Adjusting to High School: How Older Siblings Can Help Younger Ones

An older sibling can be a big help in facilitating their younger sibling’s adjustment to high school. After all, younger siblings tend to look up to their older brothers and sisters. But how? Maybe you’re wondering how this could work. Here are some tips and ideas for how older siblings can help younger ones adjust to high school.

Comparing Notes

If siblings are in high school together, the older one likely had some of the same teachers and classes that the younger one is now working with. The older sibling can help the younger by going over his notes from last year (or longer ago) with the younger sibling. This doesn’t mean the younger sibling isn’t taking notes; it is just a way to get more information and enhance what the younger sibling has already taken down.

Tips on Teachers

An older sibling can give the younger some good tips on how to succeed with particular teachers. “Ms. Smith really hates it when you are late,” for instance, or “Mr. Jones gives really hard tests so you’ll need to study.” These tips can be helpful for the younger sibling trying to adjust to high school.

In-House Tutor

Sometimes siblings don’t share the same academic strengths, and the younger one may be struggling with a class or subject that was a breeze for the older one. If the younger sibling is not self-conscious about it and if the older one has the time, he (or she) can tutor his younger sibling in the subject and share tips and learning strategies. Maybe there is a study chart he used, and can help the younger sibling develop a similar chart.

In-House Editor

While you don’t want to burden the older sibling, he can be a big asset as an editor of essays and papers. The older sibling may be able to check over the younger one’s homework and note spelling and grammar mistakes, or give tips as to what the teacher expects in that class. Again, the older sibling is not doing the younger one’s work for him; this is just helping the younger with his own work.

Don’t Recycle Projects or Other Schoolwork

There are some “don’ts” here as well, and this is one of them. Make sure your younger sibling is not pulling out past projects of your older child’s and presenting them as his own. This is a definite no-no! Besides, the teacher is likely to recognize it and give the younger sibling a failing grade.

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