As your child approaches the end of high school, the question of whether they’re ready for college looms large. It’s natural to have mixed emotions—pride, excitement, and maybe even a bit of anxiety. College is a significant step toward adulthood, but how can you tell if your teen is prepared to take it? Here are a few key factors to consider when determining if your teen is ready for college.
Continue reading Is Your Teen Ready for College? Key Factors to Consider
Are you interested in helping your teen live a healthy life? More and more families are jumping on the non-toxic bandwagon. It’s more than just a passing fad; it’s about embracing a healthier, more planet-friendly way of living. Let’s take a closer look at these six easy-peasy steps to kickstart your journey to a cleaner life. And guess what? It’s honestly not as difficult as you may think.
Continue reading How to Help Your Teen Live a Healthy Life
Leaving home for college means picking up all sorts of life skills. You’re going to have to learn to fend for yourself, picking up chores and routines to lead a healthy and happy lifestyle. This can vary from household chores to budgeting and more. But one area that you are going to have a big learning curve with is your diet.
Most of us are used to being in family settings where one person creates meals to cater to everyone’s needs. Now, you will be eating the campus meal plan or doing meal planning, prepping and cooking for yourself – most likely in single person portions. Managing a healthy and balanced diet requires focus on a number of areas, but for now, let’s focus on protein. Here’s everything you need to know about getting enough protein into your diet, as well as some tips and tricks on how to manage it!
Continue reading Adding Protein to Your Student’s Meal Plan
Every parent wants their child to succeed, starting with a solid education. But what life skills should your child have before they head off to college? Here are the basics every student should be able to do!
Continue reading Basic Life Skills for College
The days and weeks before your child heads off to college can be manic. You have so many things to arrange to ensure that they are prepared for flying the nest and starting classes that you rarely get a moment to sit down and think.
However, there are a few things you should absolutely make time for before they head off to college and out of your home, including the following:
Continue reading 5 Things to Make Time for Before College in the Fall
My daughter loves books. Her joy of reading began in grade school and she still loves reading and collecting books. Books never get old and there are so many to choose from. If your student is into digital versions of books, there are many programs available as well.
I’ve done the research for you and each link has multiple suggestions for you and your student. I hope these books are helpful and will be great additions to your library.
Continue reading Books for Students and Their Parents
Childhood is a time of significant change, and your teen may find themselves facing new challenges. You want to be there for them during these critical years and offer guidance as they grow up. One way you can do this is by understanding the four common troubles your teenager may get into.
A car accident is the most common cause of injury among teenagers. Statistically, motor vehicle crashes are responsible for about one-third of teen deaths every year. Yet, despite these facts, many parents are unaware of the presence of risk factors among teenagers.
Teenagers are at a greater risk for car accidents than adults because their brains have not fully developed yet. Therefore, parents must talk to their children about driving safety before they get behind the wheel themselves. Additionally, it would help if you had a car accident lawyer on speed dial to help you to maneuver through any situation.
Continue reading Pitfalls of Raising a Teenager
Starting college is an exciting adventure for almost everyone. Yet, it can be difficult for parents to ensure they’ve adequately prepared their young adult children to navigate the worldindependently.
Most parents know that college-bound teens will need to know how to do laundry, cook simple meals, and where to go if they need medical attention.
However, if your child is planning to take their car to college, it’s also necessary to teach them the basics of car maintenance. From changing a tire and checking fluids to basic safety techniques while doing the maintenance, these skills serve them throughout their lives.
Whether your teen is taking the hand-me-down vehicle or you did your research and bought them a new or used car through Edmunds, it’s essential to know what you should cover and what your options are if you don’t feel equipped to teach these skills?
Continue reading Teaching Your College-Bound Teen Essential Car Maintenance
Many students struggle in the first few weeks and months at their new college, and if that’s something that you’re experiencing at the moment, you’ll want to move past that phase as quickly as possible. So what can you do to settle at college more quickly? That’s what we’re going to explore now, so if you’re looking for answers, you’re in the right place. Read on to find out more.
First of all, you should think about how you can meet new people and make new friends. That’s what college is all about, and making like-minded friends who you have things in common with will make you feel much more settled in your new environment. It gives you people to discuss things with and to support you with any struggles you might be having.
