In preparation for this post, I asked my newly minted 6th grade daughter if she had any tips for surviving Middle School. She said, “Watch Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.” I gave her the facial equivalent of “dash, underline, dash,” or: -_- and then said, “I can’t just tell people to go watch a kids’ show on Nickelodeon.” She said, “No, really! It gives good advice! Okay, sometimes it’s really weird and random, but it also gives good advice!” I asked her to give me some examples. She sent me the video of the Top Ten Tips that I included the link to at the end of this post and wrote, “ i like all of these except for the getting pants-ed part… some of them are more tips than survival but I hope you can use them…”
Here are some highlights from the list:
10) Surviving Mondays: Take out Summer break and school holidays and there’s only 35 Mondays to survive! Wear your favorite outfit on Mondays. Make Monday your Favorite Lunch Day!
8) Surviving Embarrassment: Keep extra clothes in your backpack, just in case. At my daughter’s school, they don’t have student lockers except for gym, so she’d have to keep a spare outfit in her backpack. She has done this on occasion, especially when wearing new shoes that haven’t been worn in yet. She ended up changing back to her old comfy shoes before the day was out.
5) Surviving Failing: Don’t let one “F” ruin your life. While failing is a sign you’re doing something wrong, it also tells you it’s time to try something different! Talk to you guidance counselor. It’s their job to help stop you from failing. Failing is a part of life, but it’s a part you can fix.
1) Best Friends: They always look out for each other, always stand together and have each other’s backs…But it’s normal for friendships to have ups and downs. Talk it out when you hit some bumps.
So far, my daughter seems to be surviving her first year of middle school fairly well. She has been keeping her grades up, and turning in her homework on time. She did forget to bring in a photo of herself one day for a class assignment, but then so did most of the rest of the class. She also forgot to have a booklet filled out with seven to ten addresses of family and friends for a fundraiser so she could earn prizes. Seven minutes before it was time to leave, she rushed in saying I needed to hurry and fill it out. At first I was going to, until I realized the time and explained there was no way we’d get it done before she had to leave. She knew she should have done it earlier when she had the chance, but she forgot. So, no prizes for that part of the fundraiser for her. She survived.
Intense Life Coaching 
My newly minted 6th grade middle school son is learning to allocate his time! He has an hour after his 3rd grade brother leaves for school. I’m encouraging music practice since it seems risky to save homework for morning. I have, accidentally, made him miss his bus twice. He has already lost his agenda planner however…. I guess I’ll make him pay the $6 for a new one and hope that lesson takes. All in all, the first 3 weeks have been ok. I’m ready to go hug the 5th grade teachers who did such a good job preparing him.
I think most of the responses left here, are relatively well thought out…unless they are SPAM. If you click on my name in the column on the right, you will find other posts I have written for this site. If you click on my name at the top of this page, you find a link to all the other information I have available to the public. Were those the only two questions?