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
The teenage years are all about the battles. The nature of the relationship between teens and their parents lends itself to conflict. The wise parent uses these conflicts as teaching lessons. The wiser parent learns when to recognize their teen’s desire for independence and let go and when to stand firm.
The college process often brings conflict between parent and student college choices. The following is a list of do’s and don’ts for parents when the conflict arises:
Continue reading When Parent and Student College Choices Differ
Every parent wants their child to build strong relationships and friendships that have a positive impact on their health and well-being. It’s not always easy to make friends, and this can be a source of worry and anxiety for parents as their kids prepare to start high school or college. In this guide, we’ll outline some top tips to help teens forge positive relationships.
Continue reading Helping Teens Build Positive RelationshipsNeed for help with summer college prep? Learn everything you need to know about applying for college by using my Parent Crash Course.
Summer has begun and your student is enjoying some down time from their academic studies. Down time is good, but if you have a college-bound student, summers are also a great time to do a little bit of college preparation.
As parents, it’s our responsibility to make sure our teenagers make the most of their time in the summer and help them get ready for the upcoming school year. That’s why I have broken down the summer for each year your student will be in school in the fall by providing 10 tips for moms to follow. Just follow the links below each year to help your student make the most of their summer.
Continue reading 10 Tips for Moms This SummerGet a head start on college prep this summer. Learn everything you need to know about applying for college by getting my Parent Crash Course.
When my kids were teenagers, “I’m bored” came flowing out of their mouths almost every single day during the summer. They missed their friends. They missed the constant activity. They missed participating in all the school-related extracurricular activities. If you have kids, it’s inevitable that those words will be spoken in your household during the summer.
When you hear those words (and even if you don’t) here’s a list of summer activities that will keep your college-bound teen busy AND help their college admissions process in the future.
Continue reading Will Your Student Be Bored This Summer?
I’m sitting here today thinking about what happened yesterday in my state. Being so close to home for me made it even more difficult to believe and digest. We need to protect our children.
We have so many small towns in Texas. Uvalde is one of them. They are all close knit. Everyone knows everyone. The kids grow up together and the parents know each other’s kids personally. I can’t even begin to imagine how broken this community is or how absolutely devastated and angry those families who lost loved ones are feeling today.
Death is never easy. But when it’s a child and it’s from violence, it’s hard to understand how this could possibly happen. We need to protect our children.
I don’t want to start any political arguments, but it’s time we do something–anything to protect our children.
Continue reading We Need to Protect Our Children
There’s a new documentary on PBS called “Try Harder!”. It chronicles the lives of some students at Lowell High School, a prestigious high school in California with predominantly Asian students. Their goal–get into the Ivies or the UC colleges. Why? Because according to them, anything else communicates failure.
I was struck by one young man who said, “If I don’t get into one of these schools, I won’t make a difference in the world or be successful.” How sad. What type of message are we conveying to our students? Try Harder.
Continue reading Try Harder–Is This the Message We Want to Convey?
I want to take a gap year before I go to college” are some of the most feared words by parents. What do we fear? We fear they won’t want to go back to school after being off for a year. We fear they will lie around the house, watch TV and play video games. We fear they aren’t thinking clearly and have no idea what they are saying. And for those competitive parents, it’s not what they planned.
Don’t fear the gap year. Not every student is ready for college after high school. Some simply aren’t mature enough, and others simply don’t know where they want to go or what they want to study. And if this is the case, would you want to spend thousands of dollars on college if it meant they dropped out their first semester? Of course you wouldn’t want to do that.
Continue reading What Parents Need to Know About a Gap Year
I spend a good deal of time talking about preparing your student for college and offering good college advice. But believe it or not, that’s not my total focus. My focus is helping parents help their child find the best path after high school graduation.
It’s because of this focus, I was happy to read a post on Grown and Flown today called: Dear Friends and Family, Please Keep Your Snarky Opinions About My Teen’s College Choice to Yourself.
If you’re on Facebook (where most of us moms hang out) you’ve probably come across posts from proud parents announcing their high school senior’s college plans. Hiding in the shadows (and they shouldn’t be) are those parents whose senior chose to take a different path after graduation.
Continue reading No Thank You: Keep Your Unsolicited Advice to Yourself
Summer is approaching and you can look forward to hearing, “I’m bored”. My grandsons say this at least once a day and I’m sure your teenager has uttered these words as well.
Here are some suggestions to help keep them busy over the summer while using the time to promote learning and family togetherness.
Enrolling your student in a summer program or signing them up for a few classes during the summer break can help keep them occupied. This will also give them a chance to socialize and make new friends. If your child is not interested in any formal extracurricular activities, there are still plenty of options for keeping them busy.
For example, you can encourage them to start a garden, join a sports team, or take up a new hobby. There are also many fun DIY projects that kids can do around the house or in the yard. Encouraging your teenager to be creative and engage in positive activities will help prevent boredom during the summer break.
Continue reading Fighting Summer Boredom