Families with children are known as the highest demographic to most likely own a pet. Children have numerous gifts to offer a pet, with countless hours of attention and play, cuddles, and a life-long companion. However, the rewards work both ways.
Your children can learn a lot from owning a pet, whether it’s compassion, empathy, or the responsibility they may need to take them through college and into adulthood, these 10 valuable life lessons are what they could learn:
Responsibility
Whether you choose ot have a dog such as a chocolate lab from https://chocolatelabradorretriever.ca/ or a smaller pet like a guinea pig, pets need to have daily food, affection, and exercise as well as potty time and grooming. Older children can learn these skills and use them and even younger children can help to feed them and play with them.
Trust
It’s easy to confide in your pet, they will offer you unconditional support in return. Pets make trusted companions for children and can be an important step to helping your child build trust in other relationships they may have through their life.
Compassion
Caring for a living creature requires compassion, empathy, and understanding, Kids learn to be kind and how they can take care of another’s needs.
Bereavement
You child will inevitably feel the pain of any loss of a pet, but it will also teach them how to cope through a bereavement period. A lesson not many get to learn when young.
Physical Activity
If you own a dog, your children can learn how to have fun physical activity through games like fetch or tug of war. And enjoy going for walks. Research suggests that children who own a dog spend more time being physically active than children who don’t.
Patience
It can take time to bond with a new pet, so your child will learn patience whilst your new pwr becomes comfortable and starts to feel at home during training.
Respect
Owning a pet is a great way to teach children how to respect others. They much tend to their needs, touch them gently, and learn not to disturb them when they are sleeping or eating.
Self-Esteem
Pets will show them unconditional love, which can be a wonderful boost to a child’s self-esteem. So, too, can the proudness and satisfaction from having the responsibility of caring for a pet’s needs.
Loyalty
A pet’s loyalty toward its owner is hard to match. With this, children can learn the importance of showing loyalty to their furry friend.
Social Skills
A dog can be a fantastic way to break the ice in social situations. This means taking your dog on family walks can help to improve your children’s social skills as they see you interact
This has certainly been one of those years. It all began with news of a virus in China. Then it began to spread and the world was in the midst of a pandemic. As time progressed it made it to our country and everyone was frightened and scared. People were dying. There seemed to be no hope. Schools closed. Businesses closed. Churches closed. We all stayed home and waited.
Just when it seemed the outlook was improving, a senseless and cruel act of murder occurred at the hands of a policeman—someone we trusted to protect us. I kept remembering the words spoken in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: “All hell done broke lose around here!” Truer words were never spoken.
I’m certainly not a psychologist or pretend to understand what it’s like to live as a person of color in this country. But I have children and grandchildren and it’s moments like these when they are watching us. They watch how we respond and how we treat others. Raising an independent adult should also involve raising a compassionate human being.
These are teachable moments.
Violence is not the answer
On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest with a knife. King survived, and the attempted assassination only reinforced his dedication to nonviolence:
“The experience of these last few days has deepened my faith in the relevance of the spirit of nonviolence, if necessary social change is peacefully to take place.”
Look for the helpers
Mr. Rogers’ mother had the best advice for a time like this—look for the helpers. We looked for the helpers during the pandemic at its worst. We should look for the helpers in the midst of this civil unrest.
Policemen, sheriffs and mayors speaking to the protestors and asking to “walk with them” in solidarity and as a promise to do better. People showing up to help business owners clean up after the damage from the riots. Protestors protecting the police when surrounded by an angry mob. A protestor bringing a case of water to the policemen standing watch. Helpers put all of this into perspective.
