Mental health among adolescents has been a growing topic. It has always been on the forefront, but since the pandemic, mental health issues in adolescents have been on the rise. East Guernsey is working hard to support this within our buildings by providing safe schools and supportive environments. We do our best to link students with mental health services when the situation arises. We are providing Social Emotional Learning and are training staff to better handle certain situations. As a parent, you might wonder what you can do to help support your adolescent at home. Here are some tips:

• Spend time with your adolescent enjoying shared activities
• Volunteer at their school
• Communicate regularly with their teachers and administrators
• Openly and honestly communicate values 
• Provide supervision and coach adolescents through their decision-making process (ask many questions and allow them to make their own conclusions based on their answers)
• Help with homework and provide a structured and loving environment
• Reach out to your child’s school counselor to obtain more resources

Here are some websites that can also help:

• www.medlineplus.gov (Teen mental health)
• www.cdc.gov (Mental health in childhood and overall mental health)

Mental health is just as important as physical health and should be acknowledged and supported.

Studies show that children who do not read or have access to books during the summer lose up to two months of reading performance. Those losses accumulate during the elementary school years so that by the time a child enters middle school he/she may be 2 1/2 years behind! All children, whether from low, middle or upper income families, may fall victim to the “summer slide” if not provided with summer reading opportunities. So how can you prevent the summer slide or, better yet, even accelerate reading growth? Here are some helpful websites.

1. https://www.khanacademy.org/ -Practice exercises, instructional videos and personalized learning. Contains useful content, organized by grade level and in line with curriculum.
2. https://www.abcya.com/ -Educational games for school aged children (K-6).
3. https://www.funbrain.com/ -Interactive games, books, videos and printables to help students develop skills in reading, math, problem solving and literacy.
4. https://www.spellingcity.com/ -Spelling practice and games for school aged children. 
5. https://www.coolmathgames.com/  -A brain-training site for everyone! Use logic, thinking and math to play fun games. 
6. https://www.getepic.com/ -Online reading websites. Provides many books and read-to-me books and videos.

Even though it may or may not be time for your child to pack up and head off to college, you can start planning for their experience now. One way is to set students up to earn scholarships to help pay their way through school. It can be easy to look at the cost of college and quickly decide that it’s not an option; well, that’s just not true. There are many things that can be done to earn a degree that is debt free. 

If you aren’t of age yet to go to college, you can begin to build your accomplishments resume. This is a list of all of the grades, awards, clubs, volunteer opportunities that you have accomplished. Does your list look short? Take the summer to get involved and beef up your list. You can also pick up the book Debt-Free Degree: The Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Kid Through College Without Student Loans by Anthony O’Neal. This book can give you a headstart in planning for college.  

Did you know that people are actually begging to give you money for college? That’s right, but you have to believe that you will qualify. Step one is to fill out the FAFSA application (The Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This could earn you free money that you won’t have to pay back. Just be sure to read each offer carefully to make sure that you aren’t accepting a loan by mistake. Visit the FAFSA website. This will give you an idea of how much you will need to earn in outside scholarships. 

Ready to apply for scholarships? Luckily, the internet can help you find as many scholarships as possible. www.Scholarships.com is a good place to start. Make filling out scholarship applications your full-time job. Set a goal of filling out somewhere between 100-300 applications prior to attending college. Once you are in, you can keep working to earn more scholarships as you go. 

College not for you? That’s okay. College is not the route for everyone. You can look into trade schools and training programs provided by companies that plan to hire the trainees after they complete the training program. This can save money and create a job opportunity quickly. 

It’s never too early to begin planning out your child’s future. The sky is truly the limit!