College Parent Central has just turned three!  College Parent Central launched on April 1, 2009 — somehow April Fool’s Day seemed appropriate for a venture whose future was unknown.  Three years later, we continue to believe more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success.

After three years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we are humbled by how much there is to know, but we feel even more strongly that we have a place in helping parents.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who find our information helpful.

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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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College Parent Central has just turned two!  We began this website on April 1, 2009 — somehow April Fool’s Day seemed appropriate for something that launched us into the unknown.  Two years later, we continue to believe even more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success.

After two years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we have learned much and continue to feel that we have a place in helping parents.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who may find our information helpful,

Our purpose

We began College Parent Central two years ago with five basic principles.  Two years later, these basic beliefs still hold true for us.

• We believe that parents can be important partners in their child’s education from pre-school through college.
• We believe that most parents want to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that parents do have a place in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t know how to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t understand today’s college experience. (Those of us who attended college ourselves need to learn how the college experience has changed in the twenty-first century.)

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College Parent Central celebrated its first birthday on April 1, 2010.  We’ve reached a milestone.  Launching on April Fool’s Day in 2009 seemed somehow appropriate since we were not sure what to expect.  We’re pleased to know that, in the past year, so many people have found the information here at College Parent Central helpful.

We believed a year ago, and we continue to believe even more firmly today, that parents have an important place in the college experience of their sons and daughters, but that many parents may need to learn how to be most helpful.  We believe that the more that parents understand about the college experience the more supportive they can be.

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