Which brings me to the next teachable moment…
Love one another
Nothing good ever comes from hate. Our children are innocent and loving when born. If they are taught to hate, they will hate. If they are taught to love, they will love. Teach them to unconditionally love their fellow humans. Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Stand with those who are hurting
Every single person who viewed the video of that policeman kneeling on George Floyd’s neck was outraged. There’s no question that he used his position of authority to murder that man and showed no mercy when the man was crying for help. Your teen should know you are outraged and understand why. It should open a discussion about how you feel about racism and give you an opportunity to talk about this issue. If you feel moved to act, allow your teenager to participate if they ask. Nothing will change if we don’t teach our children to be color blind. Martin Luther King Jr. explained it clearly,
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Dyslexia can affect one in five people, according to the National Institutes of Health. Once you have noticed the symptoms such as laboured or inaccurate reading and/or spelling. As well as difficulty rhyming, associating sounds with alphabetic symbols, sequencing and ordering sounds you can take the next step to be diagnosed. There are many ways to help Dyslexia.
Schools that specialize in Dyslexia
Schools such as CLOI’s Dyslexia PD offerings can often provide extra attention towards teaching them how to utilize, systematic and sequential instructional approach while reading and writing. The best method they use is a multisensory method. This can ensure that each plan is helping them to succeed with every journey with something like their writing and reading. They understand Dyslexia in a way that looks at it from different views to ensure that they choose the best method for them as every case is different. Having a personalized program is essential.
What parents can do to help
If your child has Dyslexia, you can often feel helpless. There are multiple ways in which you can help at home. Start reading aloud of your child as young as you can, even six months and younger can make a massive difference to their vocabulary. If you are not comfortable with reading aloud yourself, then playing a recorded book with your child can be an effective method. Work side by side with your child’s school to ensure that you can proceed with the same techniques at home to avoid confusion. Scheduling in reading time each day can encourage your child to read that will improve their literacy skills. You could do this by reading something of your own while your child read their book. This shows that you are there to support your child, and they will see that reading is an enjoyable activity to do together.
Support your child
Finding ways to support your child without being intimidating can be difficult. Expressing your love and support when they are reading or talking can help build their skills and show their strengths. This can be done by having conversations with your child regularly.
Designating a specific time of day to help them at home by organizing a place and time for your child to study. This space is then known as a place of work rather than play. This also means limiting the amount of time they spend on electronic screens and swapping them for reading practice.
If you are feeling alone at this time, then joining a support group can help you massively to provide useful information and emotional support. Building you and your child’s relationship to helping their strengths and weaknesses.
Hopefully, with this guide, you will be able to find different learning techniques to learn your child’s Dyslexia. Whether that is having support from a school such as CLOI’s Dyslexia PD. They offer comfort and personalized methods to help your child. And changing up your home environment to allow your child’s reading and writing to grow and improve.
Whether your child is leaving for college soon or they are coming towards the end of their studies, ensuring you support your child in the right way, not just in a professional sense but in an emotional sense as well, can prove to be a wide-ranging subject. Ultimately, there is a massive transition from college to the real world. For anybody that has been through college education and has now come out on the other side, they may tell you just how much of a shock to the system it is to go into the real world. So what can you do to make sure that you support your child in the right way when they are transitioning toward independence after graduation?
Will Additional Qualifications Help At This Point?
Many people decide to move on to a master’s course after their degree. For some, this can be prolonging the eventuality of going into the real world. But it all depends on the degree that your child initially undertook. If they’ve got a very clear-cut career plan but they need to acquire a master’s in system design & management or a niche subject, it’s vital that they work towards this. The best thing you can do if your child is adamant about completing extra qualifications is to make sure that they’ve researched their career choice at every angle.
Encouraging Them To Find The Best First Job
Some parents feel that their child needs to get any job after they come out of college, but this can be a huge mistake. If your child is not continuing their education, you should encourage them to explore a wide variety of opportunities. Many people these days decide to accept a job for the sake of it, but this means that they could very well get stuck in a professional rut. And even if you, as the parent, have been in the same position before, it’s essential to encourage them to diversify their efforts. Encourage them to make strategic decisions from the outset. This could mean undertaking career questionnaires or helping them to realize what skills they have right now that lend to a specific profession.
