College Planning: The Ninth Grade Conundrum
What To Do In The Ninth Grade!
Parents always ask what should they be doing to help their student best prepare for college admissions. This is a great question.
However, we are often asked this by parents of students in grades 4-7!
Our typical responses go something like, “you should let them be kids” or “let them try different activities and get to a place where they understand what they excel at.” Sometimes our response is as simple as, “support them becoming the best version of themselves and let’s connect again when they start high school.” Once they get to the ninth grade? Well, watch the video and read my comments below:
The Ninth Grade Conundrum
Posted by College Route Map on Wednesday, September 18, 2019
And with that I wanted to highlight a few items that as parents you can do to help prepare your students for college while they are in high school* — this week we’re focused on the ninth grade.
- Encourage your student to take the most realistic course load for which you they are likely to be challenged and simultaneously excel. In doing so, help your student find spaces and environments where they can study successfully.
- Provide positive encouragement and support. This includes prompting your student to seek out additional help as necessary so as to not flounder when comprehension or understanding are not coming easily for your student. Avoid doing the work for your student, rather help by providing resources and coaching to have your student learn how to find solutions and to advocate for themselves. Resources and coaching can take many forms from simple encouragement, to visiting the high school counselors office, test prep , tutoring, etc.
- MOBILIZE THEIR POTENTIAL. Inspire them to try new things, to take smart risks — encourage them to go beyond just following a list of what to stay away from. Help your student explore extracurricular activities inside and outside of school to find those that interest and excite them. Exploration can mean supporting students when they lose interest in an activity as much as when they want to try something new.
- Read as much as you can! Be a role model to your student. Reading for enjoyment is not only a precursor for college admissions but for success in college as well.
- When the time comes, help your student plan a challenging sophomore course load, appropriate for demonstrated skills and academic progression.
- Lastly, continue to provide a safe space for them to fail. This may seem scary but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for high school students to learn from failure while they are still at home. This is an excellent time to help them learn the 80/20 rule that Dr. Ederer prescribes to: even if it is 80% or even 90% the fault of others, there is still something I CAN DO DIFFERENTLY and it’s important I learn what that could be.
- Finally, always encourage your student to try new activities and look to engage them with new and eye opening conversations and experiences!
*this is the first in a series. In the coming weeks we’ll look at what to do in grades 10-12.
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consists of original pieces by Dr. Jeff Ederer and Denise Kupetz
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