If you haven’t done so already, you should definitely try to join clubs and organizations that are operating in your college. This is a great way to meet new people and find new interests as well. You can explore a range of clubs and societies until you find the ones that offer the most to you in terms of hobbies, activities and social opportunities. All of those things matter a great deal.
Embracing the culture of the college and really throwing yourself into everything that the college stands for is key. You can visit the school spirit shop, rep the merchandise and be proud of the fact that you’re studying at your college. When you feel invested in the institution itself, you’ll find it easier to settle because you’ll feel at home at your new college.
Of course, you’re going to need to find time to study as well. When you’re at college, you need to focus on the academic stuff as well. This matters because you’ll find it even more stressful and even more difficult to settle if you start to fall behind with your course and your studies. That’s not what you want to happen, so make sure that you find or create the time to study and keep up with any necessary reading.
Routines are really key when you’re at college, and they’re vital when you’re trying to adapt to a new situation or environment too. So, take the time to create and establish some healthy routines that you can stick to going forward. That will provide you with structure, and that’ll definitely assist with your efforts to settle and feel more at home in your new surroundings.
Settling in college when it’s all brand new to you can be pretty tough, but it can be done. Even if you’ve been struggling to settle, with the right steps and a little time, you’ll be able to feel at home. Make the most of the advice above and make the most of your college experience.
So much time is spent preparing for the actual college choice and application that very little time and effort goes into prepping for these valuable life skills. They may be prepared for the academic rigors of college, but neglecting to prepare for all the other aspects of college life might affect your success and ultimate degree completion. It’s your role as a parent to make sure they have these skills before they leave for college.
We must, as parents, raise an independent student. That means they must know how to self-advocate. They must know how to say “no” to behaviors that have negative consequences. They must be responsible with their time and their money. It’s no easy task and in today’s world, we have to add the ability to make wise social and economic choices.
When your student heads off to college there will be many financial decisions they need to make, beginning with how much student loan debt they are willing to incur. Use loan repayment calculators to determine the amount of re-payments after graduation and use these figures to make wise decisions about loans. They will also need to know how to budget their money in regards to other college costs such as books, living expenses and entertainment. Add to that the knowledge of credit card rates and how easily it is to fall into debt using them for simple things such as pizza. Many students graduate from college with over $10,000 in credit card debt.
If your student is headed off to college to hook up with the party scene, they are in for a rude awakening when their first semester grades are released. Many students forget that partying affects their study time and class attendance. If they are exhausted from partying the night before, they are less likely to get up for that early class. Recognize that while making friends and enjoying the social scene are necessary for their overall satisfaction of the college experience, they should not forget the reason they came to college: to get an education. Discuss with them how to balance their social life with their academic life before they leave in the fall.
College is not like high school. Professors expect that your student do their assignments and they don’t check up on you if you don’t. Coming to college with refined study and organization skills will help your student adjust to the rigorous course requirements of a college degree program. Managing their time is also important as it relates to class assignments, studying for tests and preparing term papers.
College life produces a whole new set of mental and emotional problems. Many students face homesickness early and should recognize that those feelings are normal. They should go to college with the skills needed to cope with stress and the feeling of loneliness that often occurs. Recognize that all these factors contribute to their overall mental health and know beforehand where they can find help if they need it.
College is no different than life—obstacles occur on a daily basis and you will need the skills to deal with those obstacles. Your student will be confronted with conflict and should know how to resolve that conflict, either by themselves or with a mediator (such as an RA or student advisor). They will face situations that require them to advocate and they should be comfortable doing this before they head off to college and become completely independent.
The question we should all be asking our students is:
Are you prepared for college?
I’m not talking about academic, extracurriculars, or standardized tests. I’m talking about the “real” college prep: adulthood. Because this is the most important college prep of all. If your student isn’t ready to study without being constantly nagged, attend class without a wake-up call, or make wise choices when every negative influence in the world bombards them, then he or she is not ready for college.
Do you have a to-do list for your future college student? Can they live within a budget? Do they understand the importance of study and class attendance? Do they know how to choose the right friends? Will they make wise choices about alcohol, sex and other risky behaviors. Preparing them for college is so much more than academics.
Get this book: Toward College Success: Is Your Teenager Ready, Willing and Able? Read it and apply its tactics. When your student goes off to college they will be prepared for the real world which can sometimes be cruel; but a learning environment preparing them for adulthood.