Remember To Take A Step Back
They are your child, and you want the best for them, but you have to remember that you can’t force them to do something. If you feel the need to go down a particular direction, they will likely do the opposite. Think about your emotions and keep them in check. Manage their moods rather than trying to force them down a specific path. After college, your child can feel somewhat empty in-between that chasm of finishing their education to starting a career. There will naturally be bumps in the roads, and they may feel the pressure to get on to the “right” career right away. The best thing that you can do is to take a step back and also realize where you are helicopter parenting.
Even if you went straight into work, you have to remember just how much a shock to the system it can be going from years of education to the real world. They worked hard at getting their qualification, and now they want to make sure that it counts. The best thing you can do for them at this point is to be supportive of their decisions.
We all have dreams in life, and these often start when we are young.
When you were at high school, you may have had visions for your future, of the places you wanted to get to, and of the person you wanted to be. Hopefully, your dreams were realized.
So, let’s think about your teen. What are their dreams? What do they want in the future? And what colleges are they considering to achieve their future ideals?
As the parent, you need to be in a supportive role – the person who encourages their dreams, and not the person who crushes them.
In your role, these are some of the things you need to focus on.
Don’t be dismissive of your teen’s choices
Remember that your teen’s dreams may not necessarily equate with your dreams for them. Too many kids end up in colleges and careers they didn’t want, and that is because their parents have pushed them in directions they didn’t want to go. So, don’t be that parent who forces them down a path they are resistant to. If you catch your teen looking at the preflight checklist for pilots on the pages of an aeronautical university website, or if you hear them talking to their friends about colleges for the performing arts, be supportive. Don’t tell your teen that such career choices are pipe dreams, unrealistic, and not for them. Show them you support their choices, and if the colleges they look at really aren’t beyond the realms of reality for them, encourage them to take the right courses at high school that will meet the requirements of the colleges in question.
Encourage them in their education
As we suggested above, help your teen make the right choices when it comes to high school courses, especially if getting grades in these courses will qualify them for admission into the colleges they like. And when they are taking these courses, encourage your teen to work hard. If they need to study for tests, and if they need to write essays, remind your teen of their college goals every time they slacken off. Help your teen with their courses when they are struggling too. Be there when they need your help to study for tests and exams. Be there when they need your advice on a paper they have written. And be there whenever an obstacle arises that could potentially cause them to fail their course. The more help you can give them at high school, the greater the chances of them getting the grades they need for college.
Make their dreams become a reality
You can do this in all kinds of ways, from helping them find the right colleges for them, to helping them fill out their college applications. Take a look at the advice we gave on our site about what you can do to coach your college-bound teen too, as there is much you can do to prepare them for the next stage of their academic life. You can teach them some of the skills they will need at college, for example, and you can help them prepare for the pre-college tests they might need to take during the application process. The more you can do to support your teen, the better, so while you shouldn’t be overbearing within your responsibilities, you should still steer, gently cajole, and encourage your teen to ensure their dreams can come true.
These have certainly been times of upheaval. Students were told to finish the year at home. Parents scrambled to help their teens adjust. Graduations were cancelled and even college plans are uncertain. But that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for the day when they will leave for college.
It seems like only yesterday you are dropping your child off at their first class, and they are upset about leaving you. But now your child has decided to go off to college and will be leaving you without so much as a wave before long. But this is a wonderful testament to the job you have done as a parent up to now, and it’s hard to forget just how much you have done for them, and How they are so successful already from your support and their hard work. There are a few things you can do to make sure that you have prepared yourself for the big day, and that you don’t end up too upset when it happens. Our children taking the plunge and becoming independent is something special, and something to be proud of. So what can you do to prepare yourself for this transition?
Be proud
Be proud of your child’s achievements. Sharing this with the world and your family and friends is important, and showing your child that you are proud of them will do great things for their confidence. It isn’t always about academic achievements of course, but it does show a certain level of resilience and confidence, as well as a hard-working nature to gain a place in a college. Making sure that you don’t forget the role you have played in getting into this point, and congratulating yourself for the great support you have given your child along the way, is important. So never feel as though you are going too far by showing your pride in your children.
