Woah! The years are truly fast! From being a new grade-schooler up to graduating high school, indeed, your kids have grown a lot, and now, they are entering one of the most significant parts of his life: entering college. Are you ready for it? For your kids, attending college is the start of something big – moving out, living in another city, meeting new people, taking multiple subjects at a time, and a lot more. It’s a big step towards their future, and as a parent sending kids to college, you’re part of this.
5 Preparation Tips For Parent Sending Kids To College
If you’re a parent who has kids entering college, I’m sure you see your kid is doing a lot of preparation – maybe finding a school, studying for entrance exams, and other things. As they prepare for these, we, as parents, can help.
But how? In this article, let’s talk about some tips for parents sending their children to college.
1. Teach Them Life Skills
If your child is in his senior high school, it’s time to teach some life skills. Although they might be given some tips on being effective in college in high school, teaching them life skills at home has more advantages.
Life skills are beneficial in college years because they’ll adjust easily, be more effective, and make more meaningful decisions.
But what life skills should you teach? The first one is time management.
In college, the clock is their friend, and kids should know that time always matters.
Moreover, starting from attending their morning class up to the following deadline.
As a parent, you can teach them good time management skills by creating their schedules and following them.
Another life skill that you can teach is managing their finances.
In college, especially if they are living away, there will be no lunchboxes or packed lunches.
Given that they’ll be living in dormitories, they need to balance their money for food, school-related things, and others.
But how do you teach money management? You can show them how to budget and save. There are a lot of other life skills that you can show them, and these are just some.
In teaching these life skills, make sure that your children understand the benefit of a skill.
2. Parents Sending Kids To College Should Plan with them
What are the college plans of your kid? What things does he consider in taking a study program and university?
Of course, we may know their chosen educational institution and programs because we will pay the fees. But, helping them plan their college gives them a sense of support.
How do you plan with them?
In high school, teachers and guidance counselors advise incoming first-year college students about universities and study programs suited to their students.
We, parents sending kids to college, can also do that. We can also research their options regarding their chosen school, program, dormitory, and a lot more.
At the end of the day, they will be the ones to make decisions about their college, but helping them plan creates an assurance – that you’ll support their choices.
Also, on your part, it gives you a feeling of confidence that your child is on the right path and he’s growing towards being a mature adult.
Moreover, if you want to teach your children some financial skills, please inform your children that these awesome full-ride scholarships will cover the entire cost of a college education.
3. Accompany Your Child For The First Time With His New Setup.
Now, the first day of college is fast approaching. Maybe your child is now done with his planning and enrollment. Afterward, he’ll be moving out of the house and go to a dormitory.
When your child is in this phase, accompany him. Why? Because these things are new to him, and he might feel nervous or lonely. But, by being with them during their first time on the college campus or dormitory, they feel safe.
Checking their dormitories, visiting the university, and knowing how to travel to their schools are some ways to accompany your child in his new setup. When you do these things, it gives them the feeling of security and comfort.
Additionally, checking their places, especially their new homes, is a good thing to do, because you’ll know if the cost is practical and if the area is safe.
4. Always Be There – Show Your Support Even They’re Far.
College years might be exhausting, especially for the freshmen students. Not only because of the academics, but because of the adjustment period, school works, and other things that may pressure them.
To ease their stress, you might want to contact them from time to time and check on them. As a parent, they’ll be comfortable talking to you.
During exam weeks, a call or text from you saying some words of encouragement are helpful. Since being in college may bring a lot of stress and pressure, being present, even at a distance, is a big help to ease their problems.
Another thing that you can do is to listen to them, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Even when they achieve good grades or have difficulty in a particular project or subject, listening to their stories makes them feel better.
Lastly, if you see your child having changes in their eating patterns, behavior, or relationships, rather than scolding them, try to understand. Maybe, they’re just adjusting. Being present during good or bad college days is a form of parental involvement.
5. Stay Healthy And Have Fun.
Lastly, look over yourself. The whole process of entering college might sound fun and exciting to your kid, and we really want them to enjoy the new chapter of his life.
But how about you? How do you feel? You might be emotional, and it’s normal. From seeing your child entering into adulthood, moving out of the house, and being far away, you might feel sad because it’s no longer the same, and you don’t see him every day.
If you have feelings of emptiness or loneliness, please make another enjoyable routine to lessen these feelings. If you have a spouse, you can use these times to catch up, or if you have friends in the neighborhood, you can start activities with them. Remember, we want to be emotionally healthy for our family or kids.
Conclusion
We hope you got the idea of how to make yourself prepared with these tips. We, parents sending kids to college, have to support them especially when kids are still in the adjustment process.
Be patient and always build commitment to your kids helping them to achieve their life goals. Equip them with skills that will help them in their college life.
If you find this article helpful, check out our recent post about Communicating With Teens: Are You Really Listening To Them?
Our super author here at Famous Parenting and an absolute wealth of knowledge. She has studied many topics including creative writing, psychology and journalism but her real passion lies in raising her 3 children. Between working from home, homeschooling her youngest 2 children and navigating the world of teenagers she is a guru for parents.
