As part of an, Individualized Education Plan, IEP for short, schools are required by law to consider transition starting in 9th grade or by age 16 whichever occurs first. For many parents, when they first encounter this, it is a bit overwhelming because a 9th grader is still a young person who needs a lot of hand holding. Many parents are facing for the first time the reality that their child is having to look at life outside of their nest. As a special education teacher, we are ever mindful of this, and we do our best to make this reality as painless as possible. For parents who students who aren't on IEP's, you too face the same reality of your child transitioning in a few short years.
Here is some advice for all parents on how to help you child transition from High School.
1. Relax.... Things will change, but not overnight. You and your child will grow during this process.
2. Breath.... Okay, I know telling you to relax may not have helped like I had hoped but trust me on this, breathing is required.
3. Plan... You and your child need to have a very open discussion about life after high school. Both of you need to be writing down goals to accomplish, ideas for post high school education, potential jobs and careers. As a parent allow your child to drive the conversation, but be prepared to ask questions to prompt them to think about what they have told you. In other words be the "devils advocate." This is also a time where you child may change their mind several times. Do not worry about that. The important part here is that they are considering the future and starting to look at what options are available to them.
4. Encourage... You might say "Wow! That should be easy... I do that already." That is good. Keep it up. However in the busy life of a high school student it is easy enough to forget that students need to be Encouraged all the time. I would suggest that you look to encourage your child academically, and to encourage your child to be a community participant. By that I mean, give them the support they need for school work, but also encourage them to become part of the community and volunteer some time to help improve the community. Many programs within high school, are designed to give students to the opportunity to volunteer within the community. Some of the organizations are 4-H Key Club, Leo's Club, National Honor Society, and JROTC.
5. Require... So this one is easier said than done. You need to require your student to meet certain expectations.Many of these should include learning skills at home such as cooking, laundry, and cleaning to name a few, but others items such as getting a drivers license, take the A-C-T, take the ASVAB, registering to vote, and for males registering for selective service are important. One item that can be helpful for both you and your child is a transition assessment. I have included a link to several at the end of this article. These assessments can help you gauge areas that you need to help you child work on. In the case of the A-C-T, it is a good idea to take that several time. One of the nice things about the A-C-T is that many colleges will take the best scores. Many of my students have also improved their scores taking the A-C-T multiple times.
While I know that this is not an all inclusive list to help you and your child transition from high school, this should will help you both start with a plan to be successful. Remember if you start when your child is a 9th grader, then you should have about four years to get this going. If you are starting a little later, even as late as second semester senior year, don't worry to much. The world isn't going to end. You most likely will have been doing a good majority of what I have recommended here already. You child's school should also be talking with your child along the way about graduation requirements, and upcoming dates for important events, such as A-C-T registration and the FASFA deadline.
Here are a few links to help you out.
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