Prepare practicalities
Making sure that all of the practicalities such as student accommodation and the small details are covered when it comes to preparing your child for college, will give you a sense of confidence that everything is taken care of. You can, of course, continue to support your child once they have left for college, and many people do send care packages on a regular basis. But making sure that your child knows where they are going, what they are doing, and they have the support there if they need it, will help you relax and feel much better about the whole situation.
Be there
Being there when your child needs you, or even when they don’t, is all we can do. Sometimes they will act as though they don’t need any support whatsoever, and this may be true for many grown-up children spreading their wings, and if we have done our jobs correctly then they really should be quite independent anyway, but just being ready to take a call, or be there when they need you, it’s going to be the most important job you can do when your child is going off to college. Being there is our number one role once all the basics of parenting are done, we teach them everything we can to a certain age, And then must take a step back to just support when needed. You will find that even the most independent college children will feel as though they have got everything under control, but we can always be there ready to catch them if they fall.
If you have a student in college and you are hoping for them to do as well as possible, there are things that you might be able to do to help them along. While you should mostly let them do it on their own, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be encouraging them or offering them just the right amount of help – so long as you don’t get overly involved, that is, and you still let them achieve it by themselves. If you want to help your children pass their college exams, there are a number of things you can do to ensure that they are much more likely to, so let’s look at what those might be.
Stress Busting
One of the main things you can do for them is to show them how to deal with the exam stress. All children get stressed when it comes to exam time, and it is a natural part of the process that they are going to have to find a way to deal with. A little stress is not even too much of a bad thing; it shows how important the situation is, and it has been known to help people work to their fullest degree where necessary. But too much stress is definitely a problem, and you can help them by showing them how to keep stress at bay. Keeping calm, breathing deeply, and getting plenty of sleep are all good ways of doing this.
Getting Help
If you feel that your child really needs it, you might also want to think about getting them some extra education which they can make use of. If your child is falling back in English, for instance, then hiring a private English tutor could be all you need to do to make sure that they are going to get back on track, or even get ahead of their peers. However, it’s not a competition, and the main thing is that you should be trying to help them get to a point where they are confident they will pass their exams. If you can do that, you will find that they will have a much higher chance of success.
Study Skills
When it comes to the actual preparation for the exams, you can help them there too, even if they are living on campus and you are not seeing them in person. If they can learn from you how to properly prepare for exams, then that is going to do them very well, and you will find that they are going to have a much better time of it in general. That is absolutely something that you are going to want to think about if you are particularly keen for them to achieve great things. Good exam preparation is something that can be learned, so make sure that you are helping them wherever necessary in learning it before they have their exams.
I am seriously tired or seeing “coronavirus” on every social media platform. I’m tired of seeing people panic and act like it’s the end of the world if they can’t find toilet paper. I’m tired of hearing about another college or event that has been cancelled. I guess I’m just tired.
If you have a college-bound junior or senior, you probably feel the same way I do. But along with the frustration comes some concern and disappointment. Senior events are being cancelled. Colleges aren’t allowing visits. Admitted student events are cancelled. Some schools are having extended spring breaks.
How will all of this affect you and how can you cope?
There is going to be disappointment
Your teen is going to experience some disappointment. They have been looking forward to this time since they started high school. It may not be the end of the world to you, but it is to them. Be patient with them. Support them. Give them tons of hugs. You know this will pass but they don’t.
There are options available to make this tolerable
Thankfully we live in a digital world. In person visits cannot occur but virtual visits are available. Most colleges have them on their websites and you can also view some on YoUniversityTV video tours. After that, chat online with some current students you can find on social media. Most students are happy to brag about their school.
Mom can help by asking friends on Facebook for help connecting with current students. Grown and Flown is a great resource for current college parents.
If you have questions that can’t be answered by either of these options, reach out to the college itself. They will be happy to help you and understand your frustration.
