Middle
Career Exploration
Middle school students (grades six through eight) enter the career exploration phase of the life-long process of career decision making. Parents can assist students with identifying what students know about themselves, their values, and their interests. The world of work is explored through the use of career assessments, activities, and a variety of career resources available through your child's school.
Career goals of middle school students tend to be more realistic than those of elementary students and begin to reflect values and skills as well as interests. Students must be given the necessary assistance that will enable them to begin the process of education and career planning. Effective career exploration activities should be appropriate for the middle school student and planning should be based on a clear understanding of the students' needs, interests, skills and realities with emphasis on the world of work, education, and training.
Even though middle school students rarely show it, they are very much influenced by their parents. Parents need to be prepared to provide support for their child as they go through perhaps the most dramatic changes in their lives. The more involved parents are in the education and lives of middle school students, the higher the child's grades, the stronger the social skills and the healthier the family ties.
Parents should be ready for big changes. Middle school students forget, are irritable and are skilled at power play. It is a time of strong and turbulent friendships, procrastination about chores and worries, real or imagined. If you made it through the "terrible twos" and the "fearsome fours," you can make it through the middle school years. Middle schoolers are leaving the safe secure environment of childhood into an uncertain world. During these years, keep your sense of humor, take a deep breath, and hug your child because you both need love and reassurance.