Category — Yearly Cycle of Information

Last year at this time we offered some New Year’s resolutions for college and high school parents and for their students.  We still think they are good resolutions, worth considering carefully if you are a college or high school parent.  Please take a few minutes to follow the links below and reread our suggestions.

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

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

In addition to the specific resolutions offered last year, this year we’d like to offer some suggestions to keep in mind as you and your student think about creating your own resolutions for the fresh start that the second semester of the year offers.  Give some thought to these characteristics of good resolutions as you consider what matters to you in the New Year.

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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.

Last December we did a roundup of posts that may be helpful to both you and your student at this point in the academic year.  You may view our roundup from last year here.  It contains many helpful articles.  This post contains titles we’ve written over the past year that may be helpful at this time of year.

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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 may be 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.  Even though the end of the semester is 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.

Last November we did a roundup of posts that may be helpful to both you and your student at this point in the academic year.  You may view our roundup from last year here.  It contains many helpful articles.  This posts contains posts we’ve written over the past year that may be helpful at this time of year.

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As we settle into the fall season, hopefully you and your college student are both settling into your new routines.  The upheaval is over, the transition process is happening – perhaps slowly or perhaps without missing a beat.  The reality and the work of college and college parenting is perhaps becoming more routine.  However, each new season of the college year may bring new issues and new challenges.

Last October we did a roundup of posts that should be especially helpful to you as you and your college student begin to approach the midpoint in the fall semester. You may view last year’s October Roundup here. Listed in this post are those articles written since last October that may be helpful at this time of the year.

If you haven’t already done so, you might want to review our roundup of posts of interest for the month of September – and even look back to posts suggested for August.  Take some time to read and review these posts, and you will be well armed as you approach mid-semester.

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Now that your college student has most likely headed off to school, you may be wondering what, as an official college parent, you should be doing.  In the midst of all of the preparations that took place last spring and summer,  you may have felt active and helpful.  Now that your student is gone, you may wonder how to stay productively involved without “hovering”.

It is true that once your student heads to college your role changes, but you still have an important place in the college transition process – and the transition for both you and your student continues for a while.  Last September we did a roundup of posts that should be especially helpful to you during the month of September as both you, and your college student, settle into your new roles. You may view last year’s September Roundup here.  Listed in this post are those articles written since last September that may be helpful at this time of the year.

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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 two  roundups of posts that may be particularly helpful for the month to come.  These posts cover topics that may be most applicable to the preparation for leave-taking and the transition to school.

The first post is the Roundup of posts which we offered last August.  It contains those posts helpful at this time of the year which were on our website a year ago.  Following that, we list those posts which have been published this past year and which may be especially helpful at this time of year.  We recommend that you look at both last year’s posts and the new list.

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Summer is in full swing and your college student – or soon to be college student – is probably busy with a summer job and spending time with friends.  She may have attended an orientation, or that may not happen until the end of the summer.  Chances are that your student is focusing on what is happening during the summer, and although she may be thinking about the fall, she may not be doing much about college just yet.  As exciting as the prospect of college is, for many parents and students, the summer before college begins is a stressful time.

If your student has already spent a year at college, he knows what to expect in the fall.  He will be one of the upperclass students who seems to know it all – envied by the new first year students.  However, even your returning college student may have a few things that he should be thinking about over the summer to make next year even better.

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College students (or soon-to-be college students) are often in yet another transition in June.  Those students already in college may have finished their formal academic year in May.  By June they have settled in to a summer term, a summer job or internship, or may be diligently looking for that first post-college job.  For high school students, June may bring graduation and the realization that college is just around the corner.  For parents, the summer months may be an interesting time of having a student return home after the year away or helping their student prepare to leave home for college.  There is something happening for almost everyone.

Here are a few posts that parents may find especially helpful at this transitional time of the year.

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May marks the end of the formal academic year for many students.  For some, it is the end of the difficult year of transition to a new environment.  For others, it marks the end of their college career and a move to another type of transition – either to career or graduate school.  As the month begins, there may still be some stress for students – final exams may still be ahead, and many students approaching graduation are still uncertain about what their immediate future holds. For still other students, the college journey lies ahead, and they are thinking about approaching that first year of college. But whatever the situation, as May arrives, the end of the school year is in sight and most students are looking ahead – to the near, and more distant, future.

Here are a few posts that should be helpful as you, along with your student, settle into the month of May.

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As April rolls around for your college student, the finish line is in sight.  Your college student is possibly feeling overwhelmed about how much still needs to be done before the end of the term, and at the same time trying to plan a schedule for next year and arrange for housing.  There are many end-of-year activities taking place.  She may also be worrying about a summer job or internship.  If your student is a senior, the ultimate concern is with a job or graduate school.  As other students at school begin to plan schedules and choose dorm rooms and roommates, the reality of next year’s possible uncertainty sets in for many seniors.

Your patience and support may be especially needed right now as your student tries to manage his time in the present – and also plan ahead.  Here are a few posts that may be helpful as you, too, try to juggle this busy time of the academic year.

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