Category Archives: parenting

college guidance, parenting

Understanding your teen’s learning behaviors

 

learning behaviorsMost people know that no two people are alike, especially when it comes to education and learning. After realizing the differences in people scientists began to create groups to determine certain things about people, such as their specific learning behaviors. Learning behaviors are generally grouped into three categories, visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. When testing individuals for their particular learning method, the results will fall into one or more of the categories.

Visual Learners

People who are tested as being a visual learner will rely heavily upon their ability to make visual contact with learning materials. They are likely to prefer seeing what they are being taught; they will generally take endless deeply detailed notes, prefer mellow environments to learn in and may often visualize the material they are trying to learn. A visual learner is also likely to prefer colorful presentations and illustrations. This type of learner is also likely to be obsessed with neatness and cleanliness.

Kinesthetic Learners

Individuals that fall under the kinesthetic learning group are people who prefer to be able to move around. This person will likely use their hands to make gestures while speaking; they will also prefer obtaining an education through courses that require them to move around, such as art, cooking, and other similar courses. The kinesthetic learner will feel the need to take short breaks while learning. This type of learner will often invent reasons to be active if put under pressure. The kinesthetic learner is also a person that enjoys experiencing educational material versus seeing or hearing it.

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orientation, parenting, Uncategorized

College Parent Orientation Tips

 

parent orientation
Parents gather at the University of Minnesota.

College orientation is upon us and students (and parents) will be attending this all-important event in preparation for college in the fall. What will you learn? Will orientation be able to answer all of your questions? Should you attend? Will this help you with the transition in the fall?

Parent orientation has become an integral part of the student’s transition to college, helping to answer parent concerns. A Q&A from Kathryn Kay, the Director of Orientation and Assistant Director of Student Programs at Georgetown University, provides some great insights and useful tips for parents about their role in their college student’s life.

Follow the link to the interview in the “For Parents” section of Zinch’s High School Blog.

 

admissions, parenting

Are helicopter parents getting a bad rap?

 

helicopter parentIt’s no surprise. Colleges and universities view today’s breed of college parent with some disdain. They see us as interfering in our student’s lives and overly involved in the college admissions process. If you compare us to the parents of 20 years ago, you might draw the same conclusion. We’ve been given the following names: helicopter parents, snow plow parents, and bulldozer parents. These nicknames have emerged over the last few years viewing parents as “the enemy”.

But are these characterizations really accurate? One school administrator thinks otherwise. Beth Moriarty, Director of Residence Life and Housing at Bridgewater State University and adjunct faculty member in the Student Affairs Counseling Program believes that it is time to change our views on parental involvement. In a recent post, she prefaced her argument:

K-12 literature supports the premise that parents who are involved in their students’ education, have students who are more likely to succeed both academically and socially. Additional research states that parents who are involved have students who are less likely to participate in at-risk alcohol and drug behavior. Research on first-generation, low income, and minority students suggests that parental involvement can increase the likelihood of students in these groups persisting to graduation. With this being said, perhaps we should embrace parents as partners, rather than fearing them as the enemy.

It’s a fact that some parents do get overly involved in their student’s life. But saying that all parents are helicopter parents is wrong. Our roles as parents have changed and evolved over the years. Today’s parents are invested in their student’s educational future and success. With competition among students more prevalent than ever before, encouragement and support can often translate into over-involvement. How do we help university officials see that parenting can be viewed in a positive light? Should parents be embraced as partners and should the colleges help parents embrace that role?

Take a few minutes and read the complete content of Ms. Moriarity’s post and comment here if you agree or disagree. I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

college guidance, college planning, organization, parenting, social networks, technology, test prep, tutoring

Tech resources for the college-bound

 

tech resourcesTonight’s #CollegeCash Chat was centered around available tech resources for the college-bound and their parents. Following is a short transcript of the questions and answers with all the links I provided. As a parent myself and a parent advocate I understand the frustration with the college admissions process. It’s my hope that you will find some tools here that will make the process easier.

Q. Is there a lot of technology out there that benefits students and parents when it comes to college? 

  • We now have online sites for just about every part of the college admissions process and stay organized
  • Multiple apps are also available to help parents and students while they are on the go
  • Smartphones and portable devices like the iPad have made the college prep process easier

Q. Are SmartPhones necessary for our kids leaving for college? 

  • Every college student needs a smartphone–here are some features you should look for: http://bit.ly/151BUJj
  • Smartphones help them communicate, socially interact, store and process information, and enable social networking in class
  • An added bonus to the smartphone is the ability to stay in touch with parents via facetime, texts, and location apps

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dorm life, parenting, Uncategorized

6 Dorm Safety Tips for Students

 

dorm safety

While student dormitories are not exactly danger zones, students who reside in dormitories should observe safety measures to keep their property safe from thieves or accidents such as fire. For the most part, it only takes common sense to prevent potential accidents in student dormitories. For instance, you should not leave candles or hot cigarette butts burning inside your room. According to the National Fire protection Association (NFPA), the number of dormitory fires reported between 1980 and 2009 increased by 17% and on average, dorm fires destroy property worth about $20.9 million, cause 3 deaths, and 38 fire injuries every year. These statistics show the importance of taking fire safety seriously. Here are some dorm safety tips that you can take as an individual student to keep your dorm safe.