Take care of your family
It goes without saying that the number one priority is the health and safety of your family. That includes protecting their mental health. Fear and anxiety can take over when everything seems out of control. Have open conversations about what everyone is feeling and find ways to help everyone cope.
The admissions outlook will change
Sarah Harberson, a college counselor, points out these things to expect during these next few months:
Expect decisions to be released on time.
Admitted student programs are being canceled amid fears of the fast-spreading virus.
With great uncertainty, the waitlist will be in full effect.
Acceptance rates will rise.
Be ready for colleges to aggressively try to convince students to enroll even after they make a decision.
Campus tours and information sessions are being canceled for prospective students and families of younger grades.
ACT and SAT tests sites are being shut down not only abroad but here in the states as well.
Virtual classes are replacing face-to-face in-person classes for high schools and colleges.
If you need questions answered or just need to vent, hop over to my Facebook page and commensurate with other parents who are going through the same things you are. In the meantime, take a deep breath and hang in there–this too shall pass.
With all the talk of helicopter parenting, over parenting, snowplow
parenting and parents refusing to allow their students become independent
adults, it’s important to understand how to coach your teenager without crossing
the line.
A recent article in Business
Insider quoted a study conducted by Florida State University focusing on
some of the issues with today’s parenting:
Helicopter parents are “overly
involved, protective parents who provide substantial support (e.g., financial,
emotional, physical health advice) to their emerging adult children, often
intervening in their affairs and making decisions for them.”
“Individuals with parents who
engage in highly controlling, overprotective behaviors have been characterized
as being overly needy in terms of seeking attention, approval and direction
from others,” the authors wrote in summarizing past research. “In addition,
they have been found to utilize more ineffective coping skills, express higher
levels of narcissism and demonstrate lower self-efficacy.”
In contrast…
“Developmentally appropriate
parenting can promote healthy decision-making and a child’s development of
autonomy, increasing the likelihood that their children will become
independent, well-adjusted, problem-solving adults. They tend to cope better
with stress, have more self-esteem and experience less depression.”
Knowing this…
What is a parent’s role during the college prep
process?
I will give you 10 coaching steps to take for a positive college prep experience.
Step 1-Offer guidance and advice.
Parents are primarily coaches—coaching and directing their teenager during high school so that they will be prepared to apply to and eventually attend college. It’s natural to take this role in parenting and it works well in the area of college prep.
Your teenager may not always
ask, but they will need advice during this stressful time. Listen to their
concerns and offer guidance and advice. Listening is the key because teenagers
don’t always communicate what they are feeling and don’t always ask for help.
The next thing parents need to
do is…
Step 2-Establish
boundaries.
Early during the college prep process, have a serious
conversation with your student.
Because of the insurmountable number of tasks involved with
college prep, your student will need your help. The key word here is, “help”.
One admissions officer told me, “Let your student drive the car”. It won’t be
easy to let your student take control of the process, but this is part of the
training they will need to be successful in college.
Next, we will discuss exactly how you can help.
Step 3-Be
an encourager and a helper.
Be an encourager by reminding your student of deadlines,
from test registration to FAFSA and application submission. Encourage them to stay
on top of every task and suggest creating a timeline for each task.
Parents can participate in just about every activity during
college prep.
You can help with organization by establishing a college
landing zone. A place where you and your student can keep track of all
college-related information.
You can help with test prep—practicing vocabulary words,
administering practice tests, and hiring a tutor if necessary. You can also
help them create a study schedule to prepare for the tests.
You can help your student create a college list. What is at
the top of their list? What are they interested in studying? What career
interests them? What college activities outside of academics are important?
Does location or size matter? Use these questions to begin crafting the list.
You can participate in college visits by planning the
visits, traveling with them, and discussing the visits afterwards, Under no
circumstances should you take control during any aspect of the campus visit,
from the tour to the interviews.
