Parent's Guide to Helping Your Child Be College Ready

When you start thinking about sending your student to college, you usually think about how in the world you're going to pay. Money is usually the first worry, but there are other things to consider. Students need to be ready to learn independently and also manage themselves in an independent environment that most kids haven't had a chance to experience before. Often times, students don't have the additional skills they need to be successful in an independent learning environment. As a teacher, I see students lacking many of the skills they'll need. Here are some things that you can do to help your bundles of joy flourish in college.

Study Skills
As a teacher, the biggest problem I find is that my students don't know how to study or take notes. Most of their notes are either word for word what I said in paragraph form, or so messy that there is not way I could decipher anything from them. Take the time to teach your kids how to take notes in classes. If you are at a loss as to how, there are a lot of great study websites out there, or you could ask their language arts, science, or history teacher to address note-taking in their class. The biggest thing is to find a method that works for them, whether it is graphic organizers and pictures, or standard outlines. The second step is to teach them to use them. Good independent learners know that in order to actually learn material, you don't just review it before the test, but you review it after class and often to actually imprint the material in your brain. Help your students create a study schedule where they review their notes, chapters, etc. each day instead of just before a test.

Time Management
Students these days have so many things going on and often times have a hard time juggling it all. Take this as an opportunity to help teach your teen how to manage time effectively and also how to make difficult decisions between what they want to do and what they need to do. As college students, we often have parties and much more fun activities we want to take part in, but is it worth it to put that research paper off to do it? Probably not. Teach kids how to schedule their time effectively by getting them a planner or a large calendar. Teach them to do projects and assignments a little at a time instead of procrastinating. This is a skill they will definitely take advantage of.

Organization
I've seen some very disorganized lockers and backpacks. I shudder to think what my students' bedrooms are like. Teaching a student organization will help them to not only organize their room, but their lives. This helps them to organize time, social events, as well as study time. You can do this by helping them to create clean study areas. Teach your kid to make use of files and folders and to get rid of things they do not need. These days there are also a lot you can do with cell phone applications and computer programs to help students stay organized. Take advantage of what is out there to help them find things when mom is not there.

Asking for Help
As a new college freshman, asking for help was out of the question for me. I was too afraid to ask anyone to clarify things when I needed it. I didn't do it in high school and it was much, much more difficult in college because of the large classes and reputation surrounding university professors and their lack of compassion toward their students. I was often floundering and too afraid to ask questions. A lot of students float through high school and don't need much in the way of teacher support, or think that it doesn't matter. As a result of this, students often don't know how to approach a professor and think that there's no help out there. This is not true. College professors are often glad to help, but don't know unless you ask. Encourage your student to ask for help when they need it. When they have an issue with their grade or with an assignment, don't email or talk to the teacher for them. Not only is this annoying to the teacher, because we've never heard of the issue before, but also does a disservice to your child. Make them talk to the teacher. Make them make the initial contact. This will teach your student to act on their own and to not fear those in authority in an educational setting. They may hate it when you make them do it, but believe me, as someone who suffered from not having this kind of help, they'll thank you for it in the end.

There are many other things that you can help your student with. Really, just think back to the problems you had when you were their age and give advice accordingly. College is not just about tuition. I encourage you, as a teacher and former failing freshman, to give your student the full help and attention they need to be successful as independent and empowered learners. They'll be happier and when you get that first college report card, you will too.