Category — Yearly Cycle of Information

Winter often feels like the time to settle in, take things a little slower and wait for spring.  For high school students heading for college, this may be mostly a time of waiting.  The applications are in and although some students have heard about early admission, most are anticipating word in the coming months.

However, this does not need to be an idle time.  There are things which high school students and their parents can be doing now, during this quieter time, to prepare for the flurry of activity that will come along with the acceptance letters later.  Take some time to read the following posts and to think about how you and your future college student can use this winter season to prepare for the spring college season.

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January always brings with it the promise of new beginnings and the hope for a fresh start in many areas of our lives.  For college students and their parents, January marks the beginning of a new semester and all that it promises, as well as the start of a new year.

If the fall semester was a bit rocky at times, either personally, socially, or academically, this is a chance to start over again – with a lot of wisdom gathered during that first semester.   For students who began their college career in the fall, the return to college for a second semester marks an opportunity to put into place important lessons learned during that sometimes tumultuous first semester.  For students nearing the end of their college career, the new beginning of the year also marks the beginning of a transition to a new post-college phase.  For parents, new beginnings for students may mean important new beginnings on parenting phases as well.

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This is the second of two posts with thoughts about the New Year for you and your college student.  Our previous post offered some suggestions for you to share with your student.  This post offers something for parents.

 This is the time of year for reflection, and it is often a hopeful time of year.  The start of a new calendar year is often a doubly new start of college students (and their parents) as they think about a new semester.   

Each year at this time we offer some thoughts and suggestions for New Year’s Resolutions for parents and their college or high school students.  Check out our posts from previous years for some resolutions that may be valuable this year.

New Year’s Resolutions for College Parents – and Their College Students

New Year’s Rsolutions for High School Parents – and Their College Bound Students

New Year’s Resolutions for You and Your High School or College Student

 We’d like to offer a slightly different way of thinking about your resolutions this year.  We suggest just one resolution for parents this year – with eight different ways to carry it out. 

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In our next two posts, we have some thoughts about New Year’s Resolutions for college parents and for college students.  This post offers something for college parents to share with their college students.  Our next post offers some resolution thinking for college parents.

Post-Thanksgiving break and the beginning of December always mark the home stretch for the fall semester for college students.  Not only is the semester coming to a close, but the holiday season is upon us and students may lose some focus.  This is a time of festivities, but the season is often overshadowed by the stress of the end-of-semester responsibilities.  The more that parents can understand the rhythm of the academic year, the more we can help students as they navigate their way.

As the end of the semester approaches and the holiday season is in full force, students are busy – and probably feeling overwhelmed.  There’s lots to do to get through these last few days or weeks before they can relax.

Here are a few posts that may be especially helpful to you, and to your student, as you wrap up this semester – and begin to look ahead to the next semester.

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As November arrives and we enter the season of holidays, your college student is well past the mid-point of the semester.  If your student was a new, first-year student this fall, she is probably feeling that she is past the transition period.  If your student is not a new college student, the mid-point of another semester is one more step closer to graduation.

Now that the end of the semester may be in sight, the hard work of the semester also settles heavily on students’ shoulders.  Students may also be facing the consequences of some of the choices that they made earlier in the semester, and may need to make some decisions now about the future.  This is a good time to take stock, look back, and move forward.

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October marks a settling in time for college students.  The routine of class schedule, social life and activities is established.  Although some students are still working through the transition to college life, the “newness” of it all is wearing off.  This routine is both positive and negative.  Your student can settle down to her new life, but the reality of college life and work is also hitting your student.  The work of college classes is very real, and midterm exams are not far away.

Hopefully, you’ve also settled in to your new routine as a college parent.  You’re communicating – but not too much.  You’ve adjusted to a new life at home – but can’t wait for your student’s next visit.

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Your college student has spent the summer packing, Facebooking new friends, saying farewell to old friends, working, obsessing, and perhaps learning how to do the laundry.  You’ve watched, listened, created lists, and helped to pack the car.  Now your student is delivered to campus and you’re settling into your empty nest and wondering how to be involved in your student’s college experience without becoming a helicopter parent.

We’ve collected some earlier posts that may be especially helpful at this transition time of year.  [Read more →]

As a college parent, you are trying to learn many things about the world of college, trying to help your student make a successful transition – either to the first year of college or to a subsequent year of college or even a new college, trying to determine how you can be most helpful as part of the college equation, and trying to remember that this is a time of transition for you as well.  There seems to be so much to try to take in and to juggle.

As we begin this busy month just before your college student heads off to school, we offer a collection of posts that may be most helpful at this busy and sometimes stressful time of preparation and leave-taking.

Be sure to check out our Roundup for August 2009 and August 2010 for more helpful information for this time of year.  This current Roundup contains posts written in the past year, since last August

You may find some posts more helpful than others – and some of what you consider helpful may depend on your individual student and where she is in her college journey.  Take some time to read and review any of these posts which seem to speak to you, and you will be well-armed for the month ahead.

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You have a new college student headed to school for the first time in late August or September.  You may be feeling relieved that the college search and application process is over, but also a bit anxious about what may lie ahead.  Your student is busily connecting with new friends on Facebook and saying goodbye to old friends at home.  In between, your student may be shopping for cool dorm room furnishings and possibly even reading an assigned summer book.

You may wonder what you should or could be doing this summer to stay involved, while letting your student take the lead for the college process.  Here is a short list to get you started.  Spend some time this summer getting familiar with your student’s school, and also having some important conversations with your student.  Let your student take the lead, but be armed with some information and ideas just in case you’re needed.

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