Scholarship searching can be a daunting task for any busy
student. Parents can help by searching for the scholarships, making sure all
the components of the scholarship application are completed, proofreading any
essays, and making sure they are submitted correctly and on time.
Once the applications have been submitted you can participate in the final decision. Weigh all the financial aid offers against one another and help your student choose the college that is the best fit: academically, socially and financially. This is an important part of coaching.
Step
4-Teach life skills.
Teenagers need time and priority management skills,
conflict management skills, and effective communication skills. They need to
know when and how to ask for help, they need to effectively maneuver the
college bureaucracy, and they need to operate on a budget and manage their
money. They need to self-advocate and have the self-discipline to stay safe.
Step
5-Teach Academic skills.
Students should start college with strong study skills.
They need to be able to write a well-researched and documented, accurate,
organized, and well-written paper. They need to start college prepared to
attend all their classes, read the assigned materials, and know how to take
notes. They need to be prepared to pursue study groups, additional review
periods, or other options such as seeking out their teachers when they have
questions and need help.
Step
6-Model behavior
Parents should be involved in their teenager’s school by
participating in parent-teacher meetings and similar events, judging their
student’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and pushing them to get help when
they need it. Parents should make expectations and rules clear for both
academics and behavior, and follow through on reasonable consequences. Parents
should give their teenagers graduated responsibilities, teach them to budget,
and make them responsible when they make mistakes.
Step 7-Educate yourself about everything to do with college prep
In order to be the “wise
sage”, you need to educate yourself about all aspects of college prep. And in
today’s age of technology and social media, you have all the tools available to
do this. Take advantage of all the college prep advice on social media
(Twitter, Facebook, and even Pinterest) have all sorts of tips for parents to
help with college prep. Subscribe to blogs that provide parents with advice and
connect with other parents on Facebook who are going through the same process.
On my blog, I offer numerous
lists of experts to follow on social media, along with advice from college
counselors, test prep tutors, essay experts and admissions officers. These tips
help parents stay on top of all the college prep tasks and stay educated about
any changes in standardized tests, admissions or financial aid.
Step
8-Have the money talk
Parents
should have a serious conversation with their student about money before even
applying to colleges. Approach it as a collaborative discussion and use
this as a start to helping your teen understand the importance of budgeting and
“needs vs wants”.
Start
off by making sure your teen knows what a “need” is and what a “want”
is in relation to college costs. For some teens, all wants are needs. This
is the time to nail the definition down and clarify it in their minds.
Decide
just who will be paying for each college expense. Every family is
different but it’s important to make this clear from the very beginning so that
there won’t be any surprises.
Use a budget worksheet and understand ALL college expenses. Don’t just assume
that tuition, room and board will cover it. There will be additional costs as
well like travel, entertainment, dorm furnishings, student fees and others. Be
sure to budget for these additional expenses.
When
your teens contribute to the costs of their education, they will be more
invested in their success. They will also learn valuable budgeting lessons that
will stick with them past college and into adulthood. You’re doing your teen a
disservice if you don’t involve them in the college financial discussions. They
need to be active participants in the decisions and also play an active part in
paying for that high-cost college education.
Step
9-Make financial aid a priority.
Even if you can afford to pay for college, why would you
use the money if your student can get some of the free money from scholarships
and grants? It makes sense to apply for scholarships. Scholarships are
available for all ages and students should start applying early, even before
senior year. There are scholarships for students with average grades, and
scholarships that don’t require a GPA or even an essay. Sign up for scholarship
search engines to find scholarship matches. Leave no stone unturned: search
locally, ask friends, talk to your student’s school counselor and listen to the
media. Scholarships are literally everywhere, and many local ones go unclaimed
every year.
When your student is a senior, complete the FAFSA. The
FAFSA is the key to getting not only federal aid, but aid from the colleges
themselves. Much of the college aid is merit based but your student won’t
receive it if they don’t submit the FAFSA.
Next…
Step
10-Participate in the final decision.
