The Middle School years are a good time for students to explore careers; gain a better understanding of themselves and consider ways they can give back to their community. Our school district did not have a systematic career program, so we took the initiative to expose the boys to various career opportunities.
The most effective means of doing this for us was through movies. We watched movies together as a family and discussed the related careers and job opportunities. Also, we were one of those families that always sat through the credits. Reviewing the credits was an interesting way for them to see how many people were involved in making a movie and the careers associated with them. Of course we also tried to model good work ethic and values by setting positive examples in the way we conducted ourselves in our own careers.
This was the time we also talked about the importance of giving back to the community. Since they were both good readers, they volunteered at the local library during the summer to help younger children with their reading. We also paid attention to what they did when they had free time. They spent a lot of their free time playing video games. During those years they both were interested in creating video games. To balance out the amount of time they spent on video games, I established a rule that for however long they wanted to spend playing video games, they had to spend an equal amount of time reading. It was in middle school that David discovered he had in interest in writing. This interest was developed and nurtured by his 8th grade English teacher Ms. Warnes.
As I previously mentioned, Mark’s talents and interests were in the performing arts. He got involved in acting, dance, and took piano and sax lessons. Exposure in middle school is so important for high school preparation.
- Pay attention to your child’s natural talents. Observe what they do in their free time.
- Look for opportunities for them to volunteer and give back to their community.
- Make sure your children are performing well in Reading and Math.