ultimate purpose.
Do your kids have GOALS for the new school year?
What do they want to be when they grow up/graduate?
What kinds of books do they like to read?
What interests and talents have they exhibited away from school?
What are they excited/concerned about going back to school?
If you have trouble answering these questions, this is an indication that there is a disconnect.
So as you prepare your kids (and you) for the First Day of School, remember to include your kids in the process by seeing the experience through their eyes.
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