Summer Job Opportunties for Your Middle Schooler

Summer Job Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler

Summer time is the perfect time for your middle schooler to unwind, relax, and catch up with some sleep! While it is developmentally appropriate for your young teen to take a mental break from academic studies, the summer also opens the doors for gaining new skills, exploring new interests, and giving back to the community. In this third part of the “Summer Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler” series, we’ll explore the benefits of getting a summer job.

Work for a Small Fee

Some might think that middle schoolers are not old enough to get a job. While it may be true, that they won’t be working at the local retailer or grocery store, there may be other opportunities. You may want your middle schooler to start with a volunteer position or if your child is highly motivated, see if they might work for family, friends, or neighbors for a small fee.

Here are some jobs that youth may be able to do over the summer:

Perform extra household chores
Be a pet caretaker while its owner is on vacation
Help maintain a garden or do yardwork
Babysit and entertain kids by reading books, doing crafts, playing games, etc.
Teach or tutor someone in a skill (like a playing a musical instrument)

Advertise Your Services

In order for your middle schooler to get a job like these, they will need to take the initiative and put together a flyer advertising their services. They may also want to be prepared and put together a short resume and a cover letter introducing themselves per our previous blogs on resume writing. Your child should also have a simple business plan and describe what their services will entail. For the safety and security of your child, their business plan should always state that services would be performed under supervision of an adult or parent.

Learn How to Manage Money and Get Referrals

One of the biggest benefits of your child getting a simple summer job is that they will soon learn economic concepts like supply and demand. Your middle schooler should set a fee for their services and not be shy about asking for money. They will soon find out if they are setting their fee too high (no interested parties) or if they are not being responsible and supplying a good service (no repeat customers). Conversely, if your child is doing a great job, they will get referrals for more jobs and get more customers.

Create a Savings Plan

Another benefit of a summer job is that your child will learn about budgets and finances. You and your child should discuss how much income they make after factoring any costs that might be spent on supplies for their job. You should also discuss a savings plan for a portion of their income and develop a habit of saving money. Of course, any middle schooler would be happy to spend their hard-earned money on an item of their choice as a token of their accomplishments with their summer job. And you should celebrate a job well done with them!

Happy job hunting!

Jaime

Summer Genius Hour Activities for Your Middle Schooler

Summer time is the perfect time for your middle schooler to unwind, relax, and catch up with some sleep! While it is developmentally appropriate for your young teen to take a mental break from academic studies, the summer also opens the doors for gaining new skills, exploring new interests, and giving back to the community. In this second part of a three-part “Summer Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler” series, we will focus on the benefits of Genius Hour activities.

What Is a Genius Hour?

Genius Hour refers to a project that your child might take on in order to explore and inquire about topics that inspire mental intrigue or to deepen their understanding on a topic. As the name implies, the goal of the Genius Hour project is to spend one hour a day over a length of time delving into their project. In a classroom setting, a teacher may set parameters and may even make it a collaborative group project, but a Genius Hour summer time project is easy to modify for personal purposes. Middle schoolers will be more empowered in choosing their own topic, be more engaged in their project, and will be more independent with a self-directed learning path.

What Can Your Child Research?

To start a Genius Hour project, invite your middle schooler to think about something fascinating they may have come across in the past year that they might want to learn more about. Help your child to develop a guiding question and to think about what their final outcome might be. Then help them create a timeline to guide their summer progress. Finally, find ways to support their learning. This may include suggesting appropriate online tutorials, taking them to the library for research, visiting museum exhibits, or attending creative events.

How to Formulate a Question to Study

For example, my children and I attended a Young Authors Book Festival where an author presented his book and mentioned that all the illustrations were done using computer software. Since the idea of creating drawings using computer software was new to my kids, that sparked an interest in learning how to create computer graphics. Their Genius Hour’s guiding question is “How can I create my own original digital drawings to accompany the stories I write?” and the final outcome of their project would be to write a short story and produce their own original, digital drawings. Their process will include following some online tutorials and checking in their progress with their father, who is a Graphic Designer.

Brainstorm Areas of Interest to Explore

What might intrigue your middle schooler to start a Genius Hour project? Some may want to learn for personal gain while others may have personal observations that might lead to projects with practical application. Here are some sample guiding questions.

How can middle school students reduce food waste during lunch?
How do you create a webpage or a website?
How can I bring more awareness to my peers about the health dangers of smoking and vaping?
What are some basic self-defense maneuvers and can that be taught during a physical education class as a learning unit?
What are some before, during, and afterschool activities that are inclusive, create school spirit, and are cost effective?
What is the best free-throw technique in basketball and will that technique help me improve my free-throw average?

Have Fun

Embrace this time of curiosity and creativity in your middle schooler and see where their inquiring minds will take them!

Did your child do a Genius Hour project? Drop a quick note and share!

Jaime

Summer Volunteer Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler

Summer time is the perfect time for your middle schooler to unwind, relax, and catch up with some sleep! While it is developmentally appropriate for your young teen to take a mental break from academic studies, the summer also opens the doors for gaining new skills, exploring new interests, and giving back to the community. In this three-part “Summer Opportunities for Your Middle Schooler” series, we’ll explore some youth-friendly activities! In this post, we will focus on the benefits of volunteering.

Volunteer Choices

Volunteering is a great way for your middle schooler to think about the world outside of their comfort zone. Getting involved in an organization will help your teen learn more about different causes in your community and will help them be more compassionate towards others. Not only will your child practice being responsible in their volunteer role, they will also gain some job experience, which they will need as they might look for paid jobs while in high school.

Here are some volunteer positions your child might consider:

Sorting food donations at a food bank
Helping with various duties at your local library
Cleaning creeks, or parks through the local Parks and Recreation Department
Participating in a beach clean-up
Serving food at a senior center or community center
Being an animal buddy (or other service job) at an animal shelter

Benefits

Most of these volunteer positions for youth will provide training and will make sure your child is a good fit for the job. Since middle schoolers are minors, these volunteer positions might also require adult or parental presence while the children are performing their duties. Look for one-time activities to try out different volunteer opportunities, or find volunteer positions that are scheduled weekly for one or two hours each session. There’s something out there to explore for every interest. Let your kids experience something new and give back to your community.

Happy volunteering!

Jaime