Finding the Parenting Balance

parenting

The term “helicopter parenting” can feel disparaging at first, after all, is it really a flaw to be active in your child’s education, to take an interest in their wellbeing at school, and to be involved in their development? Of course not. However, of course, constant hovering over your children, stifling independence and decision-making, and perhaps becoming too involved in the autonomy of your teacher’s guidance can be a problem.

Now, we’re not accusing you of this at all. Most parents strike a healthy balance, and being a little too interested is certainly miles better than being too uninvolved or uncaring. 

However, if you’re concerned, then it’s nice to know where the parameters are. In this post, we’re not going to tell you how much you can be involved in your own child’s education, or where to step away, or how to relate to your child’s school experience. That would be much too presumptuous. 

Instead, we’ll discuss some awesome measures new parents can take when supporting their children’s schooling and development:

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Borrowing More for College Than You Can Repay

borrowing

I have had some serious conversations recently with a parent and student who applied to college, was accepted, and was shocked at the cost. The parent didn’t want to disappoint her daughter. The daughter wanted desperately to go to an out of state college that would cost over $50,000 per year with no financial aid.

After speaking with the daughter at length, she decided to defer for a year, work, save her money and apply for scholarships. Taking out loan was not appealing to either of them and I completely agreed.

Parents and students should consider college funding even before their student applies to college. The inevitable result is the parents and students borrowing to pay and usually borrowing more than they can repay after graduation.

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High School Graduation: Letting Go Without Holding On

high school graduation

High school graduation is approaching for seniors; and some tearful goodbyes may be approaching for their parents. Your emotions will transition from pride for their accomplishments to dread and sadness as they move on to the next phase of their lives.

Letting go is never easy. But if you’ve done your job, your student is ready to move to the next phase of their life, which means living independently.

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10 Ways Parents Can Help With College Prep

college prep

As a parent, you most certainly think about your child’s future and so often college prep is a part of that future. You may see them as an engineer, a teacher, or a doctor. You may picture them at your alma mater, or being the first in your family to attend college. Maybe you just hope they find a passion and pursue it. Whatever you hope, you want what is best for your child and to support them in achieving their goals.

College prep is a team effort. While the student leads the team and is ultimately the one who makes the final decision, parents can participate. This is an overwhelming process to handle alone and parents can ease some of the tremendous stress and burden.

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5 Tips for a Focused Scholarship Search

scholarship search

With the myriad of tasks in a student’s life, it’s difficult to find the time to devote to a scholarship search. Not only is it difficult to find the time, but it’s even more difficult to stay focused. If scholarship money is the largest part of your college budget, then staying focused with your eye on the prize should be a priority, especially during junior and senior year.

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Is a Military Focused Education Right for Your Student?

military

There are three types of military focused educations: a military college, a service academy and an ROTC program at a college or university. Some students desire the rigors of an education with a military focus along with a career in the military. Still others simply like the discipline and teamwork that come with this type of education.

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Battle Lines During College Prep

battle lines

As any parent will tell you, stress, teens and college prep go hand in hand. Add that to anxiousness, frustration and over-commitment and you have a recipe for disaster at home. Tempers rise and everyone’s emotions are volatile. If you’ve learned anything over the course of their childhood, it’s how to pick your battles—letting the unimportant matters slide to focus on the more important ones. During college prep, especially, the battle lines may be drawn.

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5 Steps to Prepare for the College Admissions Process

college admissions process

College preparation does NOT begin during your student’s senior year. It starts in middle school with a discussion about college and decisions related to high school course selection and gets off to a running start their first day of high school. While you might be astonished and astounded by this statement, the truth is if you take it to heart, your student will enter senior year prepared and at the top of the college applicant pool.

Following are five steps to take once your student enters high school to prepare for their senior year and the college admissions process. These steps will help you and your student have less stress and be less likely to panic due to lack of preparation when that all-important college application time comes along.

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Homeschooling Help from Technology

homeschooling

If you’re homeschooling your child, then one of the advantages already at your disposal is the fact that you are able to use as wide a range of teaching styles and methods that suit your needs. Given how children can take to different methods of learning with different levels of effectiveness, finding the tools that work best for your child can be very important, indeed. Whether you’re looking to switch tracks to methods that might work for your child a little better, or you just want to supplement your existing homeschooling methods, here are some of the advantages of relying a little more on tech.

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100+ College Prep Resources

college prep resources

It’s exhausting searching and scouring the internet for the right information when it comes to helping your student prepare for college. But what if you could use ONLY ONE RESOURCE and find everything you ever wanted to know about college prep? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Here it is. I’ve done the research, examined the links and their resources, and compiled a list of 100+ college prep resources for you. (If you know of others, please leave them in the comments and I will add them to the list!)

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Helping parents navigate the college maze