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college guidance, college news, college planning, parenting

Sink or Swim: A Guide to College Graduation Rates

 

College graduation usually conjures up images of black hats getting thrown into the air and refrains of pomp and circumstance. What you don’t see, however, is the swell who started at the same time as the robe-clad flock but aren’t graduating — a number that would triple the size of grads (and make the ceremony even longer). In fact, at four-year colleges only 31.3% of students actually graduate from the school. The other 68.7% might be sitting at home, working a job that doesn’t require a degree, or maybe they’re still chipping away at the books after switching majors or signing up for a lengthy program. The latter is evident: The number swells to 56% who graduate within six years of starting. On the surface, it might seem like today’s student is lazy or lacks follow-through, but a closer examination reveals steep costs of schooling and family responsibilities a bigger decision-maker for college dropouts. Of course, the numbers vary widely across colleges when looking at college graduation rates, with some earning gold stars for graduating their students and others earning the nickname “dropout factories.” We take a closer look at the best and worst of 2-year and 4-year schools to help degree-seekers navigate to a college that will help them stay afloat.

For the full story, click the image below!
Sink or Swim: A Guide to Buoyant Colleges

Courtesy of OnlineColleges.net

parenting

5 ways to help your college student build a credit history

 

credit historyCollege students will be inundated by credit card offers the minute they take out their student loans, but most of these offers come with an abundance of fine print that could leave your student paying heinous interest rates for the most minor transgressions (like a payment that’s late by just a few days, for example). These options provide more ways to ruin credit than build it. So if you want to help your student start off on the right foot where his credit score is concerned so that he can buy a car or get a lease on his own after graduation, here are a few methods you can use to help your college student build a credit history:

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college guidance, dorm life, parenting, Uncategorized

5 ways to go green on campus

 

green campusIf there’s one thing that’s almost universally true about teenagers it’s that they’re fairly self-involved, and getting them interested in altruistic pursuits can be a chore. But as they get older and start to figure out who they are and what drives them, it may become easier to get them fired up about social and environmental challenges. Most young adults are full of energy and they want to do their part to make the world a better place. If you want to give your own college student some direction, you might suggest that he join the ongoing crusade to make the Earth a cleaner, greener place for all of humanity through his eco-friendly efforts. And here are just a few ways that you can get him on board with doing his part for the environment, and hopefully urging others to go green on campus.

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parenting

Preparing for your college student’s first trip home

 

coming home from collegeOnce you’ve sent your teen off to the Ivory Tower to fill his head with knowledge, your first thoughts are probably of when you’ll see him again. You may have to wait until a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas, when he’ll have some time off from school, and that can be a long wait for a parent who has spent the last eighteen years seeing a child every day. So you may be tempted to smother him with parental love from the moment you pick him up at the airport to the second he tears himself away from your grasp to go back to school. But while you’ve been missing him he’s no doubt grown accustomed to living his own life. It’s the way of things. However, he’s likely been a little homesick, and when he comes to visit he’ll be jonesing for some of his faves. So here are just a few tips to prepare your college student for their homecoming.

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college guidance, parenting

How to set expectations for your soon-to-be college freshman

 

college freshmanIt seems like just yesterday that you brought your little bundle of joy home from the hospital, and now he’s a teenager preparing to leave home and head off to college. Luckily, you’ve done your job well, preparing him for the many trials that he’ll face when you’re not present to guide him. You’ve taught him to respect authority and treat others with kindness and compassion, although you’ve also instilled in him a healthy sense of caution, common sense, and self-preservation. He is confident and capable of caring for himself. So while you no doubt feel sad about his departure, you know that he is well-equipped to handle himself like an adult during his time in school. And yet, he may not be entirely prepared for some of the stresses and pressures he’ll encounter on campus as a college freshman. So as your last lesson before he leaves home, you might want to figure out how to help him set his expectations accordingly so that he’s not blindsided.

Academics

The first area you’ll probably want to address is academics, and they’ll likely be a bit more demanding than high school. Hopefully your teen has taken some AP classes, which are much closer to college-level requirements than standard high school courses. With any luck, the college he attends will accept some of these courses in lieu of general education credits, allowing your child a couple of light semesters to start off. Either way, though, he’ll be better prepared if he has taken AP coursework. However, he needs to understand that the onus is on him to attend class, study, and turn in his homework in a timely manner. This means setting a schedule that includes blocking out classes and study time and sticking to them. As a rule of thumb, every hour spent in class should coincide with approximately three hours of homework/study time.

Social activity

Next you should discuss social pursuits. College is not only a great time to make a new and diverse group of friends and participate in social activities and clubs, but it also provides myriad opportunities to network. However, your student should be prepared for the whirlwind that is social life on nearly every college campus. He could easily get sucked into partying and skipping class, and it’s not a bad idea to discuss the drinking and drug culture that seem to go hand-in-hand with college living. The hope is that your teen will stay away from these activities, which could easily derail his academic progress, but you’re fooling yourself if you think he won’t at least be confronted with such options. Talking it out ahead of time can help him to understand what’s out there and come up with a plan to have fun without hurting himself or others.

Consequences

College is a great time for students to test their independence. But it is also possible that those independent choices, right or wrong, will bring consequences. Remind your soon-to-be college freshman to think before they act and weigh the pros and cons of their decision. Help them understand that they will have to face the consequences of their actions and these consequences often affect their future.

The pressure to succeed in college is high, and it can definitely get to the average college freshman that has left familiar surroundings and a solid support network behind for the first time in his life. He may have his heart set on eventually attending criminal justice graduate programs or obtaining a PhD in medicine, but he’ll first have to make it through the stresses of freshman year. And the best way for you to help your student is to prepare him as best you can for what he’ll face in college. Armed with a plan of action he is more likely to proceed with confidence and go the distance.