As I have mentioned before, now is the time to set up some expectations for this year. Verbalize and possibly even write out your expectations as your student moves into the new frontier of "junior high school." Here are a few ideas about what to talk about and what we typically recommend at school:
Spending the night at a friend's house-not recommended on a school night
Parties with boys and girls-parental supervision is a must
Grades-a minimum of 2.0, most students that do their homework and spend time studying will earn A-B work
Homework/Study time-set apart a time and place that is w/o distraction and consistent about an hour or hour and half is typical unless you procrastinate :)
Sports Teams-try out for those sports that you are interested in and see what happens
Service Hours-go on a trip with the jh ministry team, don't wait until the last minute
Tardies to class-tardies are bad! ;-)
Boy/Girl relationships-not necessary, don't encourage, put Jesus first in all your friendships, don't hang all over, front hug, hold hands etc. hormones take them places their heads can't handle, it is not uncommon for them to "like each other" so talk about what is ok and not ok. forbidding them to like someone can bring out "Romeo and Juliet" flashbacks, "break ups" are usually pretty emotional and very hard socially.
Losing items-make them foot the bill to replace things and it will become more important
Number of Disc. Points-under 10 points in a semester is fine, under 5 points gets free dress during finals!
Consequences- take responsibility for your failures and mistakes, but it is what you do after that counts, make changes and never give up.
Sit down and take some time to talk about these and other topics and find out what you think and what your student thinks. You may be surprised with what happens.
Set some positive goals for the year too. I often ask the students to set goals and share them with me. If you know where you are going your are more likely to get there!
