One concern parents often have when getting divorced is that their children will not do well in school. As with all child custody decisions, the important thing is to put the kids first and focus on their needs. Clearly, that means trying to come up with a plan to help them do as well as possible academically during what can be a trying time.
One thing you want to consider is having a set plan for every part of their academic lives. Here are some questions you may want to ask:
- How do you plan to approach homework? Do you want to have the same rules about getting it done in both homes, no matter who the children are living with at the time?
- What is your plan for parent-teacher conferences? Are you going to attend them together so that you both can stay involved?
- What about school-related activities? How do you divide the labor of helping children with book reports, science fair projects and much more?
- Do you have a plan for afterschool activities? Scheduling can get chaotic. How does that factor into your child custody schedule and parenting plan? Again, are you both going to attend things like track meets, football games and theatrical productions?
- What financial plans do you have for college? Do you want to work together to help the children save for the rising costs of college tuition? Will you spend time helping them look into scholarship options?
Planning in advance is important. Make sure you understand all of your legal options and your rights under your custody agreement and parenting plan.