Once your student is accepted to colleges, due your due diligence
and compare all the financial aid awards. If one award is higher than another
and your student wants to attend that college, appeal the lower award using the
higher award as leverage. Find the college that is the best fit: academically,
socially and financially. Don’t allow your student to take on high amounts of
debt just because it’s the college he or she wants to attend. Be the voice of
reason and explain the consequences of graduating with too much student loan
debt…
Now, some final words of advice…
Nag
less and listen more
You will be tempted to nag: write this, apply to this, study
for this, and search for this. Nagging will only cause strife and stress for
you and your student. Instead, listen to his concerns, his visions, and his dreams.
Listen carefully to ascertain whether or not college is the best choice. Listen
to him talk about how he feels about the entire college prep process. And once
you’ve listened, guide him — don’t nag.
Do
less and encourage more
Avoid the temptation to take over the process. As one
admissions officer told me, “Let your student drive the car.” You can be a
coach, an advisor, a mentor and an attentive listener. You can also help with
data gathering, scholarship searching, and deadline reminders. But under no
circumstances should this process be yours. Let your student own his own
future.
Compare
less and research more
Don’t listen to other parents who want you to compare your
student to theirs. This is you and your student’s journey. Do your research.
Ask the experts. Don’t rely on hearsay to make your decisions. Your student is unique,
and his journey will be unique. Arm yourself with all the information and tools
to help with the process. Then pass it along to your student.
Panic
less and plan more
If there’s one piece of advice I give parents, it’s this:
stay organized and don’t miss any deadlines. Make a plan throughout high school
and follow the plan. Once your student enters senior year, you should be
organized and ready to begin the application process.
Have you ever had a question about college prep and there
was no one to ask? Do you wonder what other parents have done in your
situation? Is there a question about paying for college that you simply can’t
find the answer to?
Odds are, you can find most answers to your unanswered questions on Facebook (or at least a suggestion on who to ask). From parenting a teen through the college process, paying for college, financial aid, scholarships and connecting with college parents, you can find groups or pages to help.
Here’s a list of my favorite Facebook groups and pages:
This is a widely popular group for parents of both
college-bound and college students. You can connect with experts in college
prep here or get advice from other parents who have been through the process
and/or have current college students. It’s a friendly, conversational group and
if you have a question, it’s easy to post it and usually get an instant
response from another parent or expert in the group.
If you have a question about paying for college, this group
is available to help. Helpful articles are posted daily and questions are
answered quickly by experts and mentors on the page. They cover topics related
to college prep and often offer training sessions and webinars to help you with
the college admissions process.
Financial aid can certainly be confusing for parents and
students. College talk provides parents with tips and strategies related to
college financial aid.
Looking for merit scholarships? This group is devoted to
sharing merit scholarship opportunities and discussing ways to find schools generous
with financial aid and merit scholarships.
Need help searching for scholarships? Need help with
scholarship applications? Have a question about the scholarship process? You capayn
find the answer on this page, along with endless lists of scholarships
available. Check this page daily for the best in scholarship information.
This is my page and you can find the answer to any
college-related question here. I post informative articles daily and am happy
to answer any question you might have about college prep. I also frequently
post scholarship opportunities and free training opportunities as well. Check
back often to see new news about college admissions.
This is the portal for you to ask any question, raise out
any concern or get feedback from the group. This type of forum rarely exists in
the college admissions space, but it’s space for parents to expand their
network, build connections, establish relationships and form a support system in
this competitive field. This is also the place for parents and students to grow
and even enjoy their college admissions journey.
Everything you need to know about the college essay, personal statements and supplemental essays can be found on this page. From podcast episodes to essay samples to expert advice, the College Essay Guy is available to help. Your student can also join his private group page for personalized essay help: College Admission and Application Forum.
A page with over 14,000 members offering great college advice, current articles in the news, and a forum for students and parents to comment on them and ask questions. College Connections’ main objective is to have our students gain admission to the college which is their best match, and where they find happiness, success and a solid academic program.
